Olive Oil Museum

Museu do Azeite? That’s Olive Oil Museum, for those of you not fluent in Portuguese! In the town of Belmonte (map) in northeast central Portugal (pictured), small producers would bring their olives to the municipal press in order to get olive oil — like farmers used to take their grain to the local mill and go home with flour.

This press, first put into operation in the 1800s, continued to be used until 1995. Now the building houses a museum to show not only how olive oil is made, but to delineate its importance to the local economy.

I’ve enjoyed olive oil for years, but I’d never seen how it was produced. Here’s what I learned at the museum: Olives are placed in a drum (big enough for about 880 to 1100 pounds of the fruit). Then, a grinder (connected to a steam engine) churns them into a pulp that’s mixed with water and heated by a boiler. After churning, the pulp is layered between round wicker mats called seiras and pressed. The liquid is collected, then transferred to a vertical drum that spins at high speed, separating the olive oil, water and impurities by centrifugal force.

Museu do Azeite is a small museum with a shop selling local produce (including artisanal olive oil), but definitely worth a stop. Between mid-September and mid-June, it’s open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (you remember that the Portuguese like to close for lunch, right?). Between mid-June and mid-September, it’s open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 2:30 to 6 p.m.

The town of Belmonte, which received its charter from the Portuguese king in 1199, is located on the slopes of Monte da Esperança. When I visited, I stayed at the Pousada Convento de Belmonte (map), which was built as Nossa Senhora da Esperança Convent. Now completely rebuilt and (of course) modernized, it’s a magnificent small hotel. There’s more information about traveling in Portugal online.

What: Museu do Azeite

Where: Belmonte, Portugal

Must try: Sample the olive oil of the day!

(Photos by Susan McKee)