The history of the olive mill

Once upon a time in Nisyros, at the beautiful Lagadi, lived the large family of Christos and Anna Christoforou, who had six children, four boys and two girls. Unfortunately, when the children were still young, their father Christos Christoforou died and their care was taken over by their uncle, George Christoforou, who was nicknamed "Germanos" (perhaps because he was very stubborn and hardly changed his mind).

Germanos took care of the children as if they were his own, and he had no other children. He ran a grocery store and dedicated his life to their upbringing. In 1910, he built an olive mill near to his family home. Later, he built a another house and gave it to his niece, Asimeni. When she got married, her husband, Nikolaos K. Karakonstantinos, took over the running of the liotridi. He was called "Karis" for short, and it became known as Kari's olive mill (Liotridi of Kari).

Our olive mill was the last active one on the island and operated until the mid-1970s. Today, it belongs to the daughter of Nikolaos K. Karakonstantinou, Anna Billi Karakonstantinou.

The production of olive oil was a exhausting process; yet it was done with love and passion. In the beginning, the olives were ground on a smaller stone surface that had a manual millstone for crushing the olive fruit. In the photo, you can see N. Karakonstantinos (Kari) together with the workers of the liotridi who turn the millstone. They often ground together agramithia with dried figs to make the traditional, delicious dessert of Nisyros.

In 1968, Karis made some changes to the mill, bringing the liotridi into its current form. He replaced the old manual millstone that was in the center of the liotridi with a much larger one that was made in Kos after a special order. His was the only olive mill in Mandraki where the millstone was turned with the power of an animal.

This new mechanism was placed into the rock (cave) of the liotridi, and the rest of the machines changed places on the ground floor.

This liotridi, carved into the rock, calls up unforgettable memories. People from all parts of the island came to mill their olives there, since it was the largest and had the most modern machinery at that time. Many carry the memory of milling olives at the Liotridi of Kari, stories from when they lived in Mandraki or that they heard from their relatives. Stories of hard work but also of carefree hours, too. They always found time to entertain themselves, singing and telling jokes with family, workers, and visitors.

The olive mill, where my mom grew up and made memories with her parents, is finally coming back to life! As for my grandfather, Nikos, and my grandmother, Asimeni,...

I wish from above
may their souls rejoice
and we here to have
always their wish

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