Aperçu des sections

  • General

    • This course provides information on the cultivation and processing of flax in Crete.

◄Introduction
►Flax cultivation

  • Historical background

    • Let's take a brief historical journey. Flax was possibly the first cultivated cereal before wheat. It served both for its oil-rich seeds and for the weaving fibers of its stem. After processing, it became one of the first materials used in weaving. Throughout the following centuries, it found versatile uses—from ropes, cords, and fine fabrics to ship sails and sacks. Linen, as it was called, was highly esteemed in antiquity and considered sacred across the Mediterranean because it derived from a plant, hence deemed pure without animal fats or blood.

      Its origin traces back to Asia, making it one of the oldest textile plants. Samples of linen fabrics found in excavations are in excellent condition, dating back to the Neolithic era. In Egypt around 3400 BCE, textiles and clothing were made from flax. Some of the mummies in the pyramids were wrapped in thin strips of linen fabric. From Egypt, flax spread to other Mediterranean countries and then to the rest of Europe.

      Penelope Gandhi's mission of the University of Mountains has been cultivating flax in Crete for the past 10 years, reviving a cultivation once prevalent in the region until the late 19th century. This cultivation was almost always sacred, female-led, and a collective endeavor.

◄Introduction
►Flax cultivation