The oil mill

In this place the remains of the oldest olive oil mill in Liguria are preserved and reflect the description of oil mills in Cato’s De Agricultura from the 1st century BC.

The first phase of processing took place in a space where a millstone was positioned; the fruit of the pressing was an olive paste that was placed in correspondence with two presses (only one remains) present in the raised space. Here, on a circular limestone element embedded in the floor, a pile was created made up of alternating layers of olive paste and vegetable fibre discs that were pressed through a system of wooden beams.

The oil flowed into a small channel until it reached a tank and was then transferred to large underground terracotta containers that guaranteed optimal conservation and that formed the cella olearia.

The large quantity of oil testified by these containers leads us to think that a part of it must have been destined for sale.