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On the island of Crete in Greece on July 22, an olive branch was cut from the Mon­u­men­tal Olive Tree of Vou­ves for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The wreath cut­ting cer­e­mony was accom­pa­nied by an ancient dance rit­ual and the singing of the Olympic Hymn and the national anthems of Greece and the Olympic host coun­try, Brazil.

Branches from the Mon­u­men­tal Olive Tree of Vou­ves have been used in cer­e­monies at each sum­mer Olympics since the Athens Games in 2004. This ancient tree was selected for the sym­bolic honor because of its mon­u­men­tal sta­tus and advanced age, which is esti­mated at approx­i­mately 3,000 years, if not more. Locals believe it to be the old­est olive tree in the world, but its hol­low trunk makes exact dat­ing impos­si­ble.

The event was spon­sored by the town of Vou­ves and the Munic­i­pal­ity of Pla­ta­nias, which includes the town. It was attended by Pla­ta­nias Mayor Ioan­nis Malan­drakis, other dig­ni­taries from Crete, and scores of addi­tional spec­ta­tors. The mayor explained to Olive Oil Times that the ceremony’s singers and dancers were mem­bers of the Pelas­gians, a local ath­let­ics asso­ci­a­tion.
See more: Mil­len­nial Olive Trees
Although Mayor Malan­drakis was unable to tell Olive Oil Times whether the olive branch would be made into wreaths to crown Olympic win­ners, as in ancient times,
Zarpa News reports that he empha­sized the impor­tance of the sym­bolic use of the olive branch in the open­ing cer­e­mony of the Olympics.

Mayor Malan­drakis com­mented, ​“Beyond the sym­bol­ism that emerges from today’s cer­e­mony, we send a mes­sage of peace from here, Vou­ves in Pla­ta­nias, across the world, with the sacred sym­bol of the olive that our Greek ath­letes will hold, accom­pa­ny­ing the Greek flag when they enter … as the first national del­e­ga­tion in the Mara­cana Sta­dium in Rio de Janeiro, dur­ing the open­ing cer­e­mony of the Games. This is a mes­sage that is par­tic­u­larly impor­tant in today’s highly tur­bu­lent times.”

Mayor Malan­drakis read greet­ings sent by the Brazil­ian Ambas­sador to Greece, Edgart Anto­nio Cas­ciano, con­vey­ing his hap­pi­ness about the event, wish­ing Greek ath­letes suc­cess in the Games, and invit­ing all Greeks to travel to Brazil so his coun­try can rec­i­p­ro­cate the warm hos­pi­tal­ity the Brazil­ian ath­letes appre­ci­ated dur­ing the Olympic Games in Athens.

The mayor deliv­ered the olive branch to the head of the Hel­lenic Olympic Mis­sion and pres­i­dent of the Inter­na­tional Olympic Acad­emy, Isidoros Kou­ve­los, at the Eleft­he­rios Venize­los Air­port in Athens just before he and the Greek ath­letes departed for Rio de Janeiro on July 28.

Receiv­ing the olive branch, Kou­ve­los com­mented, ​“As the Olympic flame trav­els the con­ti­nents before trig­ger­ing the start of the games, so the olive branch of this ancient mon­u­men­tal olive tree of Vou­ves in Pla­ta­nias, on its fourth Olympic trip, con­veys a uni­ver­sal mes­sage.”

• Zarpa News


• The Mon­u­men­tal Olive Tree of Vou­ves


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