Parga

On our way to Parga we could find a museum in a olive oil factory.

This museum had an outer part where the olives were introduced from the areas close to the town. Mainly women worked washing olives and selecting for further processing inside.

Once inside, the olives were weighed and incorporated into the mill to be squeezed, this required the work of a diesel engine water-cooling; the resulting hot water was used to do the cleaning by the women. Hot water also was used for the extraction of oil, very different from today’s, since they needed big amount rather than quality.

Detail of scale

Mill

German-made diesel engine

Finished the process at the mill, that could last up to half an hour, the resulting paste went through a press. The oil and water mixture obtained was allowed to stand in tanks of wood for several days until the water and the oil separated because of the density difference.

Press

Wood for decanting tanks

Factory wastes were thrown reaching the sea, and the oil was bottled. In 1979 the factory was shut down due to contamination that occurred on the beach in Parga, incompatible with the emerging tourism.

Ducts for waste disposal.

We thank IliasLiakris ( Paragaea) for the information provided.

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