Olive Grove Road

OLIVE GROVE ROAD

Olive is the common ground of life in the Mediterranean Basin. It is a part of everyday life of the Mediterranean and Aegean people ever since prehistorical ages and is the most characteristic product of the Izmir Peninsula with its culture, taste and economic value. Such that, the first modern olive oil atelier is in the ancient city of Klazomenai in Urla. The route that passes through Güzelbahçe, Çeşme, Seferihisar, Menderes and Selçuk has been formed after the field survey carried out by the Zeytince Association.

Headed by Prof. Dr. F. Barbaros from Zeytince Association and E. Iplikci , Zeytince team worked on a voluntary basis in the formation and creation of the Olive Route . The project lasted for 10 months and during this period Zeytince team visited and documented the Monumental olive trees, olive oil ateliers, water sources, olive oil factories, observation terraces, olive grinding places, stones used in olive oil production, camping fields, wells, windmills and watermills route. 68 olive trees, ranging in age between 300 and 2000 years, were identified and marked as the most significant indicators of olive culture in the Peninsula.
Olive Grove route, consisting of 7 stages, connects to the “World Gourmet Cities Network” (DELICE) of which Izmir is a member. İzmir, and accordingly the Peninsula region, is included in the world gastronomy tourism route after the membership process, which was completed in January 2015 with the partnership of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and İzmir Chamber of Commerce.