The Territory

The farm Vie del Sale is located in the village of Civezza in the province of Imperia, a small hillside community of medieval origins, with an economy based mainly on agriculture. The civezzini, which have a particularly high aging index are concentrated mostly in the center of the village and the rest of the population lives in scattered houses. We are part of these "scattered houses."
The territory has an irregular geometrical shape, with variations in height of up to 405 meters. The town, nestled in a picturesque landscape setting is collected on the summit of a ridge, overlooking the valley about 4 km from the coast.
The name, which is probably derived from the Latin name of the person CIVICIUS, in documents of the first half of the thirteenth century appears in the form Civetie and refers to the river that marked the border between the territory of Santo Stefano al Mare and one of Imperia.
According to a tradition, - but there's no any written confirmation - Civezza was founded by refugees from Venezia during the 1100's. Possession of the Marquis of Clavesanas, in the thirteenth century was sold by him to Genoa. Following the events of the surrounding towns, in the second half of the sixteenth century it was invaded by pirates headed by the Algerian Dragut, who plundered and burned the village. After the decline of the maritime republic of Genoa it was under the domination of Napoleon, followed by the annexation to the kingdom of Sardinia, arranged for a large part of the region, from the Congress of Vienna. Joined with San Lorenzo al Mare, in the late twenties, Civezza regained self-government in 1946. The most important monument is the parish church of San Marco, built in the second half of the eighteenth century in the Baroque style, contains fine marble altars and a statue of Our Lady of the sixteenth century.


Vie del Sale Vie del Sale Vie del Sale

The territory from agricultural and topography point of view is an important heritage that dates back to 1000 AD, when the Benedictine monks settled in the territory of Taggia where they formed an important community based in the Abbey still present on the territory . Their determination and their experience in the centuries convinced the farmers that changing this difficult and inhospitable terrain it could have a big advantage from the point of view of agriculture.
For centuries, through hard work and sacrifice this very poor population literally leveled entire slopes of the mountain ripping rocks of the mountain and built dozens of kilometers of dry stone walls. Only by force of arms and the available funds of that time, they got small strips of flat farmland.
Today, centuries later these strips (better known as "bands" or "terraces"), continue to be the areas planted with olive trees that allow us to get that great product that is the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Taggiasco. The introduction of this particular "cultivar" (the taggiasca) is due precisely to the Benedictine monks. To this day it is still unclear what kind of plant it is and where exactly arrivals. Many argue that it is an olive tree originally from Palestine crossed with an African "olive". The agronomic skills of the monks have long been known, but the interesting feature is that the success of the spread of the olive Taggiasca in our area (involving almost the entire western Liguria) appears to have been random or "divine." The plants selected from these leading experts in botany, the peculiarities of the calcareous territory and the Mediterranean climate factors are joining together in a unique harmony, and have created an ecosystem irreproducible in other Mediterranean areas.
Besides the beauty of the landscape, reminiscent of stone stands as hanging gardens, these ancient infrastructure built by our ancestors are still the most effective bulwark erosion and represent an outstanding example of conservation and soil protection of hillsides and mountains of Liguria the west.
The work of the farmers of this area, in the tables of agronomic types related to the cultivation of the olive, is considered "heroic cultivation". In fact, the morphology of the land does not allow the use of heavy machinery and then the whole farming is hand-made.
And this is the reason that underlies a product of excellence (also cultural) that justifies a cost appreciably more than other olive oils.