橄榄树林，伊特里亚山谷，普利亚，意大利 Olive grove, Valle d'Itria, Puglia, Italy (© Massimo Santi/Shutterstock)

橄榄树林，伊特里亚山谷，普利亚，意大利 Olive grove, Valle d'Itria, Puglia, Italy (© Massimo Santi/Shutterstock)

有数百年历史的橄榄树 Many centuries of olive trees

庆祝世界橄榄树日

今天，我们不仅要向你献上橄榄枝，还要献上整棵橄榄树。11月26日是世界橄榄树日，让我们花些时间来欣赏一下这种奇妙的植物吧。大约在8000年前，橄榄树首次被种植在地中海东部。从那里，它们被腓尼基人传播到了希腊群岛和大陆，然后又传播到更远的地方，大约在公元前1000年到达西班牙和地中海的西部边缘。橄榄枝自古以来就是和平的象征，人们种植橄榄树以获取橄榄油、木材和果实已有千年历史。

图中所示的意大利南部的普利亚地区拥有约6000万棵橄榄树，生产着该国约40%的橄榄油。该地区生产橄榄已有几个世纪的历史。普利亚最古老的橄榄树，也是意大利最古老的橄榄树之一，被认为有近4000年的历史。令人惊讶的是，这棵树上的橄榄至今仍被用来制作橄榄油。今天图片上的橄榄树丛中还有另一样东西连接着过去，树与树之间的建筑物名叫特鲁洛，这种不用砂浆建造的民居只有普利亚才有，它们的存在也展示了该地区深厚的传统文化。

Celebrating World Olive Tree Day

Today, we're not just offering you an olive branch—we've got the whole tree. November 26 is World Olive Tree Day, so we're taking some time to appreciate this amazing plant. Olive trees were first cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean around 8,000 years ago. From there, they were introduced to the Greek islands and mainland by the Phoenicians, then farther afield, reaching Spain and the western edge of the Mediterranean by around 1000 BCE. The olive branch has been a symbol of peace since ancient times, and olive trees have been grown for their oil, wood, and fruit for millennia.

The southern region of Puglia in Italy, seen here, has an estimated 60 million olive trees and produces about 40% of the country's olive oil. The oldest olive tree in Puglia, and one of the oldest in Italy, is thought to be almost 4,000 years old and its olives are still used to make oil. The olive grove in today's image also has another link to the past: The structure between the trees is a trullo. These dwellings, made without mortar, are only found in Puglia. They show how deeply rooted the traditions of this region are.