Crete, a Blessed Place
“Olive trees are a symbol, a tree so strong that can live on for centuries…”
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Kolimvari, Crete
A northwest area on the island of Crete, designated as PDO “Kolimvari, Chania, Crete” by the EU since 1993 and famous for the quality of the extra virgin olive oil produced there thanks to its special microclimate.
The Olive Grove
The olive grove of the Psyllaki family has been certified since 1994 and it is one of the first in Greece to produce solely organic olive oil.
The olive grove of Teresa Psyllaki is located at the village of Zympragos, one of the 28 villages demarcating the Kolimvari PDO area.
- Zympragos is a semi-mountainous village with 15 permanent residents at an altitude of 350m spreading across an area of 380 hectares.
- It is 15km away from the coast and it has a Mediterranean mild climate.
- The Psyllaki family possesses a total of 5,000 olive trees spread across an area of 17 hectares.
- The Teresa Psyllaki Estate possesses 6.5 hectares of land and 1,500 olive trees ranging from 60 to 100 years old.
- The name of the village comes from the Greek verb “sympratto” which means collaborate. The name “Sympragos” meaning twin also originates from this verb. The village is referred to by Francisco Barocci in 1577 as Sibragu and in Pietro Castrofilaca’s census of 1583 as Sibragù (K238) and Ximabragù (K225) having 192 residents and 25 outstanding chores. Francesco Basilicata refers to the village as Sibragù and Antonio Trivan as Asibragù. In the Egyptian census of 1834 it is mentioned as Stazibtagù having 3 Christian and 20 Muslim families.
