History
European olive oil, an ancient elixir that contains the warmth of the sun of the mythical Mediterranean bay.

Always considered a symbol of peace, fraternity and prosperity, the olive tree is the plant that, more than any other in the history of humanity, has taken on sacred and magical meanings.

The story of the ancient olive tree is intertwined, like its deep roots, with distant myths and legends: a journey that dates back to eternity, to rediscover the beginnings of a shared heritage that unites peoples and cultures.

Its symbolic strength manifests across the millenia; the trust that mankind has placed in its fruits is carved into its trunk: a story of dedication, love for good and healthy things, time and patient attention.

An essence that shines of its own fascinating story

Mankind has understood the potential of the sacred plant since the sixth millennium BC. And when humans no longer relied only on fishing and hunting to feed themselves, they discovered the pleasure of "healing”, they started believing in their own abilities and established their first bond with the land. Humans nourished it to get its fruits, and began to look with interest at the plans that were born spontaneously, to learn their life cycle and to discover their secrets.
This is when the paths of the olive tree and humankind intertwined.
A bond that would never break was created.
A wild bush, a tree with small fruits and big pits. The pulp is lean but flavourful, rich and dense and its first juice will be the first olive oil in history.

The debut of a captivating story, made up of taste, pleasure, discovery and progress.

The nectar of olive trees has many powers: it heals the wounds of brave hunters as the pain fades thanks to the heat it releases, the muscles - which had to be strong and healthy to fight war - become toned again under the influence of the first oil humanity has known.

According to credible sources, Armenia, Palestine, Syria and Crete are the places of origin of olive growing. King David had the guards inspect the plantations and Solomon paid in oil the carpenters who had built the Temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, the nearby Philistines were the first to use the oil to illuminate homes and to create beneficial healing potions.

Archeology confirms such theories and studies: in the 1980s a campaign led by David Eitham revealed a large plant dating back to 1000 BC. in Tel Mique Akron, near Tel Aviv. In the plant many well-known tools were found such as millstones, mats and presses that produced up to 2000 tons of oil every year.

The olive tree also has a prominent place in sacred and mythological texts - in Genesis, a dove carries an olive branch in its beak to announce a new Alliance between men and God.
Homer, the first storyteller and poet
of the Mediterranean,
named olive oil the ‘liquid gold’.
Romans used it as an ointment to heal ailments and wounds. The Jews used it to make their Kings invincible and the Christians to make chrism, an essence used for their sacred rituals that symbolizes the unity between Heaven and Earth and life and death.

The first oil classification methods date back to Roman times when, depending on the time of maturation and harvest, the product was divided into three categories:

  • oleum acerbum or aestivum: obtained from the pressing of olives harvested in summer;
  • oleum omphacium: produced with fruits picked in November and December;
  • cibarium or maturum or romanicum: obtained by extending the harvest period until January/March.

Olive oil was a valued product in ancient Rome, so much so that the production of olives was introduced in the most remote provinces of the Empire. 

Historical and archaeological evidence of the importance of the trade of olive oil can be found in the ancient Roman quarter “Testaccio”. In ‘Testaccio’ there was an ancient river port, where loads of amphorae were delivered and once emptied they were broken and deposited nearby. The remaining pieces of these containers built up a pile which was denominated ‘"mountain of shards". Because of the vast quantity and range of products put on the market, the Romans felt the need to ‘label’ their products: it was precisely in this era that traces of the first olive oil ‘label’ were found. Velabro, near the Tiber river, was one of the areas dedicated to the sale of the precious olive extract, where a temple dedicated to Ercole Olivario, patron saint of olive oil still stands. The building was commissioned by the republican oil merchant Marcus Octavius ​​Herrenus who, at the end of the second century BC, made a fortune thanks to this valuable product.

The history of oil is one of progress: between 700 and 600 BC. the plant arrived in southern France. Since the Renaissance, the Mediterranean has become the first production center of the best oil in the world, thanks to the cultivars selected over the centuries and the increasingly refined techniques so that the oil is the pure quintessence of the sacred tree.

The millenary and charmful history of this tree is preserved, throbs and lives in today’s European oil - produced with the best cultivars and transformed with the care and attention passed on over the centuries.


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