Skoura, Lakonia

Lakonia consists mainly of mountains and foothills. Two lush green massifs, Taygetus and Parnonas, take up a large area of Lakonia. Taygetus is the border with the prefecture of Messinia, while Parnonas sets the northeast borders. A structural valley is formed between these two mountains, the valley of Evrotas. The valley, starting from Sparti, is narrow and widens as it approaches the Laconian Gulf. The coastline presents indentations, including the eastern coast of the Messinian Gulf, the Laconian Gulf and the eastern coasts of the Myrtoan Sea. The climate is Mediterranean, with mild winters in the lowlands and harsher ones in the mountainous areas. The rainfall levels are low in the coastal areas and rise when moving to the north. In the mainland, the climate is considered continental, with rain and snow during the winter and hot summers. The olive varieties which are resistant and cultivated here are Athinolia and Koroneiki. 14 million olive trees are cultivated in the prefecture and 16,000 families are involved in the production of olives. The edible olive produced here is 100% Kalamata olive.

Over 14 million olive trees are cultivated in the 950.000.000 square meters of olive groves of the Laconian land. Among them, the centenarian trees of mourtolia, as the locals call it, which is a rare tree, suitable for medical use. Mountain farming makes supplementary irrigation of the trees impossible. This forces the roots to penetrate deeply into ground in order for the tree to be better supported and survive, but also to absorb all the nutrients which offer to their fruits the particular characteristics which make them unique worldwide.