Tag: Arcadia

"I leave the keys on the door so that my friends can get in. I don't care if a stranger gets into the winery and takes one or two kilos of wine. I liberated myself from this stress; I don't even need a dog to protect me. I once had one who used to bark and scare people; that's why I gave him to a friend".

“Every night, after the sunset behind Maenalus Mountain, the wind stops blowing and extreme calm surrounds us. The only sounds that can be heard are those made by little frogs living in the lakes around. On Sunday night, the ribbiting mixes with the sounds of the cars from far away, as they return to Athens.”

Theodore Kolokotronis died in Athens on February 3rd, 1843. His remains were laid out in a church in Athens, so the public could pay its respects. While the great general was on his deathbed, an unknown artist casted his face. This way, the facial characteristics of Kolokotronis, also known in Greece as the “Old Man of the Morea*”, were salvaged. This historical and valuable cast is kept at the Historical and Ethnological Museum of Athens.

Tsakonians are an ancient Greek tribe with Laconian roots who took refuge in Kinouria of Arcadia in order to avoid Slav invaders and Frank conquerors in the Peloponnese. They have been living there ever since and they still use their tsakonian mother tongue a Doric dialect. Tsakonians are famous for their uncompromising spirit, their huge love for their country and their business success amongst the broader Balkan area.

"My great-grandfather was traveling from Crete and because of the rough sea, the ship stopped at Maleas Cape of South Peloponnese. He lived a big adventure that he used to talk about all the in the following years, he used to talk about it so often that we gave him the nickname Maleas. That is why I am also called Maleas".

At the end of August, the aubergine feast takes place at Leonidio, where more than a ton of aubergines are prepared in countless variations. The night of the feast the best food receives prizes by the judges and afterwards there are festivities. Eating and drinking until dawn is a just part of the traditional feast.

Thousands of native and foreign visitors pass in front of the long tables, where there are hundreds of pans and pots, and try a great variety of aubergine recipes. The elegant and imaginative women of Leonidio, with their intense personalities, are the stars of the day. 

Into the deep fir forest of Maenalus, which looks like a jungle, there's the small village called Elati. One of the ten residents left in the village, is Leonidas Zafeiropoulos, the man who has raised a flag portraying Theodoros Kolokotronis at the entrance of his shop.

"As a young man I worked at a traditional woodcarving laboratory in Athens with a good salary of 20,000 drachmas per week, but I stayed there less than a year, because they didn't care much about the details. I got a job at another lab for 6,000 per week, where they didn't like mindless working. I preferred earning less money and learning more about the job. Today's young people make something and want to immediately make money out of it; they don't care about learning by other people's experience".

"What are these people saying, dad? I don't understand them". "They are Tsakonians, my child, a tribe that lives in a different time. Mankind is so close to going to the moon and they keep speaking their old dialect. Isn't there someone to teach them to speak Greek? I wonder when evolution is going to reach this place".

“The spruce we burned in the fireplace gave out sparks. That's why we carpeted our wintry room with “saismata” (thick cloths made of goat fur) -they don't catch fire if a spark falls on them. The grandparents slept on a high mattress in the corner of the room and on low mattresses on the floor next to them were the beds of the grandchildren. The married couple would sleep in the bedroom with the baby. When it grew up it moved to the winter room, so that the next baby would take its place next to its parents”.

"I have been carving wood ever since I was a boy. What designs do I make? Whatever crosses my mind. At first I used to make ladles and canes, but then I was often asked to make more ashtrays and troughs. At night I think about what I am going to make in the morning. My wife wants me to stop, but I work because I want to be able to offer my grandchildren potato chips every day. I work on Sundays, even if I earn nothing. It helps the time pass; I don't even understand when the morning or the evening comes".

"I returned to Magouliana after many years of emigration in America. I am a nice, good-looking, smart businessman. I opened this department store consisting of a cafe, hotel, tavern and a barber's shop, at the same time". Jimmy Gontikas’ store is under a huge plane tree, which entirely covers the tiny square of the village. It is under the same plane tree where Theodoros Kolokotronis and his lieutenant Photis Chrysanthakopoulos, aka Photakos, who was born in Magouliana, used to make their plans for the Revolution of 1821, 200 years ago.