From the Petimão to the olive press

The municipal survey of 2 March 2008 describes the olive press at Casa do Ramil in Alvite, supplied by the Levada do Vale do Moinho with water diverted from the Petimão stream. A granite structure called a cubo channelled the water to the rodízio waterwheel. The building had two presses, and the inventory recorded that it had stopped operating in 2005. This account documents the connection between water, buildings and olive processing. It is private property: the historical survey confirms neither public access nor the equipment’s current condition.

Compare it with Covas, in Peio, where the inventory describes a wooden channel. In both cases, follow the connection between the water channel and the mechanism without assuming all olive presses used the same solution.