Le prime olive nella Penisola ItalicaThe first olives in the Italian peninsula

Challenge:
Olive Bars

  • Safety (COVID-19 ALERT)
    Studies confirm the disease spreads with droplets released by nose and mouth. Transmission is possible only through direct contact with the surfaces where the droplets land.
  • Store Footprint
    Valuable retail space missed for cross-merchandising.
  • Labor
    Deli managers waste time and money to setup, refresh and take down.
La pianta dell’olivo originaria dell’Asia, probabilmente della regione Caucasica, è stata introdotta nella penisola Italiana da un popolo misterioso, al quale è stato dato dagli storici moderni il nome di Pelasgi. Giacomo Leopardi ne scrive approfonditamente nel suo "Zibaldone", sulla base delle sue intuizioni e conoscenze archeologiche, racconta che i Pelasgi in seguito ad una sanguinosa guerra che imperversò nel Mediterraneo orientale, fuggirono verso occidente portando con loro i semi delle piante d’Olivo (intorno al500 a.C.). I cultivar Italiani sembrerebbero essere il risultato di secoli di migrazioni di diversi popoli nella nostra penisola. Le prime zone ad essere coltivate furono le regioni Adriatiche ed in seguito alla migrazione verso il Tirreno la pianta fu introdotta in tutto il centro Italia.Gli Etruschi prima ed i Romani poi ereditarono questo patrimonio. Altra origine hanno le olive del sud-Italia, i primi oliveti in Sicilia ed in Puglia apparvero molti secoli dopo trapiantati dai dominatori Saraceni ed Aragonesi.

The olive tree is native to Asia, probably of the Caucasian region and was first introduced in the Italian peninsula by mysterious people to which modern historians have given the name of Pelasgians. Giacomo Leopardi wrote extensively about them in his opera "Lo Zibaldone", basing his considerations on personal knowledge and archaeological insights. He affirmed that the Pelasgians migrated to the Adriatic coast of Italy as a result of a bloody war that raged in the eastern Mediterranean, bringing with them seeds of many plants among others the Olive. Italian cultivars appear to be a result of centuries of genetic mix with seeds brought by several migrating people in the country. The first cultivated area was the Adriatic region then slowly the plant migrated towards the Tyrrhenian Sea and throughout central Italy. The Etruscans and the Romans later inherited this wonderful botanical heritage. The origin of the modern olives of southern Italy, Sicily and Apulia, appears connected with the medieval rulers of these lands: Saracens and the house of Aragon, that transplanted groves from Spain and North Africa.