“Zarkadi” Olive Grove

Welcome to Zarkadi olive grove, which produces 55 trees of the Manaki variety and the local Ladoelia (oil-producing olive) and is located 10 kilometers northwest of the village of Fichtia, at an elevation of around 400 meters.

The grove and the wider area were named after the fact that back in the early days a large number of roe deer, which were watered by a river of the area, used to inhabit here. The river left behind a very fertile ground of red soil mixed with traces of river soil.

It was 55 years ago when our grandfather Nikos planted 55 olive trees in their wild forms (wild olive trees) in the area of Zarkadi. Later on, having had the experience from his long-standing contact with the earth and the passion to cultivate it, he inoculated them and successfully turned them into the Manaki variety and the local Ladoelia (oil-producing olive). That way, he created a bi- varietal, non-irrigated olive grove, aiming at superior taste and quality.

The biodiversity of the place with its rich flora (oak trees, mulberry trees, arbutuses, cypresses, plane trees, pine trees, kermes, gorses, thymes, wild chamomiles, edible greens), as well as fauna (foxes, hares, eagles, hawks, feral pigeons, boars, songbirds – nightingales, goldfinches, greenfinches and the rare “black-headed bunting”) are evidence that nature provides its services with quality, the one we seek for our olive oil. Given the huge role the conservation of biodiversity plays in our life and health, we adamantly refuse to be involved in its loss through the use of chemical substances and pesticides, which, unfortunately, are now inextricably linked to the agricultural production. This is the big challenge we pose to ourselves and the people that trust us.