An olive tree believed to be 3,000 years old stands in the hamlet of Vouves on the Greek island of Crete. “The Olive Tree of Vouves” is tough and robust, and it still produces fruit today. Because, evidently, olives are classified as a food.
Ticia Verveer, an archaeologist, tweeted a photo of the tree earlier this week, noting that it “stood here when Rome burned in AD64, and Pompeii was buried under a thick carpet of volcanic ash in AD79.” All of this occurred during the tree’s youth.
Every year, an estimated 20,000 individuals view the tree. If a journey to Crete is out of the question, you can take a video walk of the Olive Tree Museum of Vouves and see this 3D model of the tree.
Six other similar trees thought to be 2,000-3,000 years old can be found across the Mediterranean–some of our last surviving links to an ancient world. And lovely ones at that.
