Imagine being so old that the pyramids of Egypt seem like toddlers compared to you, and yet, you still go to work every day. That’s the reality for one gnarly old-timer standing proud on the Greek island of Crete. The Olive Tree of Vouves, estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000 years old, is not only the oldest known olive tree on Earth, it’s still producing olives! This weathered marvel has outlived empires, withstood wars, and dodged countless droughts, but it’s still shaking its silvery mane in the breeze and doing what olive trees do best: bearing fruit. Talk about ancient productivity goals.
A Tree Older Than History Books
Nestled in the tiny village of Ano Vouves in Crete, this living relic sprouted long before Homer wrote a single verse and centuries before Socrates was even a twinkle in Zeus’s eye. Believed to have taken root around 2000 BC, or earlier, this olive tree has survived through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman occupation, and more modern Mediterranean mayhem.
What makes it even more jaw-dropping? It’s still in mint condition, well, for a tree of its vintage. The Olive Tree of Vouves is revered not just as a tree, but as a living museum of sorts. It’s so important to Greek heritage that it’s protected by law and has its own museum right next door, the Olive Tree Museum of Vouves, where curious visitors can ogle at olive presses older than most family trees.
This Tree Has Better Genes Than You
One reason the Vouves tree is still kicking (and fruiting) is its variety, Tsounati, a robust cultivar known for its hardiness and flavour-rich olives. But even scientists are scratching their heads in awe. When experts analysed its DNA, they found it genetically unique, which may explain its apparent invincibility against disease and age.
In fact, it’s so tough, this tree doesn’t even flinch at wildfires. It has survived centuries of environmental threats and human blunders, standing its ground even as newer groves have been wiped clean.
The girthy base of the tree is a twisted sculpture of bark and time, measuring 4.6 metres in diameter and 12.5 metres in circumference. That’s large enough to make most suburban trees weep in leafy jealousy.
Fruit Fit for an Olympian
Here’s where things get properly Greek-legend level epic: the olives this tree produces have been used to make the olive wreaths (kotinos) awarded to Olympic athletes. That’s right, champions at the Athens Olympics in 2004 had their brows graced by branches from this tree. Imagine winning gold and being crowned with twigs older than civilisation itself. That’s next-level prestige.
And yes, the olives are still harvested, pressed, and bottled into liquid gold. While you can’t buy them at your local Woolies, the oil is a prized commodity among locals and lucky visitors. The taste? Rich, peppery, and deeply earthy, flavours steeped in four millennia of sunshine and survival.
Local Treasure, Global Wonder
The Olive Tree of Vouves isn’t just a horticultural phenomenon; it’s a cultural cornerstone. Locals treat it with near-religious reverence. Couples get married beneath its knotted branches, and tourists from around the world come to touch a piece of living history.
While many olive trees live for centuries, very few cross into millennia. This one didn’t just cross it, it moonwalked past. In a world obsessed with the latest tech, the Vouves olive tree is a green, leafy reminder that sometimes the oldest things are still the most extraordinary.
