We visited the old Olive Tree called Mana Elia in October 2020 and participated in various activities during our visit. You can watch the video of our visit below.

The Olive Tree Mana-Elia was standing there when:
...the Crusades conquered Constantinople in 1204
...Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 in Italy
...the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453
...Columbus discovered America in 1492
...the Venetians ruled Cyprus 
...the Religious Reformation took place in the 16th century
...the Greek Revolution happened in 1821
...the Italian unification happened in 1861
...the German empire was founded in 1871
...the EEC, the ancestor of the EU, was founded in Rome (1957)(Italy and German were of the founding members)
...Greece became the 10th member of the EEC
...the Berlin Wall fell in 1989
...Cyprus joined the European Union, together with nine other countries in 2004

In Messinia, there are many places of natural interest that are worth visiting. The students of Paralias High School of Kalamata have searched for information and are presenting the rivers Aris, Nethodas, and Neda and the waterfalls of Polylimnio. Click here to see more.

During the Greek Revolution, around 1826, there were destructions and lootings of villages in the Peloponnese, as well as destructions in agricultural production, burning and uprooting of most of the olive trees. Only this olive tree remained untouched. Everyone began to take its branches for planting new olives in the region. It is considered that all the olive trees of Kalamata and surrounding areas originate from this tree.

The Mana – Elia, a tree of 14 meters height and a trunk perimeter of around 9 meters, stands for hundreds of years in the area of Kalamata, reminiscent of the city’s close relationship with the olive.

 This tree is of the variety ‘Aetonycholia Kalamata “because of its large leaves and large oblong oval fruit, which remind of almond or grape berry, ie ” eagle-claw (aetonychi) “.

 It is a monument of nature, almost 800-1000 years old according to others 1733 years.