Scientific and varietal section
Soury
Country
Lebanon
Use
Oil
Continental distribution
Asia
A Levantine variety linked to the long history of the Mediterranean olive tree
Soury is a traditional olive variety of Lebanon, linked to the agricultural landscape of the Mediterranean Levant and to the long history of olive growing in Western Asia. Its name evokes a cultural area where the olive tree has accompanied rural life, food, agricultural work and community memory for millennia.
Mainly intended for oil production, Soury is valued for its connection with the hilly and Mediterranean environments of the Levant, where the olive tree represents a resilient, identity-bearing and deeply rooted crop. The variety belongs to an olive heritage that combines productive value, historical continuity and strong territorial recognition.
Within the Gardens of Peace, Soury represents Lebanon and tells of the olive tree as a tree of ancient roots, landscape and dialogue between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures.
Identity and synonyms
Soury is a traditional cultivar of the Mediterranean Levant, particularly associated with Lebanon and with the historic areas of olive growing in Western Asia. Its varietal profile expresses a strong relationship between agricultural identity, territory and cultural continuity.
In different local contexts, the variety may be indicated by similar spellings or related denominations, linked to the transcription of the name and to the linguistic traditions of the area. Correct varietal identification is important in order to distinguish Soury within the Levantine and Mediterranean olive heritage.
Geographical distribution
The distribution of Soury is mainly linked to Lebanon and to the Levantine context of Western Asia. In this area, the olive tree represents a historical, agricultural and landscape presence of great importance.
The reference territory of the variety lies in the Eastern Mediterranean, where climatic conditions, hilly soils and a long tradition of cultivation have favoured the development of strongly identity-bearing local cultivars. Soury represents one of these expressions of Asian olive biodiversity.
Agronomic and commercial considerations
Soury is a variety mainly intended for oil production. From an agronomic point of view, it is linked to the traditional olive-growing systems of the Mediterranean Levant, where the olive tree is cultivated in often hilly environments, characterised by hot summers and variable water availability.
The variety expresses the value of local cultivars that have adapted over time to their territories. This adaptation strengthens the relationship between plant, landscape and agricultural practices, making Soury a significant component of Lebanon’s olive biodiversity.
Commercially, Soury represents an important varietal heritage for the production of oils linked to territorial identity. Enhancing this cultivar makes it possible to communicate not only the quality of the product, but also the agricultural and cultural history of the communities that preserve it.
Territorial presence and cultural value of the variety
Soury is linked to a territory where the olive tree is a tree of landscape, food, work and memory. In Lebanon and in the Mediterranean Levant, the olive tree accompanies the history of rural communities and represents a sign of continuity between generations.
Within the framework of the Gardens of Peace, this cultivar represents Lebanon through a variety that speaks of ancient roots, agricultural resilience and dialogue between cultures. Soury reminds us that every olive tree preserves a specific story and that biodiversity can become a language of encounter, knowledge and peace.
Cultural and symbolic section
Soury in The Garden of Peace project
Soury represents Lebanon in the varietal collection of the Gardens of Peace. It brings into the project the voice of the Mediterranean Levant, its hills, its rural communities and an olive culture in which ancient roots, food, landscape and memory come together.
The olive tree as an ancient root of the Levant
In The Garden of Peace project, Soury evokes Lebanon and the Eastern Mediterranean, where the olive tree has been part of agricultural life, landscape and daily culture for centuries. It is a variety that speaks of rootedness, continuity and the deep relationship between communities and territory.
Its presence in the Gardens of Peace transforms a traditional cultivar into a sign of shared memory: the olive tree becomes a tree that connects generations, places and cultures, preserving the value of the land as both origin and future.
Biodiversity, encounter and Eastern Mediterranean landscapes
Soury reminds us that olive biodiversity also lives in local varieties, selected over time by communities and adapted to their own landscapes. Each cultivar preserves a specific response to climate, soil, agricultural practices and the history of a territory.
In the Gardens of Peace, this variety dialogues with the other olive trees as a symbol of encounter between the Mediterranean, Western Asia and rural cultures. Lebanon thus enters a shared narrative, where every tree contributes to building a geography of peace founded on diversity.
Education, peace and responsibility
Discovering Soury means approaching a variety that teaches the value of agricultural memory and the care of local heritage. The olive tree becomes an educational instrument for understanding how a plant can express identity, work, resilience and belonging.
In the Gardens of Peace, Soury invites visitors to recognise biodiversity as a shared responsibility. Protecting a variety means protecting a story, a landscape and a possibility of dialogue between different peoples through the universal language of the olive tree.
The varietal collection of The Garden of Peace brings together the 28 olive varieties represented in the Gardens of Peace around the world. Each Garden may host a specific selection from this collection.