Tirana has the oldest olive trees in the entire territory of Albania and the highest density of old olive trees.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301614144_Millennia_Olives_in_Albania .

The specimens found in areas of Tirana, such as Petrela, Lanabregas, Tufin, Prezë, Brar, and Tujan, show the antiquity of Albanian olive trees, which have a circumference of up to 30 meters and are estimated to be almost 3000 years old. Professor Hairi Ismaili has dedicated his entire academic life to the study of Albanian olive trees, and in particular those of Tirana. The capital cultivates about 600 thousand olive trees, several thousand years old of the “white of Tirana” variety. The olive is associated with antiquity and is a cultural heritage, since it was planted by humans and lives a long time, and its age is completely measurable in several ways.

The oldest is the olive tree of Tujan, about 3000 years old, which also matches the archaeological age of this territory, as we have explained above. Similarly, the olive trees of Tufina, Petrela, etc. are almost 3000 years old. According to Professor Ismail, olive trees are another piece of evidence of the antiquity and rural civilization of Albanians. Of the 21 very old olive trees, 3 of them are over 3000 years old, says Professor Ismail’s study. They are near castles or ruins. In addition to the ancient period, the tradition of planting olive trees took a leap during the time of Skanderbeg, where, according to a rule instigated by Skanderbeg, every young couple when getting married had to plant olive roots and this became a tradition that was inherited for centuries.

Not only that, but at celebrations, at weddings, the crown was made of olive branches, a custom inherited from the Illyrian tradition. Today the area of ​​Petrela, Persqop, Ndroqi, Marikaj, Tufina, is full of olives. Albania has the oldest olives in the Mediterranean. Today there are 60 thousand hectares of olives, and 12 million olive trees, of which 1.6 million are centuries-old, dating back 500-3700 years. Most of the 500-year-old olives are associated with the time of Skanderbeg, while the others are more ancient, certainly with the life of the proto-Illyrians.

This article is part of the Tirana Heritage Routes, a project by DMO ALBANIA, in the framework of the BOOST Balkans program, implemented by ALDA and consortia, funded by AFD France