Millenary olive trees in Puglia Italy 5Comments
Posted on
April 20, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
Yesterday, it was the WWF day in Italy and so also in Puglia all the beautiful WWF natural reserves were specially open to visitors…and children.
Marika was free from her work at the hospital and.…so this was the perfect occasion for a day outdoor, finally taking pictures of the beautiful flowers which have been coloring the countryside for the past months.
After a first stop at our favorite Natale ice cream artisan (of course Marika and I deserved some energy before the hard work!!) we took our bikes and headed to the nearby natural reserve.
It was sooo beautiful and relaxing: we were surrounded by kilometers and kilometers of brightly colored flowers: violet, yellow, white little flowers and purple poppies.
In the background thousands of olive trees that framed our lovely pictures……
Marika was free from her work at the hospital and.…so this was the perfect occasion for a day outdoor, finally taking pictures of the beautiful flowers which have been coloring the countryside for the past months.
After a first stop at our favorite Natale ice cream artisan (of course Marika and I deserved some energy before the hard work!!) we took our bikes and headed to the nearby natural reserve.
It was sooo beautiful and relaxing: we were surrounded by kilometers and kilometers of brightly colored flowers: violet, yellow, white little flowers and purple poppies.
In the background thousands of olive trees that framed our lovely pictures……
We got so excited that bravely decided to take a secondary road …..
……. suddenly the most beautiful olive trees were around us!
Hundreds of years have passed and these olive trees are still here…..!! It’s just amazing how much more beautiful nature becomes with age and time!
200, 500, 800 years ..or may be more…I and Marika couldn’t agree about their age.
Please help! How old do you think they are?
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I think it’s important to remind people just how unique some things are. The way of life, an old tree that has provided sustenance to generations of families…it almost always crumbles under the weight of corporate greed. It’s good that some people care enough to raise interested in the old ways, the traditional ways. Kudos
The sad thing is that high quality extra virgin olive oil is very expensive to produce in Puglia and not financially rewarding for the very small producers. Therefore a few years ago, the small producers started selling their beautiful millenary trees to the tourists for almost nothing. So, immagine these beautiful trees who had lived for centuries in this soil, with this sun and climate…who has to re-adjust to a new environment.
This was one of the reasons why I started Stile Mediterraneo. I wanted to help the small and select producers promote their products in the international markets. I wanted to share the richness of my beautiful land with others…
Every time we organize the olive oil tours, it is really touching to learn about the passion and effort these producers put to make their small bottles of extra virgin olive oil.
She’s a great photographer, for sure. I’ve loved all the pictures I’ve seen so far.
True enough that a picture can’t embrace the scope of beauty. Still, they are majestic enough seen on my screen. I’ve not been able to see an olive tree that old before, so it’s pretty neat to hear about them.
Grazie mille Tim! Marika is the one who took all the pictures you see on our website and blog. She will be very proud to hear you like them.
I can only tell you that the pictures cannot fully reveal the beauty of these trees!
I’m not an expert, but I would estimate over 1 thousand years.
One of the things that pulled me to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region years ago was my passion for history. When I was a teenager I remember dreaming of becoming a history professor or an archeologist. I took a completely different path through life, but one thing that stuck with me is my hunger for the ancient things, the history of this region, and the sense of wonderment that steals over you when in the presence of such magnificence.
These are amazing photos. Kudos to the both of you on a keen eye for detail. I was awe-struck when I was looking at the pictures of those trees this morning.