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
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