A Sanctuary for Mendoza’s Ancient Olive Trees

In April, Mendoza turns yellow and the air smells of fresh-cut grass.

Autumn settles over the Southern Hemisphere, and the olive harvest moves at an unhurried pace as producers wait for the fruit to reach its ideal stage of ripeness. Between olive mills, rural roads and narrow streets, thousands of century-old olive trees emerge as silent witnesses to a time when public policies helped drive the development of Argentina’s olive industry.

Some trees survive as part of the landscape in gated communities that have pushed the urban frontier into former agricultural land. Many, even so, are threatened by real estate, agricultural and commercial development projects that cut them down. Sell them as firewood. “Mendoza was once the country’s leading olive-growing region, with more than 20,000 hectares planted,” stated Miguel Zuccardi, a prominent Argentine producer.

The olive tree is a very noble tree, and I developed a special affection for it. – Emilio Cicero, grower, Argentina “Today there are around 11,000,” he added. “A great agreement has been lost, especially because many of these olive trees were located in areas that now have sizeable real estate value. Then, with the ups and downs of the trade, nearly half of the region’s olive trade disappeared.” Zuccardi has worked to highlight the value of Arauco olive oil, making him especially sensitive to the disappearance of century-old trees of the emblematic variety, which is protected by a Geographical Indication (PGI) in Mendoza.

Descended from trees introduced by Spanish colonists in the 16th century, it adapted over centuries to the conditions of the Southern Cone. Faced with the increasingly uncertain future of the region’s ancient olive trees, the Cicero family decided to intervene.

Emilio Cicero, the son of a Sicilian immigrant, grew up among Italian and Spanish families who arrived in Argentina “with nothing.” He recalls watching them propagate trees from small cuttings brought from their home countries. Emilio Cicero, with his daughter Valentina, among rescued century-old olive trees at the Los Inmigrantes Sanctuary in Mendoza, where the family has relocated thousands of historic specimens threatened by urban growth push. “The olive tree is a very noble tree, and I developed a special affection for it,” he explained. But he could not bring himself to remove the old olive trees growing there.

Using heavy equipment, he relocated them to three hectares and arranged them in circular plantings designed to give each tree space. The best possible conditions to continue living. “I got tired of the straight lines of almond orchards and vineyards,” he said. With nine hectares already planted and three more in preparation, Cicero has relocated more than 5,000 ancient olive trees, about half of them Arauco, along with other oil varieties.

Centuries-old olive trees are transported across Mendoza after being rescued from properties slated for redevelopment, part of the Cicero family’s effort to preserve the region’s historic groves. Going to Although producing olive oil was not part of the original plan, Cicero, he had gradually come to believe he must do something with the large amount of fruit the trees produce each year.

To Cicero, the trees are “monsters” of nature, and he states he knows each one individually. Rescued century-old olive trees stand replanted at the Los Inmigrantes Sanctuary in Mendoza, where the Cicero family is preserving thousands of historic specimens threatened by urban growth push and neglect.

After lengthy negotiations, managed to save them all, on another occasion, Emilio discovered 15 olive trees more than 300 years old and. Moving another specimen required three cranes. “We’re investing a great deal of resources to keep this going, but it’s what makes me happy,” Cicero told reporters. “I feel like a painter: my brush is the machinery, and my paint is the olive trees.” Cicero sees the sanctuary as a tribute to his roots and to the agricultural legacy of the immigrant families who transformed the landscape of Cuyo.

Even the specimens that did not survive have a place in the park, which in addition includes a section dedicated to the immigrant families who helped shape the region’s olive trade. It is a hidden corner of Mendoza that invites visitors to walk among the living history of Argentine olive growing and reflect on the extraordinary beauty of these remarkable trees.