Some 6,000 years ago, in the sun-baked lands of the Levant, the olive began its long Mediterranean life. It was a tree made for hard places: silver-leaved, slow-growing, able to draw richness from thin soil and little rain. Carried west by traders, farmers and seafarers, it crossed through Cyprus and Crete, along the Aegean and towards the islands of the western sea.

In Mallorca, it found a lasting home in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana. Here, above the deep blue of the Mediterranean, terraces of pale-dry stone climb the mountainside. Between them, olive trees rise from the earth in gnarled, twisted forms – ancient living witnesses since the Middle Ages.

This is the world of Finca Son Moragues, a 500-year-old estate just a short drive from Jumeirah Mallorca, where the island’s history can be read through its oldest materials: stone, water, trees and oil.

Near Valldemossa, Son Moragues covers more than 300 hectares of oak and pine forest, orchards and groves. Its name means ‘the property of the Moragues family’, though the land belongs to a far wider story of cultivation. In the 15th and 16th centuries, thousands of wild olive trees were grafted, cisterns were built, gardens were planted and irrigation channels were laid across the slopes.

For Joe Holles, the environmental expert leading the restoration of Son Moragues, the finca is a living archive, where “every tree, every terrace, every stone wall is a document.”

Among its most remarkable features are the dry-stone terraces, built by hand across the mountain without mortar. Though striking in appearance, they were also highly intelligent systems of land management. Each wall turned steep ground into fertile ledges, holding soil in place and allowing rain to sink slowly into the earth rather than rush downhill - giving the trees the moisture needed to survive long, dry summers.

Much of this knowledge came through Arab and Amazigh agricultural traditions. The Islamic period, Joe says, brought “a level of agricultural sophistication” to the islands, with “water harvesting, storage, and distribution systems” that helped people grow food in difficult places.

As the groves expanded, olive oil became one of Mallorca’s great sources of wealth. Pressed in the mountains, it travelled down to the coast and out through nearby Port de Sóller, the same harbour Jumeirah Mallorca looks over today.

Just 20 minutes from the hotel, the groves begin to rise into the Serra de Tramuntana. Guests can explore the landscape abroad a vintage Land Rover, following winding tracks through neighbouring estates, passed terraces first built under Moorish influence and ancient irrigation channels that continue to carry mountain springs to the gardens below. Along the way, local guides offer insight into the region’s olive varieties and the traditions that underpin each harvest.

The journey leads to Sa Balsa, an 18th-century pond once built to sustain the fertile grounds. In the 19th century, Archduke Luis Salvador of Austria, long enamoured with the beauty of the Balearics, transformed this corner of Son Moragues into a tranquil sanctuary. It remains a place to pause, with local delicacies served nearby: Son Moragues extra virgin olive oil, chutneys, jams and Mallorcan vintages.

For many visitors, Joe says, the moment that stays comes during the tasting, when they “connect the oil to the land beneath their feet.” From there, the route leads onwards to Valldemossa, where the Food Lab brings a touch of theatre through a live paella cooking show.

SONMO, the estate’s olive oil house, offers more intimate ways to spend time with the finca. Experiences at SONMO range from picnics beneath centuries-old trees to workshops exploring the process from fruit and harvest to pressing and bottling.

In Valldemossa, a private terrace tasting looks towards the Carthusian Monastery, with extra virgin olive oil, bread, cheese, olives and preserves served against the honeyed stone of the village. Each experience is simple in form yet closely tied to the agricultural life of the land.

The oil itself is made from Mallorquina olives, native to the Serra de Tramuntana. Guests can take home SONMO’s extra virgin olive oil in beautiful amber glass bottles, hand-blown in Mallorca by Gordiola, a family firm with 300 years of craft behind it. The amber glass protects the oil from light, keeping the harvest’s flavour intact.

When asked what he hopes guests understand when they first encounter Son Moragues, Joe says: “We hope they feel a sense of continuity - of standing within a landscape that has been shaped, cared for, and refined across millennia.”

At the finca, that feeling needs little explanation. The Mediterranean sun falls over the groves as it always has, across land enriched by many cultures and tended by many hands. From its oldest trees comes the island’s liquid gold, with the mountain’s long story held inside every drop.

Stay at Jumeirah Mallorca and explore Finca Son Moragues, a centuries-old estate in the heart of The Serra de Tramuntana.