Historical data / our estate
35 km from Ancient Olympia and at an altitude of 436 meters is the village of Chora in the province of Gortynia and the estate “Ladon” where the indigenous olive variety “Olympia-Choraitiki” is cultivated.
Products of this crop are the olive oils “ladon liberator”, “ladon in arcadia ego” and “ladon thelpousa”, extra virgin olive oils very rich in polyphenols and squalene.
From this variety, at least 2500 years old, “Kotinos” made the wreath of olive leaves that was given to the winners of the Olympic Games in antiquity as a prize, a symbol of world peace and freedom. The olive wreath had a symbolic meaning, considering that it brought luck and divine protection to the crowned athlete.
In 752 BC. during the Sixth Olympics he replaced the apple tree that had been given until then and was introduced as a prize for the winner of the road (the oldest race) by Hercules, in honor of the father of Zeus.
According to mythology, Hercules himself brought the olive tree from his homeland Crete or from the north and planted it in Olympia.
He and his older brother went to Olympia one day to run and it is said that these were the first road races, while Hercules was the first to crown the winner with an olive branch. Flegon Trallianos states that in the first five Olympic Games, the winners were not awarded with a wreath. Later, after consulting the oracle of Delphi, they received the answer that the winner’s wreath should be made of wild olive branches.