THE ORIGINS OF OLEA PRILIS

Olea Prilis is a mythical variety of olive tree, one that emerged from the waters of a vanished lake.

lago prilis

THE ORIGIN

Vetulonia was an Etruscan stronghold that dominated the low plains of Grosseto facing the Tyrrhenian Sea as far back as the 7th and early 6th century BC. These low lands were flooded by the salty waters of the lake Prile, or as the Romans called it “Lacus Prilis”. Until the second half of the fourteenth century its salty waters flooded the land of our farm. In those remote days the salt trade was one of Grosseto’s most important economic resources. When the salinity of the lake was lost due to over exploitation, it turned into a stagnant marshland cursed by mosquitos, that so much sufferance carried to this region because they were the vehicle of malaria. It took a painstaking human effort, that started in 1592 and finished in the 1960’s to drain these marshes and to finally give rise to the fertile plains that now home our trees

which we lovingly call the “OLEA PRILIS”.

cavalli maremma toscana

The Maremma Toscana

The unspoilt Tuscan Maremma is not just a land of olive groves, vineyards and spectacular Mediterranean coastline. It is also the land of cowboys and wild horses, where the few remaining legendary horsemen, the Butteri, tend to their cattle as they have done for centuries. We wanted to reflect this tradition, and our personal love of horses, in the choice of our logo – a logo that depicts a solitary wild white horse that legend says roamed the marshes in the moonlight.

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