The Dermitzaki Folklore Collection consists of more than 100 old objects that are displayed in the Olive and Oil Museum according to their function. Most of them were used in the olive oil production, in basic agricultural tasks, such as threshing, or in important household duties, such as bread making: The old stone oven at the Museum's yard completes the picture of this process — besides, a slice of hot bread dipped in the fresh oil was the best way to test its quality. 

The Museum's collection also includes various objects of everyday domestic life, giving visitors a rare glimpse into the lives and habits of the people of those times. Being transformed into an old Cretan house's (bed)room, the wooden loft of the Museum provides a more all-rounded idea. The light coming through the small windows enhances the special atmosphere of the loft and highlights the rich colour palette and high art of the handmade woven fabrics and embroideries that decorate it. 

The scene is set by the machinery of the olive oil factory, consisting of three parts: the mill, which has three millstones and was pulled by an animal, the press, and the so-called "worker", the enormous wooden axis around which the wire that moved the press was wrapped. Placed exactly as in the 18th-century fabrica, every part and component of the machinery narrates how many generations of people worked to produce olive oil, not only in Crete, but anywhere else in the world where this activity was equally important.

The ground floor of the residence next to the Museum offers the visitors a more complete idea about how the households of old times in Crete looked like and operated.

Labels in English and Greek accompany every object or group of objects in the Museum. Not only do they name the exhibits -with preference given to their Cretan name- and their function, they also inform about their special place in the lives of past generations. Much focus is given to the objects that are still important today. Besides, a principal objective of the Olive and Oil Museum and Dermitzaki Folklore Collection is to contribute to the connection between past and today's generations and highlight the aesthetics and culture brought about by the cooperation between people and nature in their ongoing struggle to survive and create.

Encompassing the shapes, colours, materials and smells of centuries before us, the Olive and Oil Museum is like a time machine that takes visitors on a fantasy trip to the past. 

At this point, we would like to thank the head of the Department of Folklore Heritage of the Greek Ministry of Culture, Mrs Virginia Matseli, for acknowledging the cultural value and contribution of the Olive Oil Museum and its collection.