Olive Press - Maçainhas

Category: Culture and Entertainment > Museum

District: Castelo Branco > Belmonte > Maçainhas > Quinta Cimeira

Location

The Maçainhas Olive Oil Mill is located in the village of Maçainhas, a settlement in the municipality of Belmonte. Situated in the Quinta Cimeira area, this space is part of an environment that reflects the profound agricultural tradition of the region, marked by the presence of olive trees and a landscape that evokes the typical rurality of Beira Baixa.

Memory and Heritage

This mill represents a point of interest that preserves the memory of olive oil production in the region. After being recovered from a state of abandonment, the site was preserved to become a living testimony to the rural past. Its renovation allowed it to remain a significant element of Maçainhas' cultural identity, highlighting the historical value of olive oil activity for the community.

The Olive Oil Cycle

The Maçainhas Olive Oil Mill is a space dedicated to understanding the ancestral process of olive oil production. Here, it is possible to perceive how, over time, olives were transformed into the precious "liquid gold". The place evokes the "tibornias", which are moments of fellowship where new olive oil was tasted with bread, and the "lagaradas", which refer to the collective experience and hard work of the olive harvest campaign, illustrating the cultural importance of this food.