About

Our traditional way of producing olive oil since 1918 also holds my family’s story. The story begins in the island of Lesbos. In 1909, as a youngling, my great grandfather left his birthplace Iskamya village in Lesbos. The reason behind his family’s departure was the population exchange between Greece and Ottoman Empire.  In a small boat, the family crossed the Aegean see and landed to Behram. From there, their next destination was Altinoluk on the shore of Aegean see. With them, the family brought their traditional methods of producing olive oil. My great great-grandfather moved his family into a house whose original resident, a Greek Orthodox priest, moved to Greece as part of the population exchange. My family lived in this house for decades. It was also my father’s birthplace. The family converted the basement into a storage and sold our now famous olive oil from a store they built next to it. The containers in which the oil was sold carried my great grandfather’s initials, HH. Since my early childhood, I’ve always referred to this house as the ‘little house’. One of my vivid memories growing up was the distinct smell of olive oil in the little house. Our tradition of making olive oil has been carried over from generation to generation just like the story of my family.

 

 

Iskamya



Altınoluk 1930

 

Altınoluk 2012

Altınoluk 2012