The ruins next to the church belong to an olive mill that operated until the 1960s. An abandoned olive press is still visible inside. The olive tree was a valuable addition to a Byzantine monastery, since it is suited to a variety of soils, and is not too demanding a crop once the trees reach maturity. Some monasteries cultivated hundreds of olive trees, and established workshops to crush the olives. The olives were piled into a vat with two stone rollers that crushed them. The olive paste was collected and was crushed again in a second vat to extract the olive oil. Another nearby vat was used to remove impurities; the oil was mixed with water and all unwanted substances fell to the bottom. The oil came to the surface and was drawn off.