Oil production
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Lo que dice el Arxiduc:
“They say that the olive oil from Paxos is the best of all the Ionian Islands, though its manufacturing process is still very primitive. There are 112 oil mills, litruvio, on the island, 68 in the town of Lakka and the others in Gaios. The oil mill has a large round stone, with a central axis to keep it vertical and a mule or donkey to move it. Above are two goat horns to protect against the evil eye; it’s an old custom. The mashed olives are placed into baskets called sifrides which are then flattened using a manual press. The men in charge of this task use all their strength to move the press rods and accompany their work with a savage ‘hei, hei’ which you can hear day and night in winter all along Paxos’ valleys.
The oil pours into a type of well where it settles and clarifies. Pressed olives are sometimes sent to Corfu where they’re pressed again to extract more oil. In recent times, more modern presses are beginning to be used, and there are already three wooden ones which turn with the help of a lathe moved by a rope. Within the mills, like in Spain, they still use primitive lights called foties, which are two rectangular troughs made of steel. The oil is stored in a stone deposit ( pila); an old example can still be seen in Agios Karalambos. These recipients haven’t been made on Paxos for 15 years now; they’re brought from Malta.”
Datos proyecto Nixe III:
During our visit to Paxos we saw some shops selling oil and other local products to tourists. At any rate, tourism has now become the primary economic activity on the island. This can be seen in the fact that oil production has lost its importance. Many landowners on the island only produce oil for their own consumption.
In terms of how the oil is produced, please see the comparative report dedicated to Parga in which we described the methods used.
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