His origins are lost in time, linked to the olive trees agriculture and economy, that goes back even later than modern age; practised during Middle Ages, is dated back to the classical antiquity and even beyond.
The olive oil mill where now Caffè Cavour is situated was used to hide the oil and avoid that could be stolen by plunderers that invaded the city of Ostuni during years.
Caffè Cavour wanted to restore this hidden treasure leaving untouched the characteristic stone and the atmosphere. You can admire the basins for oil decant, the original “chianche” (the white stone), the manger where there were the grinder and the tunnel in which the olives were discharged.