Τhe countryside of Kavousi presents many reference points around the history and culture of olive cultivation in Crete. While walking with our passionate archaeologist, travellers will meet the oldest and most respected lady of Eastern Crete, the 3200-year old monumental olive tree, and will visit the oldest settlement in the island that had an oil press building: Azorias, a city that has its roots back on the 7th century BC.
According to the myth, the first olive tree was a gift given by the goddess Athena to the ancient city of Athens. Another olive tree was planted by Hercules in the ancient Olympia. According to the scientific evidence, the oldest edible olives in Europe were found in the Minoan palaces of Knossos, Phaistos and Zakros, served in cups, and the cultivation of the olive in Crete goes back at least to the 3rd millennium BC. Scriptures, symbols, constructions and storage jars indicate the production of olive oil in Crete and its trade throughout the Mediterranean in all times eversince. However, the best witness for the timelessness of olive cultivation and culture are some among the thousands olives that capture the Cretan landscape today: the ancient, monumental olive trees.
