Traiguera is in a region that is home to more than 6,000 millenary olive trees. The Taula de Senia, made up of municipalities along the Senia river basin, is notable for the highest density of monumental olives anywhere in the world.

A millenary olive tree is classified by their girth (>3.5m at 1.3m above soil level), but clearly trees that meet the criteria are extremely old. The oldest exceed 1,000 years, and some date back to a time when Jesus Christ walked the earth, and the Roman Empire was the dominant force in Europe.

We wanted to know more about these magnificent trees , so we booked ourselves onto an Olive Oil Experience with local oil producer Acietes Peset. Having turned his hand to olive production in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008, While working on the groves, Amador Peset began discovering long-forgotten ancient trees and began recovering them to better health and a productive state. 

Amador is now custodian to more than 100 millenary olive trees, including the Sinfo Olive tree which has recently been awarded Best Monumental Olive Tree of the Mediterranean^*.  Like the trees he cares for, Amador is quite unassuming and carries his responsibilities lightly. But his passion for the trees is unmistakable and his desire to protect them for future generations is sincere.

Standing under the boughs of the Sinfo is a humbing experience. While our human lifetimes are measured in decades, the Sinfo olive is estimated to be between 2000-3000 years old. The Sinfo, and others like it, offer a tangible link to the countless generations who planted and tended to these trees. The stories the Sinfo olive could tell… 

Even at their great age, these trees still fruit – something that no other tree species manage to do. And this, in part, has been key to their survival to the modern day. 

But it is really the trees greatest weakness that has been their greatest asset, and the most important reason why so many of them live on to millenary status.

Olive wood is beautiful, having a deep, honey colour, and richly patterned grain. In the hands of craftsmen it is turned into bowls, serving boards, and any number of ornamental objects.  All are instantly recognisable as olive wood by look and feel. 

But sawn olive wood does not last well exposed to the elements, and is not suited to exterior carpentry like doors or windows, or ship building. 

With little use for large planks of olive wood, the oldest olive trees tended to be abandoned rather than felled, while their younger counterparts were intensively farmed for olives. Growers considered the monumental trees to be too much trouble for such little oil, and left them to become overgrown and forgotten relics.

Through the work of specialists like Amador, more of these trees are being rediscovered and given a second life. The oil tasting at the end of our olive experience revealed the incredible, subtle flavours in the oil from millenary olives.  We enjoyed an amazing morning out in the olive groves, with our affection deepened for these incredible beasts of the groves.

Now back in production and with legally protected status, the future for the Millenary Olives looks secure. In the future, many more generations of visitors will have the opportunity to visit them and marvel as we have. Even as our own lifetimes fade into the history books, the Millenary Olives will live on.

Discover these magnificent trees yourself during your stay at Casa de Olivos, and book your Sinfo Olive Tree & Oil Tasting here.

Claire & Ed

* RECOMED 1^st Mediterranean Contest to the Best Ancient Olive Tree. 

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