EVOO IN SHARES BY A GREEK OLIVE OIL PRODUCER - Volume 2

“PALLADA” – Another epithet for the goddess Athena, protector of Athens

The legend says that everything started when Goddess Athena (which one of the many epithets for her was “PALLADA”) and God Poseidon, where battling for the city of Athens protection.

They agreed that the city would belong, to the one that would deliver a gift to the city that would be most important and useful for its citizens.

This competition began when God Poseidon hit on the one side of the hill of Acropolis his trident and a horse appeared. Right after Goddess Athena made an Olive tree appear.

Goddess Athena’s gift to the citizens of the city of Athens, was more useful for the city, because the wood of the tree could be useful for fire, the fruit of olive could be useful for food and the juice of the olive could be Oil to cook anything else.

Goddess Athena’s offer to the ancient Athenians, improved the human’s nutritional habit forever!

ONE OF THE ELDEST OLIVE TREE IN THE WORLD, BUT THE BIGGEST FOR SURE!

It is located in the village of Vuves, of Kolimpari municipality in Chania, Crete.

With a circumference of 12.5 meters,  3.64 meters in diameter and a surface area of ​​11.45 m2, it’s consider the biggest Olive tree in the world.

It is aged 2500 - 5000 years old. The importance of this Olive tree was highlighted in 1922 by the municipality member Mr. Polychronis Polichronidis and this Olive tree was declared a natural monument No. ap.105497/6459/1986 (656/TV/1986).

The olive tree is in the backyard of the house of Karapatakis family and is a monument visited by hundreds of tourists every year.

The age of the Olive tree can not be 100% determined, because the radioactive method can’t be applied, due to absence of inside wood material (kardioxilo). The absence of the inside wood material, consider as a result of the old age of the tree.

The age of this Olive tree, can be approximately determined by the perimeter of the trunk. There is no other recorded tree with such girth so can the olive is to be declared as the eldest (?)  of our planet and the biggest for sure.

In the region have been discovered two cemeteries dated back to 700 B.C. suggestive of ancient cities, which were related to this Olive tree. There are also other ancient olive trees that reveal the existence of an ancient Olive grove.

This Olive tree is up today luxuriant and fruitful.

This specific Olive tree, was associated with the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004.

The winner of the Marathon was crowned with a wreath (Kotinos) made of this Olive tree.

The Kolimpari municipality suggested the embassy of China the winner of the Marathon of the 2008 Olympic Games to be crowned by a wreath from this Olive tree. 

ANCIENT GREECE AND GASTRONOMY

Greece is one of the main olive oil producers worldwide.
It's also the country with a huge tradition and history about olive oil. 
How can we forget that the goddess Athena, patroness of the city of Athens, was given this title by Zeus, because she offered the Olive tree as a gift.
Who doesn't know that during the great Panathenaic festival, the winners awarded amphorae full of olive oil, which came from the sacred olive oil trees of Athens!
That's why we owe a flashback to ancient Greek gastronomy.

How did the ancestors of Greeks cooked?

From the very early ancient Greek ages and very often there was a separate room for cooking with dominant element called "estia". In cases there was no separated room for cooking, portable braziers were used which could be placed everywhere for this purpose.

Archaeological Finds of  "estia" were found in seven houses of Olynthus, with large limestone slabs, often below the soil surface, usually four of them, shaped square or slightly oblong, which ignited the fire. There were found remains of ashes and bones. These rooms were austere  with a floor of beaten earth and walls  without coating. The smoke from the room was leaving apparently through a "kapnodoki" or "kapni"a form of chimney, as mentioned in the sources. Examples of "esties" found in homes of Priene, in the house or more rarely in yard.

Read more about Greek ancient life here: http://www.tmth.gr/sciencerelated/64-arxaia-elliniki-technology/353-arxaia-katoikia-b



(Source: http://www.tmth.gr/home)