Cyclades Olive Museum 

Ano Pitrofos - Andros island

SEE also the newer Museum's website: HERE

Cyclades Olive Museum's Guest House: See and book HERE 

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     OPENING DAYS & HOURS with tour through the history of olive oil extraction

01 July  up to 31 August : SATURDAY - SUNDAY - MONDAY  with guided tours

 GUIDED TOURS: 10:30 ,  11:30 ,  12:30 ,  13:30 ,  14:30 

Rest of the year:  BY APPOINTMENT at: (+30) 6932731776  Mr. Dimitris Chelmis

To arrange a visit for organized groups call at: (+30) 6932731776  Mr. Dimitris Chelmis

The olive mill in Pitrofos, also known as the Pitrofos "vida" takes up most of the ground floor ("katogi") of a two storey stone building. The upper floor is occupied as the owner's home.

The mill is a fine example of a small, pre-industrial, animal powered olive oil production unit. Its facade and internal stonework have been beautifully restored, preserving all the important original features that are typical of Cycladic island architecture and agriculture of the period.

The mill also has some unusual features. In most olive mills on Andros the whole production process was carried out in one small room. In contrast, the Pitrofos mill was separated into a number of different rooms where different stages of the process were carried out.
In the village, the house was also known as the "Bishop's House" or "Despotiko" in Greek, as the Bishop ("Despotis") of Varna (now a city in Bulgaria), who had originated from Pitrofos, returned there in 1823 to spend the last years of his life. Original features of the building, including three mill-stones, two stone milling plates and other structural details show that the mill was in use much earlier than the 18th century, with some elements dating back more than 400 years.

The owner, Dimitris Chelmis, personally guides visitors around the mill, explaining all the stages of the oil production process: the animal powered mill in one room, the cleverly engineered press in another, and finally the storage room where temperatures were naturally regulated by the design and construction of its massive walls. The finer details of "extra virgin" and "cold pressed" olive oil are clearly explained and visitors will never look at olive oil the same way again.

Finally, seated in the cool of the mill's ancient storage cellar, visitors are invited to watch a video showing the restored mill once again producing olive oil in the traditional way, with its original equipment. Restoration of the mill has been a labour of love for Mr Chelmis, and the video captures the joyful time when the mill was once again able to produce olive oil, powered by a donkey and operated by men who had worked the mill decades earlier. The museum not only gives visitors a new perspective on the olive oil they use every day; it also provides an unforgettable glimpse into the life of a Cycladic island village.

The olive museum ranked 1st out of 5 museums and 1st out of 35 things to do in Andros   and 2nd out of  120 museums in Cyclades  by tripadvisor which is the world's largest travel site.

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