Most people know Didim for Altinkum’s beaches and the Temple of Apollo. But as you head inland from the coast towards the villages, especially Akköy and Akyeniköy, the hills turn silvery green with olive groves. Cotton and cereals are grown on the flat Büyük Menderes plain, but on the peninsula’s hilly, stony land the olive is the backbone of farming. For many village families, olives are both a livelihood and a way of life passed down through the generations.
A climate made for olives
Hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters: Didim’s Mediterranean climate is ideal for the sun-loving, drought-tolerant olive tree. The olive is also a natural part of the local maquis. Wild olives grow on the hillsides by themselves, and local farmers have traditionally grafted these wild trees to turn them into productive groves.
The clay and stony soils let olive trees send their roots deep and survive even the driest summers, and they leave a clear mark on the character and quality of the oil.
From ancient Miletus to today
Miletus, about 25 km north of Didim, was one of the richest cities in Ionia, and olive oil was an important part of that wealth. A story told by Aristotle in his Politics puts it perfectly. The Milesian philosopher Thales, studying the stars, foresaw a bumper olive harvest the following year. While it was still winter, he paid deposits on all the olive presses in Miletus and Chios, at a low price because no one bid against him. When the harvest came and everyone needed presses at once, he hired them out at whatever rate he pleased and made a fortune, showing that philosophers can easily be rich if they wish.
The story shows that 2,500 years ago, olives and olive oil were already at the centre of the economy on this coast. The olives picked in Didim’s villages today carry on that ancient heritage.
Memecik: the olive of Aydın
Aydın is one of Turkey’s leading provinces for olives and olive oil. Its signature variety is Memecik, used both for the table and for oil, and grown mostly by grafting onto wild olive trees. “Aydın Memecik Zeytinyağı” (Aydın Memecik olive oil) is registered in the European Union as a protected designation of origin (Official Journal of the EU, 5 February 2024), and “Aydın Memecik Zeytini” (the table olive) is also recognised by the EU.
Memecik oils are known for their green, fruity aroma, distinct bitterness and a gentle peppery catch at the back of the throat. That bitterness and pepperiness are not flaws: they are signs of polyphenols, the natural antioxidants in olive oil.
The harvest: from October into winter
In Didim’s villages the olive harvest usually starts in October and continues through the winter. Olives picked early, as they turn from green to purple, give less oil but with a more intense aroma and more polyphenols; as the fruit ripens the yield rises and the taste softens.
The harvest is often a shared effort between families and neighbours: nets are spread under the trees, the branches are combed with poles or rakes, and the olives are packed into crates and taken to the mill without delay. At a modern mill the olives are washed, crushed into a paste, slowly mixed in a malaxer, then separated into oil and pomace in a decanter and given a final clean in a separator. When the paste is kept below 27 °C throughout, the oil can be called “cold extracted”.
For visitors: olives and olive oil in Didim
- Buy from the villages: In villages such as Akköy you can buy olive oil in the coffee houses or straight from the producers.
- Watch the harvest: In November and December you can see the harvest along the village lanes. The groves are private property, so please don’t enter them or pick olives without permission.
- Choose well: Check the harvest year on the bottle and choose dark glass or tins.
- Store it right: Keep olive oil closed and away from light and heat, and use it within a few months of opening.
The local council values its olives too: Didim Municipality harvests the olive trees in its parks and green spaces, has the oil pressed and sells it at its own outlets.
Local olive oil brands from Didim
If you would like to taste the region’s olive oil, here are two local brands produced at the olive oil facility between Akköy and Akyeniköy:
- Uzakköy: natural extra virgin olive oil made from olives picked in Didim’s villages, in packs from glass bottles to tins.
- Olivinium: private label olive oil production for people and companies who want to sell olive oil under their own brand – oil, bottle, cap and label from one facility, delivered to your door.
For a general introduction to the area see About Didim, and for Akköy’s birds and the ancient cities nearby see Things to Do.