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The story of Olive Mill 

Hi!
We are Anna and Ioanna, two beloved sisters. We would like to tell you a beautiful story about a place we love very much! I hope you enjoy your journey with us. Come, then, let's all liven up this place together, "Kari's liotridi", as it has been known for many years. And if you don't know it, the word "liotridi" in Nisyri means the oil press, the olive press.

Once upon a time, in beautiful Nisyros, in a beautiful traditional neighborhood called Lagadi, there lived a large family. Christos and Anna Christoforou had six children, four boys and two girls. They had fields which they cultivated and they all lived together as lovers. However, when the children were still young, Christos Christoforou died and their uncle, George Christoforou, who had the nickname "German" perhaps because he was very stubborn and hardly changed his mind, took care of them.

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The "German" took care of the children as if they were his own since he himself had no children. He kept one of the grocery stores of the time and dedicated his life to their upbringing. In 1910 he built an olive mill near the family home. The building we are in now. Later he also built a house which he gave to his niece Asimeni. When she got married, her husband, Nikolaos K. Karakonstantinos, took over the function of the liotrid. And because he was called "Kari" for short, he was known as "Kari's Pearl".

Our olive mill experienced moments of glory since people from all parts of the island came and milled their olives there, since it was the largest with the most modern machines for the time. There are many who have to remember various stories that they lived there or that they heard from their relatives. Stories of toil during work but also of carefree as they always found time to party, sing and rest. The "Liotridi of Karis" was the last operating liotrid of the island which operated until the mid-70s. Today it belongs to the daughter of Nikolaos Karakonstantinou, Anna Billi Karakonstantinou, that is, to our wonderful grandmother!

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At first the olives were ground on a smaller plate that had a manual millstone. In the photo you see our great-grandfather N. Karakonstantinos (Kari) together with the workers of the olive grove who move the millstone to grind the olives. They often ground agramitsa together with dried figs and in this way made an amazing dessert. Later, Karis made some changes and that's how the liotrid got its current form. He replaced the old manual millstone that was in the center of the liotridium with a much larger one that was made in Kos after a special order. The new millstone was pulled by a mule, at first by Kitsos and later by Katina.

Look how our great-grandfather tied Katina and she dragged the millstone, which, as you can see, is really huge! What great years! How many stories have we heard from our grandmother about this place. We can close our eyes and be transported with our imagination to that time. We can see the machinery coming to life, the horse laboriously turning the millstone, the people working with gusto and everyone working together to create the precious olive oil! We close our eyes and smells come to our noses, we hear conversations, laughter and teasing, but above all we feel the love and warmth that this place had and still has! We hope you will love him as much as we do and keep a sweet memory from your tour of our olive mill, "Liotridi tou Karis".

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Texts - Photos | Asimeni Tr. Billi