Styra

As I mentioned in my previous posts we had a house in Kouvelles and we used to go to Nea Styra for  swimming, for eating out and for our social life in general. 

We also used to go to Styra, the village that is situated up on the hills. As with many villages on Greek islands there is the original village up on the hills and then later, residents also created a second village, quite often with the same name, situated on the coastline where they used to go for the summers, to fish, and later, to lure tourists to their areas. So, Nea Styra is the coast village, 'nea' meaning 'new', and Styra is the original village.

This is where my mother's ancestors came from and this is where she used to spend her summers while at school and then later when she was in medical school. She bought a house in Kouvelles, a nearby village many years later when she was married and had kids.

When we stayed in Kouvelles in the summers we would occasionally spend a morning or, more often, an evening here. Coming here was also part of our reminiscence tour.

The taxi deposited us here, in the main square

which is dominated by the church which was all lit up by the setting sun

The square was quiet at that time of late afternoon, but it would come to life later in the evening

I walked down this alleyway to look at the view of the hills surrounding the village

but soon went back to the square where nothing seemed to have changed

except for this new taverna, which we later rejected as it was a bit too kebab-oriented

First place we wanted to go was the Brysi, the spring, so we took the path on the side of the church

uphill all the way

This is an unspoilt, traditional, quiet village, but there is the occasional new build

and everything is up or down hill

and as we climbed up

the views glimpsed between the houses got better and better

Surprised to see the ruins of the old mill have been transformed into an art gallery

The grindstones in the middle

and we had arrived, the spring, the well, the centre of the village. This is where women would come to 

get water and carry it home.

The arched stone construction was built in the Ottoman era, when Greece was occupied by the Turks. People would come here to water their animals, but it was also a stop over for people who travelled from Karystos to Aliveri. The arched recesses have three taps and the water comes from the mountains.

The water is collected in the cistern and from there flows in two channels that surround the village so that residents could water their gardens.

This was the social centre of the village, and women would sit here and talk, exchange news, see their friends but also get news of the area from the people who were travelling through.

In the shade of the plane trees, dominated by this old one which has had to be propped up and which is more than 600 years old.

We were shocked to see that the whole area had been transformed into the seating area 

of this taverna, but I guess, it must be lovely sitting here, eating a meal. The place was closed when we visited, for the winter I presume, as tourism had stopped when we visited. Locals nowadays prefer to congregate in the square.

The well was used to supply water to the mill as well as providing water for the village.

Stunning news from here, including of the sea when I zoomed in.

It was time to go and see my mother's cousin's house and I was very pleased that I remembered the way in the maze of the village paths

More views of the countryside and the sea in the distance 

A sign pointing to the way to the Drakospita, a group of around 25 ancient homes thought to belong to the early Hellenistic times, 5th to 4th century BC. There are many theories about the use of these mysterious homes, some argue that they served as ancient sanctuaries of the gods, particularly Hera or Zeus, while others argue that they served as military guard posts.

They were built of massive square and oblong limestones, some of which weigh thousands of pounds, placed on top of each other without any building materials such as mud or cement, supported only by their own weight. Any gaps in the walls were filled with smaller stones while the roof was elaborately made of huge, thicker stones in a pyramid shape. A long window-like hole in the middle of the facade allows light in or smoke out.

Most of these dragon homes are preserved in excellent condition despite the fact that no binding materials were used in their construction.

We did not go to visit the dragon houses but continued on our way

and then I saw it, my mother's cousins' house

Originally, the ground floor of a lot of these houses was used for the animals or storage, but nowadays both floors are converted. I remember we used to go up the stairs and enter the kitchen

and then sit on the small balcony on the first floor and watch village life and talk

I talked to the woman on the balcony and asked her permission to take photographs before we moved on.

Most houses in the village are the old, traditional ones

and you get views of the surrounding hills from every point in the village

We retraced our steps

past the spring

past the fire station

back in the square

Another relative lived in this house, but I can't remember anything about her

We sat here for our pre-dinner drinks

Had a look at this taverna afterwards and then went to eat at Christos' which unfortunately I don't have any photographs of

except for this one, depicting the chairs set out in the square.