From what the older inhabitants of our village remember, the oil press of Kolossi was built and started operating around 1947.
The area where it was housed was a donation of someone from Lofou -named Hadjichristofis -to the church of Apostle Luke, as well as the space where the elementary school is built. Later on the street, today’s Apostle Luke Avenue, separated them.
It is worth noting that although the donation was in the name of the church, according to the law of that era, the registration should have been done in the name of the president of the church committee; thanks to him and his efforts the oil press was established.
He thought that it was a very good enterprise that would bring sufficient profits to the village. Later on -and that is to his honor -he transferred the donation to the name of the church of Apostle Luke.
It always operated under the administration of each church committee. In total, seven people work there and always someone from the committee was supervising; there was a clerk who recorded the takings from the “miloniatika” as we call them and 4-5 workers who would operate a post each in turns.
It operated 24 hours a day and attracted many outlanders such as inhabitants of Pafos, Pissouri, and all the surrounding villages, because of its convenient -for transportation -position.
It has brought sufficient profits to the church, as well as the inhabitants, because there the producer had the opportunity of selling the oil production in bulk, since several inhabitants of Limassol came to the mill to buy the unadulterated and delicious oil on the spot.
The oil of Kolossi had the reputation of an exceptional Cyprus oil which came from the genuine olive of Cyprus and was in no way associated with today’s oil production, with the several varieties that have intruded in the Cypriot market in recent years.
Also, the surrounding elementary schools organized excursions, combined with a visit to the castle of Kolossi, so that the students would be acquainted with the processing of olives into oil in the traditional manner of the -so called- wicker baskets.
Source: Community Council Kolossi