Pafitena’s Olive Mill

The traditional Pafitena’s Olive Mill is located in the centre of Spilia village. It was built in the last century, as evidenced by its press, which is engraved with the date of 1894. It belonged to Katerina Koutsoloizi (Pafitena) from Spilia, wife of Nikolaos Alexandros from Paphos. The olive mill had a crusher, which was made of stone. The olives were crushed by a huge millstone, which was turned either by the villagers themselves or by donkey.

The broken olives entered a sieve-like basket, where it was pressed with a vice and the oil was obtained. The oil, which came out with the water, ended up in a “dana” (open basket), through a small groove engraved at the base of the press. The press is made of oak. The separation of the oil from the water was done with a special clay pot or by hand. The oil then entered clay pots, the “tzares”. When the separation was finished, the residue was transferred to another jar at the other corner of the olive mill.

The olive mill operated around 1955. When neighboring communities acquired more modern mills, it was put out of service and transport was improved with cars. The stone part of the mill was destroyed, but fortunately the oak press is still intact. The mill was turned into a stable. After that, it was completely abandoned and began to collapse over time.

In 1990, the Association of the Friends of Spilia – Kourdali bought the Olive Mill and then called the Department of Antiquities, which declared it an ancient monument. In 1993 – 95 it was restored at the expense of the Emigrants Association and the Department of Antiquities.

Location

Monuments

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