Six traditional artisans stop their work for a while to look at the camera of the photographer Fanny Alexandropoulou and answer our questions. Their words are few but their hands tell their story through their artistry and the materials they work on - marble, wood, iron, clay and thread. Old arts, as old as mankind. They passionately love their work and, like all genuine creators, they will all leave a strong imprint on the island.
For most of us miles are nothing more than the miles offered as a bonus on a Sea Smiles card. For some others the miles are real because they are miles they have travelled at full sail and with no intention of stopping. Among them was (and will always be) Kostas Gouzelis who in December 2016 merged into light, forsaking his body and leaving all of us devastated. He, the “small king captain” whose life was sealed by his love for the sea and the wooden vessels.
I was born in 1941, on the feast day of Sts Anargiri at Kamari and I was registered at the Lefkes community. My mother was from Maltes and my father from Lefkes. I am the seventh child of a family with nine children. Very difficult years. As a child I was always hungry. Food was scarce. Some milk, cheese, bread, some fruit, that was all. At the house we had goats, horses, a mule and chicken. When I was twelve, we had about hundred and sixty goats and cows.
In the years preceding the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, travellers, philhellenes and archaeologists travelling to Paros were aware of the adits at Marathi. The artificial labyrinthine cave system, fascinated foreign travellers as they immersed themselves in the marble riverbed that had once given life to statues of gods and humans.
Usually through books, narrations and visits to museums or archaeological sites. Nevertheless, there are also other sources that we rarely make much of, although they hide significant riches. At Paros, two such sources are the family names and the coats of arms of the old noble families.
The cause. This year’s souma distillation. The occasion. My friend’s invitation to the party accompanying the production process, naturally, as every year. A customary symbolic event. The whole thing refers to rites and rituals. It revives again and again, aiming at the magic power of a circular and infinite repetition. Very similar to the one defining the rules of life.
Van Gogh climbed up to Lefkes this year; Frida Kahlo, Picasso, Magritte, Tsarouchis and other great painters went along. They went to Marpissa, as well. Αnd the pupils of the elementary school got to know them under the guidance of their teachers Chryssa and Areti Katsantoni.
Anyone interested in having a close look at the designs of the coats of arms of Paros should visit the Historical and Folklore Museum of Naoussa, in a small building at the village square.
The panigiri in Paros is the spirit of its people, is a significant event, following each religious holiday, memorial day or moments related to nature and its fruits, the wheat and the grape, the bread and the wine, the sea and the fishermen.
Manolis Charalambous runs a traditional convenience store called “O Diplos” in Parikia, with the help of his sister, Mrs. Koula - an iconic shop, a staple in Paros for more than fifty years, with raving customers from all over the world.
