What can be seen in this room:

In this room an antique Liberty style oil mill from 1927 has been reconstructed using original pieces, originating from Solana de Los Barros province of Badajoz, a small town situated in the wonderful Extremadura region of western Spain.

Thanks to the recommendation provided by its owner, received via Internet, our company decided to salvage this piece of history. After having carried out a feasibility study we initiated the moving procedure. The effort involved was considerable both from a financial and a logistical point of view. Various lorries were required to transport the antique oil mill from its homeland all the way to Bardolino. The machinery originally operated using a steam powered machine installed on the outside of the building; this was subsequently replaced by electricity and occupied an area of approximately five hundred square metres. It consisted of a large stone grinder with three conical wheels, three iron presses of a considerable size and three pumps that generated pressure thanks to an intricate system of tubes located in the floor. The pressure generated by the pumps moved the piston located under the trolley which contained a column of olive mats full to the brim with crushed paste, in this way an oily liquid made up of water and oil was obtained from the paste. The separation of the two elements took place by means of several decantation tanks. An important characteristic of this machinery was the introduction in 1962 of the thermo-mixer, that is original and innovative machinery displayed in the museum room. Using this thermo-mixer a better yield was achieved because the oil separated quickly from the paste, thus enabling the pressing in a single operation and as a result the oil didn't lose its aroma and oxidation couldn't begin. This machinery represents the technological evolution that came about at the beginning of the 20th Century in all areas of industry. The oil sector also benefited from this important change, evolving and enabling the processing of larger quantities of olives in shorter time periods, improving also the qualitative aspects of the final product. In the room there are various iron gears displayed that formed a part of the antique oil mill and a video area where documentaries produced by the Oil Museum are projected.