The conservation of traditional olive oil mills in Cyprus

Abstract

Naturally grown and still present in the rural areas of Cyprus, olives and the oil they produce have had a significant place for Cypriots. Since olive oil has been used widely for culinary, religious, and medical purposes throughout history, the methods of oil extraction have developed from being very basic in ancient times to the machinery production of today. Olive mills that house this activity became integral parts of villages where olive groves were dense. More recently the establishment of large factories rendered traditional olive mills redundant and the lack of maintenance of these has resulted in serious deterioration. This paper presents olive oil mills as witnesses of a traditional way of life and a significant feature of the rural landscapes of Cyprus, and aims to develop conservation proposals. It focuses on the olive oil mills in the villages of the Karpas region, which has largely maintained its rural character and houses dense olive groves. The architectural and structural characteristics of 18 olive oil mills with traditional machinery that are located in 14 villages are documented and analysed. The study identifies major building defects and presents conservation strategies to address 12 olive oil mills.