Exploring the treasures of an overlooked Attica suburb

Olive trees in their hundreds and thousands stretch as far as the eye can see in the area between Mount Pateras - an extension of Parnitha - and Corinthia's Geraneia range in West Attica. Not many people know this, but the Greek capital's oldest living olive grove is in Megara and, more specifically, in Kapsalos.

I toured the area with Ilias Pegkos, an agronomist who has been studying these trees for years. He stopped every so often to point out some of the most interesting ones, ancient trees bent by the years and the elements to resemble ornate sculptures.

Pegkos has made a record of around 100 ancient olive trees in the broader Megara municipality, and has taken an avid interest in studying their history and how they are connected to this area. Pointing to two trees growing a few dozen meters from each other, he asked me to identify which is the so-called "black...