Underground “Trappeti”

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Underground “Trappeti”

Olive oil is a fundamental element of Lecce’s material culture and is symbolically represented by the undergroung oil mills or “trappeti” that abound in the area. There are several reasons for their being subterranean - firstly ,the far lower labour costs, since digging an oil mill underground was far cheaper than building it abouve ground. Furthermore, it was by far the mostconvenient solutionfor rapid processing and storage , since the olives were unloaded directly into the cells below throught openings in the vault of the trappeto. There were other reasons too. Since olive oil solidifies at a temperature of 6° C, it must be extracted and left to settle in a warm environment at an even temperature varying between 18 and 20 degreess.The trappeti ,heated not only by large lamps that burned day and night, but also by the fermenting olives and the heat generated by men and animals, provided ideal conditions.
All the trappeti in the Salento countryside follow the same layout: steps hewn into the rock and covered with a barrel vault, leanding down into a large central room where the olives were pressed. The large mill stone rested on a circular limestone platform, and a number of smaller rooms led off the the main area including a room for the labourers to rest in, another for storing utensils , a stable for the animals and rooms for storing the olive oil .These trappeti ,dug into the stone or tuff ,covered a surface area or theree to five square metres, while their average height usually varied between two and trhee metres. Olive pressing took place continuously, without interruption from November to May ,under terrible working conditions. In the nineteenth century, these underground trappeti slowly ceased to function and were replaced by more modern olive presses. They were mostly forgotten and in some cases destroyed to make way for new buildings above ground or ,even worse, trasformed into illegal garbage tips. Around one hudred trappeti have been discovered in the province of Lecce and since the early Eighties government agencies and organisations for the protection of the environment have been active in restoring these examples of rural archaeology. Olive oil museums have been set in several places, such as Gallipoli, and in some cases “ enlòightened” entrepreneurs have turned them into restaurants or premises for meetings and exhibitions. European community funds for the enhancement and promotion of typical local product have also contibued to the preservation of these monuments of rural culture.

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