The territories currently affected by the growth of sweet type cherry trees ( Prunus avium ) include almost all of Europe, Western Asia and a part of North Africa; here, man consumes his fruits from ancient times.
The cultivation of cherries, like that of apricots, was introduced from the north-east of Anatolia (Ponto region, now Armenia, in 72 BC) to Rome, thanks to Lucio Licinio Lucullo (first appearance of cherries in Italy) .
Many centuries later (XVI century AD), the botanical species was also introduced in England, at Teynham (in Kent), by order of Henry VIII who had tasted them by visiting Flanders.
The Italian word "cilieg", in English cherry, in French cerise, in Spanish cereza and in Turkish kiraz, derives from the ancient Greek later transmuted into Latin cerasum . This noun has as its object the ancient Greek toponym Cerasus, today known as the city of Giresun, in Northern Turkey (ancient region of Pontus), from which the cherry was exported to Europe.
The ancient Greek word that translates to "cherry" could derive from a pre Greek Anatolian language.
