Museum of Industrial Olive Oil Production in Lesvos

The museum in Agia Paraskevi on the island of Lesvos,a site of the Museum Network of the Cultural Foundation of the Piraeus Bank Group (PIOP), is located in a former communal oil mill, in which both architectural features and the machines have been restored to their original condition. The principal theme of the displays is the changes that the introduction of mechanical power brought to the process of oil-production. The principal phases in oil production, crushing the olives, pressing the olive pulp and separating the oil from water, are clearly explained. The areas where the olive crop was stored before processing are used for displays that illustrate the unusual history of the communal mill and the development of mechanisation across the whole island. The subsidiary role of the mill, for grinding grain to produce flour, is also illustrated.