Founded in 1974, the community is connected to the legendary Mount Athos and is today Greece's largest women's monastery, home to over a hundred nuns. Their lives are not only about spirituality but also about preserving traditional agriculture and artisanal food production.
What truly makes Ormylia special is the rare unity of monastic discipline, collective work, and authentic production– a world that has remained almost entirely untouched by the logic of industrial food production.
A living economy shaped by faith
When the sisters arrived, the area was far from the lush olive grove we see today. Through decades of persistent work, they transformed the landscape, planting and tending the trees that now form the basis of the monastery's economy.
Here, agriculture is not merely work – it is an integral part of daily life and faith.
During harvest time, the entire community works together in a special tradition called pagoinia. At this time, all other activities take a back seat, and the nuns together, by hand, pick the olives, one by one.
This is where nature, tradition, and spirituality meet – and this philosophy is reflected in every single bottle.
From tree to packaging – patient, slow processing
The olives grown here are of the famous Chalkidiki variety: large, fleshy, bright green olives with a pure, slightly bitter, and subtly piquant taste.
What truly distinguishes these olives is the method of processing:
- each olive is picked by hand
- no chemical accelerators are used
- processing takes place in natural brine
- the extraction of bitterness can take up to 9 months
This is the complete opposite of industrial production. It is a slow, conscious, and nature-friendly process, resulting in pure-tasting, exceptional texture olives.
The entire process is supervised by the sisters, combining traditional knowledge with modern quality assurance systems and an organic approach.
