FRANTOIO SAN MARTINO SSA

Maurizio and Claudio are the young owners of the “Azienda Frantoio San Martino”, located in Dolcedo, a small centre of the Prino Valley. The entroterra of Imperia Porto Maurizio is the fit setting for this entrepreneurial story, deeply rooted in the atmospheres and landscapes of western Liguria rural valleys – the cradle of olive growing. The beating heart of the azienda is the ancient oil mill, which stands by the banks of the rio (i.e. brook) Boschi, a tributary of the Prino. Channels The bare rock the beds of these streams are made of is the same in which the mill’s water conveying channels were dug into. The family mill is set in the hamlet of San Martino, a settlement of ancient devotion (before the 11^th century) which still treasures a tiny chapel dedicated to the Saint. The watermill is cared after by Aunt Vincenza, the heir of the brothers’ great-grandfather, who bought it in 1932. The millstones and the men-powered press were first substituted with new granite millstones, then by a modern three-phase cold-press mill. Olives also come from family campagne (i.e. plots, groves) situated in nearby fertile valleys, e.g the Agazza valley. Names such as Castello, Brinsuà, Pusoi and Runseia narrate the history of the area, the construction of a first fortified settlement in Bestagno and – starting from the 15^th century – the quest for tillable soil, a challenging tale of dry stone terraces and olive growing. Olive trees are monuments, historical and vegetal, living the closest of relationships with men. The family’s other possessions reach (further east) the Merula valley in the entroterra of Andora (province of Savona). The village of Conna faces the vast plots of Costa and Molini (i.e. mills), which – coherently – provide olives to the oil mill in San Martino di Dolcedo.