Today is a very special day!

It is the day that I wait with anticipation every year since I quit the urban lifestyle and began a new "career" as a farmer!

It is the day that a whole year's work and care bears fruit (figurative and literally).

It is the day that I finally tasted the fresh olive oil of the season :)

Early in the morning I loaded the truck with the recently harvested olives and drove to the production plant waiting for my turn to the oil press. At this point you may have started to wonder about the pictures you see under those lines. Well this building is not the olive oil factory but it is extremely close!

Last year I wrote this post with a lot of pictures and information about the olives harvesting and the olive oil extraction. But this year I have something completely different for this special day!

The white building on the upper right part of the picture is the factory and on the left side is a monastery! The reason for this unusual neighboring is not incidental since the monastery actually owns the factory!

Toplou is a very old and beautiful monastery with enormous property on East Crete and many business activities such as a modern winery and probably the best olive oil extraction premises for organic farmers.

So instead of waiting in the factory I did some exploring at the monastery! The gate with the epic white bougainvillea is the entrance to the yard and the fortified main building.

Of course it wasn't my first visit but I love every little detail of this place. The simple architectural lines, the color of the rocks, the peaceful atmosphere inside those huge walls and of course the flowers!

All the monasteries in Greece are full of flowers. I wonder if it is the same to other parts of the world, too.

There are 40 rooms but only two monks live in here and they are not very keen of been disturbed by annoying photographers so the upper floor is closed for the public. But you'll meet a very friendly janitor who will let you in the church and the museum (no pictures allowed in those two places, either).

If you are in the area don't neglect to pay a visit, you won't regret it. And you might as well taste some of the wines that are made in the winery!

All the pictures and the words are mine.

Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.

Commenting, upvoting and resteeming are highly appreciated!