Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: olive tree

Morning mist over olive trees

Olive trees and olive trees and thousands upon thousands of olive trees.

The island of Corsica is one of the 18 regions of France. It was colonized the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Romans. After the Roman empire collapsed, Corsica got invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. For a short while the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire, then the Franks granted the island to the Pope, in the early 11th century Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. The island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1755 after a long fight for independence from Genoa the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France. As the areas near the coast over centuries have been threatened by attacks and raids of pirates many old hamlets and dwellings are wide inland, high in the mountains. Filitosa is a prehistoric site occupied from the ancient Neolithic until Antiquity. It is known for its spectacular concentration of menhirs statues with many details. The menhirs came from a quarry, just behind. As soon as a block was chosen the workers dug mortises in the rock with hammers. Then wood wedges were hammered in which got soaked with water. They slowly expanded and so broke the rock. The olive tree is more than 1000 years old. The more than 3000 years.

The island of Corsica is one of the 18 regions of France. It was colonized the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Romans. After the Roman empire collapsed, Corsica got invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. For a short while the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire, then the Franks granted the island to the Pope, in the early 11th century Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. The island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1755 after a long fight for independence from Genoa the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France. As the areas near the coast over centuries have been threatened by attacks and raids of pirates many old hamlets and dwellings are wide inland, high in the mountains. Filitosa is a prehistoric site occupied from the ancient Neolithic until Antiquity. It is known for its spectacular concentration of menhirs statues with many details. The menhirs came from a quarry, just behind. As soon as a block was chosen the workers dug mortises in the rock with hammers. Then wood wedges were hammered in which got soaked with water. They slowly expanded and so broke the rock. Picnic under an olive tree, that is more than 1000 years old. Surrounded by menhirs, more than 2000 years older than that tree.

The island of Corsica is one of the 18 regions of France. It was colonized the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Romans. After the Roman empire collapsed, Corsica got invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. For a short while the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire, then the Franks granted the island to the Pope, in the early 11th century Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. The island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1755 after a long fight for independence from Genoa the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France. As the areas near the coast over centuries have been threatened by attacks and raids of pirates many old hamlets and dwellings are wide inland, high in the mountains. Filitosa is a prehistoric site occupied from the ancient Neolithic until Antiquity. It is known for its spectacular concentration of menhirs statues with many details. The menhirs came from a quarry, just behind. As soon as a block was chosen the workers dug mortises in the rock with hammers. Then wood wedges were hammered in which got soaked with water. They slowly expanded and so broke the rock. Here are five statue menhirs and a tourist who obviously tries to mimic one. Very bad mimicry! The menhirs were carved with granite and rhyolite hammerstones. They were all (but the tourist) located here around 1300-1000 BC. The olive tree behind did not exist then, as the tree is only about 1200 years old.

Santa Maria Navarrese, the church and the village, belong to the the municipality of Baunei, about 9kms east up high in the mountains (see previous upload). Santa Maria Navarrese has grown around a church, that dates back to the 11th century. Following a legend, reported by Francesco Angelo de Vico in 1639, a daughter of the King of Navarre took refuge here in 1065, after the area was freed from "barbarian domination" of the Saracens. The princess commissioned the building of a church, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. Excavations, undertaken in the early 1960, proved, that a 12m long church in the early times. Even a large Neolithic "cup and ring" stone was found, so that this place has been a cultural spot obviously since thousands of years. Near the church are some olive trees, that may be as old as the medieval church. A local resident I met claimed, that these olive trees are the oldest on the island of Sardinia. At least!