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Avlemonas

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Village introduction

One of Kythera's oldest place names, both a harbor and an inhabited area. The name likely derives from "avlemon," meaning a deep area of the sea along the shore—a good anchorage spot. First mentioned in a 1319 legal case concerning piracy, the area featured the church of Saint Nicholas, which gave the port its name for centuries. A small fortress (castello) was built by the Venetians in 1725 with eight cannons and five soldiers. In the 19th century, an imposing building served as the Austro-Hungarian consulate. On September 5, 1802, the ship Mentor sank in Avlemonas harbor while transporting Parthenon marbles seized by Lord Elgin; the cargo was later salvaged. Today, Avlemonas is one of Kythera's most picturesque tourist destinations.

Condensed from Emmanuel Kalligeros's excellent Kytherian Geographical Placenames which is available here

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Kytherian Music

Kafenion Arachtopōleio in Avlemonas, 4 July 2017, Kytherians elders singing a sad song

Visting the land of my Grandfather, Nicholas Jerome Kasimatis (b. 1890) on 4 July 2017.  Having a drink at Arachtopōleio in Avlemonas to celebrate my 60th birthday.  A lovely group of elders sat at a table near us.  They were also celebrating some occasion with a dessert and drink when they began singing.  Not knowing Greek, I couldn't say what the words meant but I thought I recognized "Ameriki" and "Agapi"; so sad and beautiful.

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Audio/Video, Kytherian Music
Island Weddings and Proxenia

what a lovely sight !

lovely brisbane australia couple walk with their guests  through the village of avlemona on the way to the church service with violins , lawootas  playing old kytherian wedding songs, with  guns firing  into the air .. this summer' kythera hosted a few greek australian and local weddings ..

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Photos, Island Weddings and Proxenia
Modern Landscapes

The port of Avlemonas

Is Kythira the perfect Greek island?

Andrew Bostock has spent much of his life living in and writing guidebooks on Greece but in Kythira – with its gorges, waterfalls and perfect beaches – he’s finally found the idyll he has always dreamed of.

[[picture:"Guardian Kaladi.jpg" ID:23155]]

The view of Kaladi in Kythera, Greece
Dream destination … Kaladi, Kythira. Photograph: Alamy

The Guardian newspaper, London

Thursday 3 September 2015

In my 30-year hunt to find the perfect Greek island, I’ve visited around 40 of them – but my quest has been beset by twin, linked, problems.

Firstly, many of them follow a fairly set pattern: a small main town or port, two or three amazing beaches and, if you’re lucky, a ruin or old church atop the island’s one hill. For many this is all that is needed for a week or two away, but I’ve always yearned for more.

The second problem is that the larger islands can be blighted by an overabundance of visitors. Travellers in search of their own little bit of paradise go to more off-the-beaten-track islands, but these tend to get smaller and smaller, thus exacerbating problem number one. This year I followed advice from Greek friends and made for Kythira, and I think my hunt may just be over.

The port at Avlemonas. Photograph: Alamy

Kythira can be troublesome to get to, a positive advantage in the perfect island stakes. It is not close to any of the better known islands, lying on its own at the bottom of the Peloponnese peninsula. You can fly there, but only on local flights, and the familiar UK package tour is unknown on the island. The best way to arrive is by boat. This can be done, rather indirectly, from Athens or, more pleasurably, from the little southern port of Neapoli, after a journey that can take in some of the delights of the Peloponnese itself.

My nine-year-old daughter Jemima and I took the latter option and arrived in Diakofti, the new port of the island, but also home to perfect white sands and crystal blue water (as well as a rather large and disconcerting shipwreck). It was here that we first noticed one of Kythira’s quirks: the preponderance of Australian accents. In the early 20th century many islanders emigrated to Australia (or “Big Kythira” as it is known here). Many of their descendants return each summer, and even the locals often speak English with an Aussie twang. Apart from these, however, the island receives few tourists.

Jemima swimming at the second waterfall down from Mylopotamos. Photograph: Andrew Bostock

Heading west over the island, the landscape looked rocky and treeless, but Kythira is deceptive, and is cut by gorges and valleys that can hide secret treasures. We soon descended into one of these above the village of Mylopotamos, following a tree lined road that led to what might be the ideal Greek village. The name means “river of mills” and the village is set around a slightly incongruous duck pond that lies below the source of the river. We sat above this for our evening meal, in the Platanos taverna. This name is normally a good sign, and means “plane trees”: the ubiquitous shady trees that seem to hang over every village square. This Platanos, which has been serving up local dishes under its three plane trees for 130 years, did not disappoint. Later, we observed Greek tradition by changing venue for dessert, strolling down the steps past the river spring and to the duck pond, and sitting beside it at the Kamari cafe for coffee and ice-cream.

In the morning we followed the river down the gorge past the ruins of numerous mills that once ground the local wheat. We found our first waterfall only a five-minute walk away. It delights under two names: Neraida, after the mythological water nymphs, and Fonissa, meaning “murderess”. We couldn’t decide which we preferred. People were swimming here, but we continued down the gorge. One of the mills has been fully restored and here we met Phillipis Zervos, the owner and restorer. He showed us around and explained the history of the mill – built by his grandfather who shared the same name – and then he directed us to walk a further kilometre down the trail, to another waterfall, which was even more magical than the first.

Kalami beach. Photograph: Andrew Bostock

With a guide and the right equipment, you can continue down the gorge to the isolated beach of Kalami. This little slice of paradise is difficult to get to, as paradise should be. But, if you don’t fancy canyoning down the gorge, the alternative approach involves a hike that ends with a 30m cliff. There is a rope to help the brave, but we contented ourselves with staring at the deserted cove from above (I have been asked to point out that it was me, not Jemima, that chickened out). We did explore the nearby cave of Agia Sofia, impressively filled with stalactites and stalagmites, as well as a chapel with 700-year-old frescoes.

Swimming in the sea had to wait until we reluctantly left Mylopotamos. A friend had emailed me a list of seven must-see beaches (among them the white sands of Diakofti and the hard-to-reach Kalami). Before arriving I presumed that this list would include most of the beaches on the island, but as I circled them on my map I realised that this was just a small selection of more than 30 beaches on Kythira. We opted for Kaladi, on the other side of the island, which at least looked a little easier to get to. This proved optimistic as the single-track and potholed road ended above a long and steep staircase. The pebbled beach repaid the hike, divided into three by rocky outcrops and easily accommodating the 20-odd people who were there – in August! There was not even a cantina, rare for the islands, so we went to nearby Avlemonas for lunch, a small string of houses set above small coves filled with fishing boats and swimming platforms. Sotiris, its taverna, is famous for its lobster pasta, a little above our budget, but its gavros, small fried fish, proved to be a satisfying taste of the sea.

For our last few days we headed to Hora, the island’s capital, and a place that sums up what makes the Greek islands so special. The main town is set on a hill above its port of Kapsali, a common defensive measure in the days of piracy. We explored its white-washed lanes up to a Venetian castle with stunning views over to Hyrta, a sea-girt rock that lays claim to being the birth place of Aphrodite (don’t listen to the Cypriots we were told). Later in the evening, as little craft and bookshops opened their doors, we sat on a rooftop and enjoyed grilled meat and local wines from Zorbas, whose waiters still dress in black waistcoats and white shirts.

View of Hora from its castle. Photograph: Andrew Bostock

Before catching the ferry back to the mainland we took a final trip down to Kapsali and joined Captain Spiros, who took us out on his boat to the rock of Hyrta. He moored at the entrance to an overhanging cave and we soon found ourselves following him into the sea. In the dark recesses, we turned to see the last light from outside turn the water a luminous sapphire. Like much of Kythira, getting there required a bit of effort, but it was well worth it.

Where to stay

Kythira still has “rooms” – simple accommodation, often in owners’ homes. In Mylopotamos, we stayed with the delightful Giota in her house at the edge of the village (50 a night, +30 27360 33782). In Hora, the sprawling Niki offers real bargains (from €25, +30 27360 31488). More luxurious accommodation is also available, especially in the interior, where locals and a few foreigners have beautifully restored some of the old village houses. Try Xenonas Fos Ke Choros (from €95, +30 69807 29399, agreekisland.com).

Andrew Bostock is the author of the Bradt Travel Guide Greece: The Peloponnese – new edition out spring 2016
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Nature

I wish I could convey the hot, dry smell of Thyme

I wish I could convey to you the hot, sweet smell of Thyme. I wish you could read the scent of it and want hold it in your breath.
I can show you the shape of the landscape and its detail and its colours. I can show you its age and how harsh it can look, or how voluptuous, or how delicate. I can put those images in your head. That’s easy. And anyway, here are the photos. But I can’t give you the smell. And the words I have available to me to describe it, well, they’re not enough.
It’s a smell that swirls around you, scorching your nostrils and setting up currents in the air and in your mind, so that your thoughts pulse to its heat. It burns the air and seeps into your skin. You see things differently too. Different colours, reds, yellows, purples, begin to emerge in the grass, on the shape – and in the bulk – of the mountains, or running down into the gorges and the ravines. They stand out more starkly against a fresher green.
It’s a textured smell, almost pixilated, it attacks the nasal senses in short, percussive bursts. It’s a little bit dusty. A little bit dry. It comes and goes with varying intensity and you find yourself breathing shallowly in order to keep it for as long as you can.
You need to crush the leaves of Thyme in order to release it in its full pungency, like when you notice a feature of the landscape that you want to photograph, so you drive on the verge of the road, bringing the full weight of the car to bear on the plant and it in turn, fills your car with its fragrant protest. However, you don’t need to damage it to feel its softness in the air. Then, it’s almost an ambush. First the smell isn’t there, and then you think it is, and then it is. And the more aware of it you become, the stronger it becomes.
Among the many smells of Kythera in the summer, this is the aroma that defines it most. It is the scent of its summer essence.
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Photos, Nature
Architecture

Local children dancing at the ayiasmos at Avlemonas

Spaletta were made by parents in the local community.

The ayiasmos ceremony was conducted to bless the new park that lies between the rear of the Cavalini house at Avlemonas and the church of Ayios Nikolaos.

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

John Claudianos giving a speech in impeccable Greek

at the ayiasmos ceremony to bless the dedication of a new park that lies between the rear of the Cavalini house at Avlemonas and the church of Ayios Nikolaos.

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim,

....attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.
Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Claudianos deserves a great deal of thanks.

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Photos, Architecture
Architecture

Large crowd gathered for the Ayiasmos ceremony at Avlemonas

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Photos, Architecture
Architecture

Superbly appointed park and recreation area in Avlemonas

The park lies at the rear of the "Cavalini" house, the house with the sundial, and adjoins the Church of Ayios Nikolaos.

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

Father Yiorgy, John Claudianos and some of the children who often frequent the new park

At the Ayiasmos ceremony for the new park that lies between the rear of the "Cavalini" house, and the church of Ayios Nikolaos in Avlemonas.

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

Ayiasmos (blessing) of the New Park in Avlemonas. Aerial view 2

An aerial view of the new park and look-out, which is located next to the church in Avlemonas, overlooking the bay where the molo is located. The arial shots were taken by John Fardoulis' hexacopter (photography drone)

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Photos, Architecture
Architecture

Ayiasmos (blessing) of the New Park in Avlemonas.

An aerial view of the new park and look-out, which is located next to the church in Avlemonas, overlooking the bay where the molo is located. The arial shots were taken by John Fardoulis' hexacopter (photography drone)

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

Ayiasmos (blessing) of the New Park in Avlemonas

The Claudianos family: Charles, John, George and their mother Marika, with Avlemonas local mayor Bubby Petrohilos (centre, back)

Kytherian-Australian, John Claudianos has spent many years restoring and renovating the landmark Cavallini residence in Avlemonas. It’s also known as the house with a sun-dial, a heritage listed building which took about a decade of permissions and hard work to restore.

Taking philanthropy to a new level, John recently gifted land behind the Cavallini residence to the community, in the form of a public park and lookout.

John financed the landscaping and construction, turning the vacant land behind the Cavallini building, next to the Agios Nikolaos church in Avlemonas, into a place for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
Using architectural elements of wood, stainless steel and stone, the park and lookout is very pleasant and modern, with a feeling similar to that of the Bondi to Bronte walk in Sydney.

An ayiasmos (blessing) took place in July by Kythera’s Metropoliti, Bishop Seraphim, attended by a broad cross-section of the local community and members of the diaspora. Local children performed traditional dances at the end of the ceremony, dressed in spaletta made by parents from Avlemonas.

Providing Avlemonas (and Kythera) with a new park is a very noble and selfless gesture, and for that John Clau-dianos deserves a great deal of thanks.
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Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Sundial above the front door after restoration

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
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Architecture

The House with the Sundial. The Sundial restored

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. More work on restoring the sundial

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Work on restoring the sundial

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. The Sundial before the renovation

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Renovating the sundial. Before

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Multiple images from the RC TECH website

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
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Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Beautifully constructed walls, and magnificent backyard refurbishment

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. Beautifully renovated yard

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. One of many beautiful interiors

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial. After the refurbishment

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Architecture

The House with the Sundial before the renovation

By, George Vardas

In his book “The Secret Lives of Buildings” the architect Edward Hollis surveys some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Parthenon and Aghia Sophia, and argues that the soul of a building is not necessarily gauged from its plans or by examining the details of its construction. Rather, its essence is to be found in the layers of history within its walls. When a building changes over time, whether through degradation, destruction or historical changes, any restoration or alteration is, according to Hollis, a “retelling of the building as it exists at a particular time – and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing builing for the next retelling”.

The Cavallini house, better known as the house with the sundial in Avlemonas, is one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Kythera and also one of the most recognisable. It has recently been restored to its former grandeur but in so doing the owner and his team of architects, builders and restorers have succeeded in retelling the rich and, at times, seemingly improbable history of this house.

A remarkable history

The story begins in the early part of the nineteenth century. Angelo Cavallini was the Genoa-born captain of a merchant ship sailing between Venice to Constantinople and Smyrna. During one eventful journey he injured his hand and the ship made for the nearest local port which happened to be Kapsali on the island of Kythera to recover from his injuries. Cavallini later returned to Venice but he had found the island so enchanting that he came back and married a local girl, Rosa, who had nursed him. They went on to have a number of children, possibly five sons and five daughters.

At some stage between 1821 and 1827, as the first flames of revolutionary fervour were being fanned in mainland Greece, Cavallini bought a property in Avlemonas from the Kountourioti family upon which stood a modest dwelling. After purchasing the property, Angelo Cavallini hired craftsmen from Crete to upgrade and expand the building. The work was completed in 1827 and included the construction of a sundial over the front entrance.

Angelo lived in the house along with Rosa and their children while using it as a Customs House for the port of Avlemonas. At that time, he served as Vice-Consul for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also performed diplomatic duties on behalf of the Greek State in a region that still did not officially belong to Greece.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships operated by Lloyds of Trieste, with the house at Avlemonas acting as a customs house and commercial trade centre.

After Angelo Cavallini’s death in 1886 his children inherited his estate and divided it amongst themselves with the property at Avlemonas vesting in two of his sons, John and Spyros. By a remarkable twist of fate, Angelo’s oldest son, John, who was a lawyer by trade and one of the Kytherian nobility, had met and eventually married Rosa Cassimatis, who had returned to Kythera after her marriage to Major Patrick Hearn had dissolved. Rosa was the mother of Lafcadio Hearn who went on to become one of Japan’s most recognised poets and writers in the late 19th century. But it was Spyros who was the one who finally lived in the home together with his family.

After the death of Spyros Kavallini in 1932, the home passed to one of his four sons, John Kavallini who had migrated for a time in the 1910's to America. He returned in 1926 shortly before the death of his father and married Georgia Firou from Mitata. They had three children and used the ground floor of the property in Avlemonas as a café which was patronised by captains and sailors from boats docked at Avlemonas when weather conditions did not permit their anchorage in the bay of Kapsali. After John’s death in 1945, his wife Georgia took over the running of the café.

During the Second World War the house with the sundial survived the German bombardment of the port of Avlemonas that preceded the invasion of Crete. It also hosted passing officers and men of the Allied Forces. In fact there are caves near the house in which the Allies had installed a large cannon that sank a German patrol boat that had been sent to intercept them. You can still see traces of bullet holes in the rocks near the property as a testimony to that fierce battle. The house also served as a makeshift field hospital for German soldiers during the war. Andreas Calocerinos once related to the writer how he remembered, as a young boy, seeing wounded men being operated on tables within the house.

After the war, Georgia Kavallini remained alone in the house once her children migrated to Australia. She died in 1990.

The reconstruction and restoration works

Today, the property consists of two separate properties. The property which hosts the famous sundial is owned by John Klaudianos, Georgia’s grandson, who wanted to realise the dream of his mother, Marika Kavallini, which was to see the house in which she had spent her childhood years come back to life.

In order to do this, John commissioned the architectural firm RCTECH to undertake the necessary design, restoration and reconstruction work having regard to the building’s unique architectural features and history. Indeed, their aim was to “highlight the plasticity of the building and to reinstate the positive aura that the building holds”.

The restoration works took about 15 months and involved reinforcement of the masonry walls, removal of the old coatings, installing a new concrete roof slab, maintaining the unique limestone frames around the openings to the doors and windows, coating the building with a new external coating, new plastering works and undertaking full waterproofing.

Restoration of the Cavallini Sundial

Last but not least the owner’s brief called for the restoration of
various architectural elements on the building and, most notably, the famous sundial. For this delicate work an expert conservator with specialist knowledge and 30 years of service in the maintenance of the antiquities of the Parthenon, was engaged to oversee the restoration works. The aim of the restoration was to protect the sundial from additional wear, revive its colours and reinstall it as a functioning sundial.

The result, as the various photos depicting the house before, during and after its extensive restoration attest, is simply outstanding. The intervention is characterised by the innovative use of materials and colours, attention to detail and painstaking restoration works to produce an authentic restoration of the fabric of the building and at the same time preserving its distinctive architectural features. The house with the sundial, in that quiet corner of Avlemonas harbour, will forever remain a monument to time and memory on Kythera.

Its restoration by John Klaudianos, a descendant of the original Cavallini family, is a story of passion and determination to complete the sensitive retelling of the history of an iconic building.

Note: The sources for this article include the website of RC TECH; material on the Kythera family net website; Peter Vanges’ Kythera, and an extensive history of the house from visit kythera
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Diaspora Vintage Portraits/ People

Helen Zerfos - one of "the faces of Sutherland Shire"

In 2006, the Sutherland Shire (in Sydney) celebrated its centenary. To mark the occasion, many events were planned. The first of these showcased one hundred people who had “made an important contribution to the Shire over the one hundred years and who have had a significant impact on the lives of others.” Helen, a resident for many years, was among the chosen one hundred. “The Faces of the Shire” was displayed on specially produced billboards in a roving exhibition which toured the Shire throughout the year.

Helen Zerefos OAm

Biographical notes by
John Love
Historian and Theatre Consultant
Kurrajong Heights NSW Australia

Helen Zerefos is a coloratura soprano of rare charm and beauty whose versatility spans the widest gamut of show business performance. From the stage to television to nightclubs, concerts and recordings, her talents have been applauded and revered.

It is Helen’s wide vocal range that makes this all possible with an extraordinary repertoire of music that is evident in her recordings which encompass material from the technical brilliance of Mozart’s “Alleluja” to the gentle country song, “When I Dream.” She is a unique talent in the world of entertainment, combining the experience and dignity of the great classics through to the better contemporary music, imbuing all this with her sparkling personality.

Helen was born in Scone, New South Wales, Australia, of Greek parents. Both of her parents were born in Greece, her father, Paul Zerefos, came from Neapolis Vion, Laconia and her mother, Katina Andronicos Zerefos from Avlemonas, Kythera.

From an early age, Helen studied piano and showed vocal promise for an operatic career. She was Dux of her school and had aspirations towards medicine and architecture. Although proud of her musical ability, her parents were very disappointed when she chose a theatrical career. Her mother insisted she learn something practical to fall back on if necessary, so Helen gained a diploma in fashion and now designs the fabulous gowns which have become legendary for her stage appearances.

At a time when musical extravaganzas were tops on television, she was chosen to be a founding member of the marvellous singing and dancing group the “Revue 20” on the ATN Channel 7 network. The Revue 20 featured weekly on the top national TV variety show, “Revue 61” and then “Revue 62,” which swept the ratings and went to air Sunday nights at 8pm. Brilliant Canadian Peter MacFarlane, from MCA (Music Corporation of America) was brought to Australia as producer - director of “Revue 61” and “Revue 62.” These shows, under the iron fist and creative genius of Peter MacFarlane were never equalled for excellence on Australian television and were hosted by the incomparable Digby Wolfe.

The invaluable experience of singing and dancing on the top show in the country under the watchful eye of this great director was the best possible start to a future career. The Revue 20 became the backbone of all major shows produced by Channel 7. Before Peter MacFarlane left after eighteen months in Australia, he took Helen and tenor John Serge aside and advised them that to further their careers, they must leave Australia and offered to help by getting them onto the US television scene via Canada.

Sadly, soon after, Peter MacFarlane drowned in Canada while filming a documentary. John Serge went to England and the continent, where he had an illustrious career in opera. Helen stayed in Australia.

Emerging from three fabulous years at Channel 7, Helen went on to appear in other series, including a year with Bobby Limb’s “Sound of Music” at TCN Channel 9. During this time, Helen won the prestigious Miller’s, BMC (British Motor Corporation), Qantas Search for a Star Quest. The prizes included first class Qantas travel around the world, a car and singing contracts.

During 1965, Helen and brother Bill Zerefos embarked on the world trip she had won. After five months of many wonderful highlights, one of which was meeting Elvis Presley at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, they returned home.

There were many appearances on all major TV shows too numerous to name. Helen appeared in
over 600 television shows.

In 1967 after starring in theatre for American producer Bret Adams in “The Music Man” with Australian showbiz legend, Ted Hamilton, plus “The King and I,” Bret urged her to go to the United States as he felt she was a natural for the Broadway stage. However, an offer from the Channel 10 network to star in the television series, “ Barry Crocker’s Say It With Music” was accepted, which kept Helen in Australia. This very happy experience lasted for nearly three years.

Although there were offers of overseas engagements, her marriage in 1971 to leading private investigator, Raymond Millanta and “strong family commitments,” forced her to dispel any thoughts of working overseas.

Among Helen’s other stage shows were starring roles in: “Song of Norway,” “Showboat,” “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Evening in Paris,” “From Russia With Love,” “Aspects of Love” at the Old Tote Theatre, “Roman Holiday,” “Europe by Night,” and “The Andrew Lloyd Webber Song Book”

Helen’s father, Paul Zerefos, died suddenly in 1981. Her mother Katina never recovered from that shock and soon began to suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

1981 – 1982 saw Helen compering the television show, “Let’s Go Greek Endaxi,” for the Channel 10 network.

On her travels over the years, Helen had amassed a large and magnificent collection of beautiful fabrics which were richly embroidered and jewelled. Realising there was more than she could ever possibly wear herself, she decided to utilise her collection of fabrics and her fashion diploma skills and create her own fashion label of special occasion wear. So, in 1984, her label “Helen Zerefos Special Occasion,” was launched with her good friend, Eileen Herbert.

After a very successful year of designing and producing special occasion wear accompanied by the excitement of fashion parades, Helen decided that the rag trade was not worth the temperamental tantrums and hassles of some of those associated with that industry. She decided to devote her talents to the relative sanity of show business and the joy of performing beautiful music.

In the meantime, her beloved mother Katina had deteriorated quickly to such a degree that she was helpless and needed constant attention. Helen was her primary carer for ten years.

In 1986 Helen appeared in the Royal Gala Concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip – Helen was so sad that her mother was not able to comprehend and be present at such an auspicious occasion.

The situation of caring for her dear mother, who passed away in 1992, had caused Helen to decline numerous concert offers from overseas during those years. Soon after her mother passed away, her husband, Raymond, was diagnosed with cancer which further curtailed any thoughts of taking any of the overseas engagements offered, as she continued her role of primary carer.

Helen was awarded an OAM (a Medal in the Order of Australia) in 1996, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for her services to charity and fund raising for Alzheimer’s research. Helen has supported research into Alzheimer’s disease for many years having nursed her mother Katina for ten years and knowing full well the horrors of that dreaded illness.

Helen supports many causes and is Patron of Professor Tony Broe’s Ageing Research Centre at NeuroScience Research Australia in Randwick (Sydney) where research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons disease is conducted. Helen has supported Professor Broe’s research for over twenty years with fundraising concerts, sale of her CDs, talks to community groups (Rotary, Lions, View, Probus Clubs etc) and generally raising awareness through her work. For further information telephone Mrs Sandra Forster, Executive Officer of the Ageing Research Centre, at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, on (02) 9382 4259 or email: Sandra Forster

Amidst her busy schedule, Helen makes appearances at Mike Walsh’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace at Cremorne, Sydney, one of the most exquisitely restored theatres in the world, working with world acclaimed theatre organist, Maestro Neil Jensen, at the Wurlitzer organ.

In the year 2000, Helen represented Australia in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Opera Theatre in Shanghai, China, celebrating its opening. The concert was a live telecast to two billion people!

Helen’s husband of 31 years, Raymond Millanta, passed away in 2002 after a lengthy debilitating illness – again Helen had been the primary carer. In all, Helen was primary carer for members of her family for twenty years.

Helen was devastated by the loss of her beloved younger sister Bubsie (Florence) who passed away with breast cancer in May 2004.

On 4 June 2004, Helen was selected to be a torchbearer in Sydney in the ATHENS 2004 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY. She was nominated by her dear friend, Sandra Forster, of the Ageing Research Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital. Helen was honoured to be representing Australia for a brief moment on the world stage and also thrilled to be celebrating her Greek heritage.

Her busy schedule also included an engagement to perform two classical concerts on the Japanese luxury liner, “Pacific Venus,” while cruising the Pacific in 2005. (There were two typhoons in the area at the time.)

In 2006, the Sutherland Shire (in Sydney) celebrated its centenary. To mark the occasion, many events were planned. The first of these showcased one hundred people who had “made an important contribution to the Shire over the one hundred years and who have had a significant impact on the lives of others.” Helen, a resident for many years, was among the chosen one hundred. “The Faces of the Shire” was displayed on specially produced billboards in a roving exhibition which toured the Shire throughout the year.

In 2007, at the 31st Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with a “Mo” Award for the best Classical and Opera Performer.

In 2009, at the 33 rd Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with the John Campbell Fellowship Award.

3rd September 2011 the Sutherland Shire Council honoured Helen with a 50th anniversary (as a professional singer) tribute concert at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre, where she was accompanied by the Sutherland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sven Libaek.

Between her professional singing engagements, Helen continues to be a sought after speaker to service groups raising awareness for Alzheimer research.

Helen has recorded many times and her three available CD’s are: “Million Dollar Melodies” accompanied by the Sydney International Orchestra conducted by Maestro Tommy Tycho AM, MBE. “Love and Music” accompanied by Maestro Robert Goode at the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ “Friends for Life” accompanied and orchestrated by Maestro Steven Isoardi

--- John Love
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Photos, Diaspora Vintage Portraits/ People
Diaspora Vintage Portraits/ People

Helen Zerefos OAM

Biographical notes by
John Love
Historian and Theatre Consultant
Kurrajong Heights NSW Australia

Helen Zerefos is a coloratura soprano of rare charm and beauty whose versatility spans the widest gamut of show business performance. From the stage to television to nightclubs, concerts and recordings, her talents have been applauded and revered.

It is Helen’s wide vocal range that makes this all possible with an extraordinary repertoire of music that is evident in her recordings which encompass material from the technical brilliance of Mozart’s “Alleluja” to the gentle country song, “When I Dream.” She is a unique talent in the world of entertainment, combining the experience and dignity of the great classics through to the better contemporary music, imbuing all this with her sparkling personality.

Helen was born in Scone, New South Wales, Australia, of Greek parents. Both of her parents were born in Greece, her father, Paul Zerefos, came from Neapolis Vion, Laconia and her mother, Katina Andronicos Zerefos from Avlemonas, Kythera.

From an early age, Helen studied piano and showed vocal promise for an operatic career. She was Dux of her school and had aspirations towards medicine and architecture. Although proud of her musical ability, her parents were very disappointed when she chose a theatrical career. Her mother insisted she learn something practical to fall back on if necessary, so Helen gained a diploma in fashion and now designs the fabulous gowns which have become legendary for her stage appearances.

At a time when musical extravaganzas were tops on television, she was chosen to be a founding member of the marvellous singing and dancing group the “Revue 20” on the ATN Channel 7 network. The Revue 20 featured weekly on the top national TV variety show, “Revue 61” and then “Revue 62,” which swept the ratings and went to air Sunday nights at 8pm. Brilliant Canadian Peter MacFarlane, from MCA (Music Corporation of America) was brought to Australia as producer - director of “Revue 61” and “Revue 62.” These shows, under the iron fist and creative genius of Peter MacFarlane were never equalled for excellence on Australian television and were hosted by the incomparable Digby Wolfe.

The invaluable experience of singing and dancing on the top show in the country under the watchful eye of this great director was the best possible start to a future career. The Revue 20 became the backbone of all major shows produced by Channel 7. Before Peter MacFarlane left after eighteen months in Australia, he took Helen and tenor John Serge aside and advised them that to further their careers, they must leave Australia and offered to help by getting them onto the US television scene via Canada.

Sadly, soon after, Peter MacFarlane drowned in Canada while filming a documentary. John Serge went to England and the continent, where he had an illustrious career in opera. Helen stayed in Australia.

Emerging from three fabulous years at Channel 7, Helen went on to appear in other series, including a year with Bobby Limb’s “Sound of Music” at TCN Channel 9. During this time, Helen won the prestigious Miller’s, BMC (British Motor Corporation), Qantas Search for a Star Quest. The prizes included first class Qantas travel around the world, a car and singing contracts.

During 1965, Helen and brother Bill Zerefos embarked on the world trip she had won. After five months of many wonderful highlights, one of which was meeting Elvis Presley at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, they returned home.

There were many appearances on all major TV shows too numerous to name. Helen appeared in
over 600 television shows.

In 1967 after starring in theatre for American producer Bret Adams in “The Music Man” with Australian showbiz legend, Ted Hamilton, plus “The King and I,” Bret urged her to go to the United States as he felt she was a natural for the Broadway stage. However, an offer from the Channel 10 network to star in the television series, “ Barry Crocker’s Say It With Music” was accepted, which kept Helen in Australia. This very happy experience lasted for nearly three years.

Although there were offers of overseas engagements, her marriage in 1971 to leading private investigator, Raymond Millanta and “strong family commitments,” forced her to dispel any thoughts of working overseas.

Among Helen’s other stage shows were starring roles in: “Song of Norway,” “Showboat,” “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Evening in Paris,” “From Russia With Love,” “Aspects of Love” at the Old Tote Theatre, “Roman Holiday,” “Europe by Night,” and “The Andrew Lloyd Webber Song Book”

Helen’s father, Paul Zerefos, died suddenly in 1981. Her mother Katina never recovered from that shock and soon began to suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

1981 – 1982 saw Helen compering the television show, “Let’s Go Greek Endaxi,” for the Channel 10 network.

On her travels over the years, Helen had amassed a large and magnificent collection of beautiful fabrics which were richly embroidered and jewelled. Realising there was more than she could ever possibly wear herself, she decided to utilise her collection of fabrics and her fashion diploma skills and create her own fashion label of special occasion wear. So, in 1984, her label “Helen Zerefos Special Occasion,” was launched with her good friend, Eileen Herbert.

After a very successful year of designing and producing special occasion wear accompanied by the excitement of fashion parades, Helen decided that the rag trade was not worth the temperamental tantrums and hassles of some of those associated with that industry. She decided to devote her talents to the relative sanity of show business and the joy of performing beautiful music.

In the meantime, her beloved mother Katina had deteriorated quickly to such a degree that she was helpless and needed constant attention. Helen was her primary carer for ten years.

In 1986 Helen appeared in the Royal Gala Concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip – Helen was so sad that her mother was not able to comprehend and be present at such an auspicious occasion.

The situation of caring for her dear mother, who passed away in 1992, had caused Helen to decline numerous concert offers from overseas during those years. Soon after her mother passed away, her husband, Raymond, was diagnosed with cancer which further curtailed any thoughts of taking any of the overseas engagements offered, as she continued her role of primary carer.

Helen was awarded an OAM (a Medal in the Order of Australia) in 1996, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for her services to charity and fund raising for Alzheimer’s research. Helen has supported research into Alzheimer’s disease for many years having nursed her mother Katina for ten years and knowing full well the horrors of that dreaded illness.

Helen supports many causes and is Patron of Professor Tony Broe’s Ageing Research Centre at NeuroScience Research Australia in Randwick (Sydney) where research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons disease is conducted. Helen has supported Professor Broe’s research for over twenty years with fundraising concerts, sale of her CDs, talks to community groups (Rotary, Lions, View, Probus Clubs etc) and generally raising awareness through her work. For further information telephone Mrs Sandra Forster, Executive Officer of the Ageing Research Centre, at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, on (02) 9382 4259 or email: Sandra Forster

Amidst her busy schedule, Helen makes appearances at Mike Walsh’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace at Cremorne, Sydney, one of the most exquisitely restored theatres in the world, working with world acclaimed theatre organist, Maestro Neil Jensen, at the Wurlitzer organ.

In the year 2000, Helen represented Australia in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Opera Theatre in Shanghai, China, celebrating its opening. The concert was a live telecast to two billion people!

Helen’s husband of 31 years, Raymond Millanta, passed away in 2002 after a lengthy debilitating illness – again Helen had been the primary carer. In all, Helen was primary carer for members of her family for twenty years.

Helen was devastated by the loss of her beloved younger sister Bubsie (Florence) who passed away with breast cancer in May 2004.

On 4 June 2004, Helen was selected to be a torchbearer in Sydney in the ATHENS 2004 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY. She was nominated by her dear friend, Sandra Forster, of the Ageing Research Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital. Helen was honoured to be representing Australia for a brief moment on the world stage and also thrilled to be celebrating her Greek heritage.

Her busy schedule also included an engagement to perform two classical concerts on the Japanese luxury liner, “Pacific Venus,” while cruising the Pacific in 2005. (There were two typhoons in the area at the time.)

In 2006, the Sutherland Shire (in Sydney) celebrated its centenary. To mark the occasion, many events were planned. The first of these showcased one hundred people who had “made an important contribution to the Shire over the one hundred years and who have had a significant impact on the lives of others.” Helen, a resident for many years, was among the chosen one hundred. “The Faces of the Shire” was displayed on specially produced billboards in a roving exhibition which toured the Shire throughout the year.

In 2007, at the 31st Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with a “Mo” Award for the best Classical and Opera Performer.

In 2009, at the 33 rd Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with the John Campbell Fellowship Award.

3rd September 2011 the Sutherland Shire Council honoured Helen with a 50th anniversary (as a professional singer) tribute concert at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre, where she was accompanied by the Sutherland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sven Libaek.

Between her professional singing engagements, Helen continues to be a sought after speaker to service groups raising awareness for Alzheimer research.

Helen has recorded many times and her three available CD’s are: “Million Dollar Melodies” accompanied by the Sydney International Orchestra conducted by Maestro Tommy Tycho AM, MBE. “Love and Music” accompanied by Maestro Robert Goode at the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ “Friends for Life” accompanied and orchestrated by Maestro Steven Isoardi

--- John Love
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Notable Kytherians

Helen Zerefos OAM

[[picture:"Helen Zerefos (Starwars Gown) 2012.jpg" ID:21778]]

Biographical notes by
John Love
Historian and Theatre Consultant
Kurrajong Heights NSW Australia

Helen Zerefos is a coloratura soprano of rare charm and beauty whose versatility spans the widest gamut of show business performance. From the stage to television to nightclubs, concerts and recordings, her talents have been applauded and revered.

It is Helen’s wide vocal range that makes this all possible with an extraordinary repertoire of music that is evident in her recordings which encompass material from the technical brilliance of Mozart’s “Alleluja” to the gentle country song, “When I Dream.” She is a unique talent in the world of entertainment, combining the experience and dignity of the great classics through to the better contemporary music, imbuing all this with her sparkling personality.

Helen was born in Scone, New South Wales, Australia, of Greek parents. Both of her parents were born in Greece, her father, Paul Zerefos, came from Neapolis Vion, Laconia and her mother, Katina Andronicos Zerefos from Avlemonas, Kythera.

From an early age, Helen studied piano and showed vocal promise for an operatic career. She was Dux of her school and had aspirations towards medicine and architecture. Although proud of her musical ability, her parents were very disappointed when she chose a theatrical career. Her mother insisted she learn something practical to fall back on if necessary, so Helen gained a diploma in fashion and now designs the fabulous gowns which have become legendary for her stage appearances.

At a time when musical extravaganzas were tops on television, she was chosen to be a founding member of the marvellous singing and dancing group the “Revue 20” on the ATN Channel 7 network. The Revue 20 featured weekly on the top national TV variety show, “Revue 61” and then “Revue 62,” which swept the ratings and went to air Sunday nights at 8pm. Brilliant Canadian Peter MacFarlane, from MCA (Music Corporation of America) was brought to Australia as producer - director of “Revue 61” and “Revue 62.” These shows, under the iron fist and creative genius of Peter MacFarlane were never equalled for excellence on Australian television and were hosted by the incomparable Digby Wolfe.

The invaluable experience of singing and dancing on the top show in the country under the watchful eye of this great director was the best possible start to a future career. The Revue 20 became the backbone of all major shows produced by Channel 7. Before Peter MacFarlane left after eighteen months in Australia, he took Helen and tenor John Serge aside and advised them that to further their careers, they must leave Australia and offered to help by getting them onto the US television scene via Canada.

Sadly, soon after, Peter MacFarlane drowned in Canada while filming a documentary. John Serge went to England and the continent, where he had an illustrious career in opera. Helen stayed in Australia.

Emerging from three fabulous years at Channel 7, Helen went on to appear in other series, including a year with Bobby Limb’s “Sound of Music” at TCN Channel 9. During this time, Helen won the prestigious Miller’s, BMC (British Motor Corporation), Qantas Search for a Star Quest. The prizes included first class Qantas travel around the world, a car and singing contracts.

During 1965, Helen and brother Bill Zerefos embarked on the world trip she had won. After five months of many wonderful highlights, one of which was meeting Elvis Presley at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, they returned home.

There were many appearances on all major TV shows too numerous to name. Helen appeared in
over 600 television shows.

In 1967 after starring in theatre for American producer Bret Adams in “The Music Man” with Australian showbiz legend, Ted Hamilton, plus “The King and I,” Bret urged her to go to the United States as he felt she was a natural for the Broadway stage. However, an offer from the Channel 10 network to star in the television series, “ Barry Crocker’s Say It With Music” was accepted, which kept Helen in Australia. This very happy experience lasted for nearly three years.

Although there were offers of overseas engagements, her marriage in 1971 to leading private investigator, Raymond Millanta and “strong family commitments,” forced her to dispel any thoughts of working overseas.

Among Helen’s other stage shows were starring roles in: “Song of Norway,” “Showboat,” “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Evening in Paris,” “From Russia With Love,” “Aspects of Love” at the Old Tote Theatre, “Roman Holiday,” “Europe by Night,” and “The Andrew Lloyd Webber Song Book”

Helen’s father, Paul Zerefos, died suddenly in 1981. Her mother Katina never recovered from that shock and soon began to suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.

1981 – 1982 saw Helen compering the television show, “Let’s Go Greek Endaxi,” for the Channel 10 network.

On her travels over the years, Helen had amassed a large and magnificent collection of beautiful fabrics which were richly embroidered and jewelled. Realising there was more than she could ever possibly wear herself, she decided to utilise her collection of fabrics and her fashion diploma skills and create her own fashion label of special occasion wear. So, in 1984, her label “Helen Zerefos Special Occasion,” was launched with her good friend, Eileen Herbert.

After a very successful year of designing and producing special occasion wear accompanied by the excitement of fashion parades, Helen decided that the rag trade was not worth the temperamental tantrums and hassles of some of those associated with that industry. She decided to devote her talents to the relative sanity of show business and the joy of performing beautiful music.

In the meantime, her beloved mother Katina had deteriorated quickly to such a degree that she was helpless and needed constant attention. Helen was her primary carer for ten years.

In 1986 Helen appeared in the Royal Gala Concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip – Helen was so sad that her mother was not able to comprehend and be present at such an auspicious occasion.

The situation of caring for her dear mother, who passed away in 1992, had caused Helen to decline numerous concert offers from overseas during those years. Soon after her mother passed away, her husband, Raymond, was diagnosed with cancer which further curtailed any thoughts of taking any of the overseas engagements offered, as she continued her role of primary carer.

Helen was awarded an OAM (a Medal in the Order of Australia) in 1996, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for her services to charity and fund raising for Alzheimer’s research. Helen has supported research into Alzheimer’s disease for many years having nursed her mother Katina for ten years and knowing full well the horrors of that dreaded illness.

Helen supports many causes and is Patron of Professor Tony Broe’s Ageing Research Centre at NeuroScience Research Australia in Randwick (Sydney) where research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons disease is conducted. Helen has supported Professor Broe’s research for over twenty years with fundraising concerts, sale of her CDs, talks to community groups (Rotary, Lions, View, Probus Clubs etc) and generally raising awareness through her work. For further information telephone Mrs Sandra Forster, Executive Officer of the Ageing Research Centre, at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, on (02) 9382 4259 or email: Sandra Forster

Amidst her busy schedule, Helen makes appearances at Mike Walsh’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace at Cremorne, Sydney, one of the most exquisitely restored theatres in the world, working with world acclaimed theatre organist, Maestro Neil Jensen, at the Wurlitzer organ.

In the year 2000, Helen represented Australia in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Opera Theatre in Shanghai, China, celebrating its opening. The concert was a live telecast to two billion people!

Helen’s husband of 31 years, Raymond Millanta, passed away in 2002 after a lengthy debilitating illness – again Helen had been the primary carer. In all, Helen was primary carer for members of her family for twenty years.

Helen was devastated by the loss of her beloved younger sister Bubsie (Florence) who passed away with breast cancer in May 2004.

On 4 June 2004, Helen was selected to be a torchbearer in Sydney in the ATHENS 2004 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY. She was nominated by her dear friend, Sandra Forster, of the Ageing Research Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital. Helen was honoured to be representing Australia for a brief moment on the world stage and also thrilled to be celebrating her Greek heritage.

Her busy schedule also included an engagement to perform two classical concerts on the Japanese luxury liner, “Pacific Venus,” while cruising the Pacific in 2005. (There were two typhoons in the area at the time.)

[[picture:"Faces of the Shire.jpg" ID:21779]]

In 2006, the Sutherland Shire (in Sydney) celebrated its centenary. To mark the occasion, many events were planned. The first of these showcased one hundred people who had “made an important contribution to the Shire over the one hundred years and who have had a significant impact on the lives of others.” Helen, a resident for many years, was among the chosen one hundred. “The Faces of the Shire” was displayed on specially produced billboards in a roving exhibition which toured the Shire throughout the year.

In 2007, at the 31st Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with a “Mo” Award for the best Classical and Opera Performer.

In 2009, at the 33 rd Australian Entertainment “Mo” Awards, Helen was presented with the John Campbell Fellowship Award.

3rd September 2011 the Sutherland Shire Council honoured Helen with a 50th anniversary (as a professional singer) tribute concert at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre, where she was accompanied by the Sutherland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sven Libaek.

Between her professional singing engagements, Helen continues to be a sought after speaker to service groups raising awareness for Alzheimer research.

Helen has recorded many times and her three available CD’s are: “Million Dollar Melodies” accompanied by the Sydney International Orchestra conducted by Maestro Tommy Tycho AM, MBE. “Love and Music” accompanied by Maestro Robert Goode at the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ “Friends for Life” accompanied and orchestrated by Maestro Steven Isoardi

--- John Love
Open full entry
People, Notable Kytherians
Life Stories

Sutherland Shire Symphony Orchestra presents a tribute to Helen Zerefos OAM

O Kosmos. Thursday 25 August 2011, page 21

View / dowload a .pdf version of this entry here:

Sutherland Shire Symphony Orchestra tribute.pdf

Sutherland Shire Symphony Orchestra Presents a tribute to Helen Zerefos
OAM, 8:00 pm on Saturday, 3 Sep 2011, at Sutherland Entertainment
Centre Eton Street, Sutherland. Conductor Sven Libaek will lead the orchestra for this special concert with award winning singing star soprano, Helen Zerefos OAM, in celebration of the wonderful contribution she has made in her 50 years as a professional singer and entertainer.

Award winning soprano Helen Zerefos was born in Scone, NSW, Australia, her parents were both from Greece; mother Katina Andronicos Zerefos from Avlemonas, Kythera and father Paul Zerefos from Neapolis Vion, Laconia.

Helen has
•appeared in over 600 television shows
•Compered her own television show
•Performed in a Royal Gala Concert for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1986
•Helen starred in many theatrical productions
•Performed in thousands of cabaret shows and concerts
•Recorded a number of CDs
•Was awarded an OAM (Medal in the Order of Australia)

As many residents of the Shire know, even though Helen had an illustrious singing career happening, she was often found working in the family shop, “Paul’s Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania”.

Represented Australia in 2000 in the concert that opened the Shanghai, China, Grand Opera House. Ran in the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay in Sydney. In 2006, the Sutherland Shire celebrated its centenary. To mark the occasion, one of the events planned showcased one hundred people “who had made an important contribution to the Shire over the one hundred years and who had a significant impact on the lives of others.”

Helen, a resident since 1956, was among the chosen one hundred. In 2007 won the Australian Entertainment “MO” Award for best Classical / Opera Performer.

In 2009 won another Australian Entertainment “MO” Award – The John Campbell Fellowship Award November 2009, Helen performed in Los Angeles, USA, a recital attended by the Australian Consul General, His Excellency Chris De Cure and the Deputy Consul General, Mr Graeme Fay.

She also gave a very successful concert in Chapala, Mexico, hailed there
as “the event of the year,” supporting a wonderful school called Jaltepec.

Constantly performs in concerts throughout Australia Helen supports many causes and is Patron of Professor Tony Broe’s Ageing Research Centre at NeuroScience Research Australia in Randwick (Sydney) where research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease is conducted.

Helen was primary carer for her mother, afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, for ten years, curtailing her own singing career during that time. With her dear friend Sandra Forster, Executive Officer of the Ageing Research Centre, phone (02) 9382 4259, has produced and organised many fundraising events and functions supporting this research.

This year (2011) Helen celebrates 50 years as a professional singer and entertainer. She was particularly thrilled to be able to celebrate this occasion with her friends in the Sutherland Symphony Orchestra when renowned conductor Sven Libaek invited her to participate in a “Helen Zerefos Tribute” concert.

When Helen began her career in the TV series “Revue 61” & “Revue 62” at Channel 7 Sydney in 1961, Sven Libaek himself, was working on the same show and was in the studio that day of her first show; as was Ted Hamilton, the singing star of “Revue 61,” who will be present at the Tribute.

Not only but also in the studio that day, 50 years ago and in the audience for the Tribute will be Claire Poole, who gave Helen her first job in show business which started her long career. Claire was one of the stars of the “Revue” series and as one of the musical directors of the show, chose Helen to be in the “Revue 20” singing and dancing choir on the series.

That happy association at Channel 7, plus later in series at Channel 10, “Barry Crocker’s Say It With Music” and Channel 9, “The Sound of Music,” lengthened into many years - of course, Helen’s friendship with Claire continues today.

Performed in the concert will be the premiere of the song “AUSTRALIA,” words and music written by Australian show business legend Ted Hamilton. Helen sings “Australia” with Ted. The last time they sang together was in 1967 when they starred in the stage production, “The Music Man.” Internationally acclaimed singer songwriter, Ted’s songs have been recorded by Glenn Campbell, Dean Martin, Barry Crocker and Tom Jones.
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People, Life Stories
Architecture

Avlemonas Houses

In the picturesque bay of Avlemonas we have two recently restored houses. Our two traditional sea houses are in close distance to the bay of Avlemonas, only 20 meters, and from our spacious verandas you will have amazing sea view. Both houses consist of 3 master bedrooms with private bathrooms, a large living room and a fully equipped kitchen. They are well equipped and apart from a/c they are ideal for winter vacations as they are both equipped with fireplace and heater. Each apartment can accommodate 6-7 persons. Special Prices for long-term and winter vacations.

Down a colourful brochure as a .pdf, here:

Filoxenes Katoikies Brochure 2013.pdf

Contact:

Andreas Samios

Tel: (+30) 2736033755, (+30) 2736034015

Mob: (+30) 6976415238

Fax: (+30) 2121219972

Email Filoxenes Katoikies - Kythera, Greece
www.filoxeneskatoikies.com

Facebook Page, Filoxenes Katoikies

About Filoxenes Katoikies

With respect to the tradition of the island, we have created a group of properties of respective weight, geared to your most particular demands, aiming through our friendly and professional service and hospitality, at making your stay on the island even more pleasant. You are the main characters and that is what matters the most. That is the central philosophy in our traditional settlements.

Apart from the high aesthetics and our attempt to combine successfully the traditional Kytherian architecture with the modern way of living, our ultimate goal is to serve our visitors in the best possible way. Homemade traditional sweets and marmalades are offered during your staying, along with our own organic products such as honey, fruits and vegetables, wine, eggs and olive-oil.

Filoxenes Katoikies consists of traditional villas, houses, and seaside apartments.
• Villa Venus, Kythira Villa
• Celestia Traditional Houses, Semeli Houses, Windmill Suites, Avlemonas houses, Paleopoli houses and Kalokairines house.
• Sole e Mare Traditional Studios, Athena apts & studios, Anemoi apts & studios

Stay in 8 different villages of Kythera, choose to stay in 2 or even 3 different properties.

Our philosophy is to create a unique experience for our visitors. The only way to do that is by introducing you to Kytherian customs, cuisine and traditions. Kythera, is considered to be one of the most authentic Greek islands, and it is one of our high priorities to engender in our visitors the feeling of being able to go back 30 years - to live in the Greece of the past.

Furthermore, in the near future, it is our intention to initiate a program that includes: Hiking, Boat trips, Cooking, Wine tasting, Olive-oil gathering, Guided tours and a series of other activities, in order to help out visitors to enter into the spirit of Kythera, and help them to understand and feel the Kytherian atmosphere.

It is important that visitors to Kythera be given the opportunity to live in
traditional Kytherian Houses, and experience authentic Kytherian culture.
Open full entry
Photos, Architecture
Modern Landscapes

Erecting the primary monopatia (walking trail) sign in Avlemonas

Monday July 23, 2012.

Supervised by Fivos Tsaravopoulos.

Present to witness the erection of the sign was the Secretary and Assitant Secretary of the Kytherian Association of Australia, George C Poulos, and Kalie Zervos. The Kytherian Association of Australia - along with the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust, have contributed considerable funds to realise the walking trails project.

Also present was Mr Vardas, (far left), President of the Kytherian Association in Alimos, Athens - and recently appointed Trustee to the Tryffillion Trust, Athens / Kythera. His home on Kythera lies opposite the monopatia sign - and he involves himself strongly in the affairs of Avlemonas.

Those who know this beautiful beachside town well will realise the Avlemonas community has banded together to create a small walking trail themselves - around the bizina tis Aphrodite's. (This is the first year in which you can walk easily around the bizina - to the next bay and towards the limani).
Open full entry
Photos, Modern Landscapes
Nature

The Kythera Adventure. November/December 2011 ODYSSEY pp. 18-19

Photograph - Shot in the dark: two pistols, one encrusted with fragments of wine bottles, were among recovered items.

In 1802, one of the ships charted by Lord Elgin to transport the Parthenon Marbles to England sank off the coast of the southern Peloponnese. Most of its cargo was recovered but a Greek Australian foundation and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture have joined in a new salvage mission they hope will yield vital information about the ship as well as its cargo.

By Mary Sinanidis

Last July, a team of underwater archaeologists spent two weeks diving off the coast of Avlemonas, southwest of the island of Kythera. Their mission? To examine the shipwreck of the Mentor that sunk in the early hours of September 17, 1802, as it transported marbles from the Parthenon to London via Malta.

The story of the Parthenon Marbles - muggled out of Greece by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803 - and the ensuing controversy concerning their ownership is notorious. Few people, however, are aware of the details of their transport conditions.

Archaeological enthusiast, John Fardoulis, spokesperson of the Sydney-based Kytherian Research Foundation (KRG) that funded the expedition headed by the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, says that few people are aware of the Mentor's sinking and its valuable cargo consisting of seventeen crates. He jokes that the god Poseidon may have had something to do with it to stop the marbles from leaving Greece.

The Mentor disaster, apart from having the trappings of an Odyssean tale, showcases a very embarrassing moment of the ongoing adventure of the Parthenon marbles. "lt provides a historical link to the Parthenon, socio-political influences at the time, and the history of maritime trade and shipping," says Fardoulis, who sees the shipwreck as a "time capsule".

The ship, a brig built in i 780, and it's eight-member crew set sail from Piraeus. But the notoriously strong winds at Cape Tainaro blew the ship off course before it finally rammed into rocks at Avlemonas. The crew survived, although the Mentor's precious cargo was trapped in the wreckage for two years. Lord Elgin paid exorbitant amounts to Kalymnos sponge divers, who could reach depths of over twenty metres, in an effort to salvage marbles from the sea bed.
Most of the cargo was recovered-at a cost. Some believe that the two-and-a-half-year salvage project may be partly responsible for Elgin's financial ruin which, in turn, led to his decision to sell the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum in 1816 at what's been acknowledged as a very low price.

The Mentor's story doesn't end with Elgin. In 1975, the French sea explorer Jacques-Yves Costeau personally headed a mission to locate and examine the wreck. More dives followed, this time conducted by the Institute of Under"water Antiquities Research in 1980 and the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in 2009. They all failed to recover or identify any pieces of statuary or marbles.
These unsuccessful missions did not discourage Dr Dimitris Kourkoumelis. In July, he led new, a ten- member salvage mission of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate to explore the shipwreck in hopes that new technologies, techniques, and other resources might yield results. "We used a device called an airlift to excavate, a bit like a vacuum cleaner that removes sand/silt covering the wreck. It takes two days just to set it up properly," says Fardoulis. "We have a team that's focused on the project, prepared to dedicate the next few years in completing the research."

The team's optimism was rewarded. Three coins - two silver and one bronze-were recovered quite early, encouraging the team to probe further. "Finding ancient coins proves that other antiquities were being carried on the ship, not just crates of Parthenon marbles and sculptures," he says.

Also salvaged from the wreck were clay, glass, and porcelain tableware used by the Mentor's crew, two pistols, a cannonball, a compass and other items, including a clock showing the time of the ship's sinking. They also cleared a section of the wreck's shell, still in good condition. All these articles provide information on trade and navigation of the time.

"The early 1800s were a very interesting time for Greece and the Mediterranean, with power struggles between the Ottomans, French, Russians and British taking place. Piracy was also rife," says Fardoulis. "Finding a wide range of weapons on the Mentor shipwreck - a merchant vessel - helps remind us of how dangerous the Mediterranean was for shipping at the time." He states that this was highlighted by the many musket balls, two pistols and canon ball found as part of the wreck.

Findings are currently with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the body responsible for marine archaeology in Greece. Fardoulis hopes that the conserved artifacts might eventually be displayed in the New Acropolis Museum or in the Archaeological Museum of Kythera that has been closed for six years due to earthquake damage. Perhaps attention from the Mentor project will help reopen the island's museum, another of the Kytherian Research Group's goals.

"Kythera is a beautiful and relatively underdeveloped island tourist-wise, so an interesting story and inspiring imagery from the deep blue waters around the island will help increase Kythera's international profile," says Fardoulis, who adds that the excavation proves how people and foundations from the diaspora can help research take place in Greece. He notes the support of the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust and Kytherian Association of Australia that made this under-water excavation possible.

"Such efforts can lead to new chapters of history being written and shared around the world," he states, adding that this is just the beginning. "Key findings and conclusions will grow over time."
Open full entry
Culture, Nature
Archaeology

The Kythera Adventure. November/December 2011 ODYSSEY pp. 18-19

[[picture:"Odyssey Magazine Photo Shot in the dark.jpg" ID:19866]]

Photograph - Shot in the dark: two pistols, one encrusted with fragments of wine bottles, were among recovered items.

In 1802, one of the ships charted by Lord Elgin to transport the Parthenon Marbles to England sank off the coast of the southern Peloponnese. Most of its cargo was recovered but a Greek Australian foundation and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture have joined in a new salvage mission they hope will yield vital information about the ship as well as its cargo.

By Mary Sinanidis

Last July, a team of underwater archaeologists spent two weeks diving off the coast of Avlemonas, southwest of the island of Kythera. Their mission? To examine the shipwreck of the Mentor that sunk in the early hours of September 17, 1802, as it transported marbles from the Parthenon to London via Malta.

The story of the Parthenon Marbles - muggled out of Greece by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803 - and the ensuing controversy concerning their ownership is notorious. Few people, however, are aware of the details of their transport conditions.

Archaeological enthusiast, John Fardoulis, spokesperson of the Sydney-based Kytherian Research Foundation (KRG) that funded the expedition headed by the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, says that few people are aware of the Mentor's sinking and its valuable cargo consisting of seventeen crates. He jokes that the god Poseidon may have had something to do with it to stop the marbles from leaving Greece.

The Mentor disaster, apart from having the trappings of an Odyssean tale, showcases a very embarrassing moment of the ongoing adventure of the Parthenon marbles. "lt provides a historical link to the Parthenon, socio-political influences at the time, and the history of maritime trade and shipping," says Fardoulis, who sees the shipwreck as a "time capsule".

The ship, a brig built in i 780, and it's eight-member crew set sail from Piraeus. But the notoriously strong winds at Cape Tainaro blew the ship off course before it finally rammed into rocks at Avlemonas. The crew survived, although the Mentor's precious cargo was trapped in the wreckage for two years. Lord Elgin paid exorbitant amounts to Kalymnos sponge divers, who could reach depths of over twenty metres, in an effort to salvage marbles from the sea bed.
Most of the cargo was recovered-at a cost. Some believe that the two-and-a-half-year salvage project may be partly responsible for Elgin's financial ruin which, in turn, led to his decision to sell the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum in 1816 at what's been acknowledged as a very low price.

The Mentor's story doesn't end with Elgin. In 1975, the French sea explorer Jacques-Yves Costeau personally headed a mission to locate and examine the wreck. More dives followed, this time conducted by the Institute of Under"water Antiquities Research in 1980 and the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in 2009. They all failed to recover or identify any pieces of statuary or marbles.
These unsuccessful missions did not discourage Dr Dimitris Kourkoumelis. In July, he led new, a ten- member salvage mission of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate to explore the shipwreck in hopes that new technologies, techniques, and other resources might yield results. "We used a device called an airlift to excavate, a bit like a vacuum cleaner that removes sand/silt covering the wreck. It takes two days just to set it up properly," says Fardoulis. "We have a team that's focused on the project, prepared to dedicate the next few years in completing the research."

The team's optimism was rewarded. Three coins - two silver and one bronze-were recovered quite early, encouraging the team to probe further. "Finding ancient coins proves that other antiquities were being carried on the ship, not just crates of Parthenon marbles and sculptures," he says.

Also salvaged from the wreck were clay, glass, and porcelain tableware used by the Mentor's crew, two pistols, a cannonball, a compass and other items, including a clock showing the time of the ship's sinking. They also cleared a section of the wreck's shell, still in good condition. All these articles provide information on trade and navigation of the time.

"The early 1800s were a very interesting time for Greece and the Mediterranean, with power struggles between the Ottomans, French, Russians and British taking place. Piracy was also rife," says Fardoulis. "Finding a wide range of weapons on the Mentor shipwreck - a merchant vessel - helps remind us of how dangerous the Mediterranean was for shipping at the time." He states that this was highlighted by the many musket balls, two pistols and canon ball found as part of the wreck.

Findings are currently with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the body responsible for marine archaeology in Greece. Fardoulis hopes that the conserved artifacts might eventually be displayed in the New Acropolis Museum or in the Archaeological Museum of Kythera that has been closed for six years due to earthquake damage. Perhaps attention from the Mentor project will help reopen the island's museum, another of the Kytherian Research Group's goals.

"Kythera is a beautiful and relatively underdeveloped island tourist-wise, so an interesting story and inspiring imagery from the deep blue waters around the island will help increase Kythera's international profile," says Fardoulis, who adds that the excavation proves how people and foundations from the diaspora can help research take place in Greece. He notes the support of the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust and Kytherian Association of Australia that made this under-water excavation possible.

"Such efforts can lead to new chapters of history being written and shared around the world," he states, adding that this is just the beginning. "Key findings and conclusions will grow over time."
Open full entry
History, Archaeology
Nature

The Kythera Adventure. November/December 2011 ODYSSEY pp. 18-19

Photograph: Scraping the bottom divers worked collecting artifacts which they hope will shed more light on the ship and its voyage.

In 1802, one of the ships charted by Lord Elgin to transport the Parthenon Marbles to England sank off the coast of the southern Peloponnese. Most of its cargo was recovered but a Greek Australian foundation and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture have joined in a new salvage mission they hope will yield vital information about the ship as well as its cargo.

By Mary Sinanidis

Last July, a team of underwater archaeologists spent two weeks diving off the coast of Avlemonas, southwest of the island of Kythera. Their mission? To examine the shipwreck of the Mentor that sunk in the early hours of September 17, 1802, as it transported marbles from the Parthenon to London via Malta.

The story of the Parthenon Marbles - muggled out of Greece by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803 - and the ensuing controversy concerning their ownership is notorious. Few people, however, are aware of the details of their transport conditions.

Archaeological enthusiast, John Fardoulis, spokesperson of the Sydney-based Kytherian Research Foundation (KRG) that funded the expedition headed by the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, says that few people are aware of the Mentor's sinking and its valuable cargo consisting of seventeen crates. He jokes that the god Poseidon may have had something to do with it to stop the marbles from leaving Greece.

The Mentor disaster, apart from having the trappings of an Odyssean tale, showcases a very embarrassing moment of the ongoing adventure of the Parthenon marbles. "lt provides a historical link to the Parthenon, socio-political influences at the time, and the history of maritime trade and shipping," says Fardoulis, who sees the shipwreck as a "time capsule".

The ship, a brig built in i 780, and it's eight-member crew set sail from Piraeus. But the notoriously strong winds at Cape Tainaro blew the ship off course before it finally rammed into rocks at Avlemonas. The crew survived, although the Mentor's precious cargo was trapped in the wreckage for two years. Lord Elgin paid exorbitant amounts to Kalymnos sponge divers, who could reach depths of over twenty metres, in an effort to salvage marbles from the sea bed.
Most of the cargo was recovered-at a cost. Some believe that the two-and-a-half-year salvage project may be partly responsible for Elgin's financial ruin which, in turn, led to his decision to sell the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum in 1816 at what's been acknowledged as a very low price.

The Mentor's story doesn't end with Elgin. In 1975, the French sea explorer Jacques-Yves Costeau personally headed a mission to locate and examine the wreck. More dives followed, this time conducted by the Institute of Under"water Antiquities Research in 1980 and the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in 2009. They all failed to recover or identify any pieces of statuary or marbles.
These unsuccessful missions did not discourage Dr Dimitris Kourkoumelis. In July, he led new, a ten- member salvage mission of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate to explore the shipwreck in hopes that new technologies, techniques, and other resources might yield results. "We used a device called an airlift to excavate, a bit like a vacuum cleaner that removes sand/silt covering the wreck. It takes two days just to set it up properly," says Fardoulis. "We have a team that's focused on the project, prepared to dedicate the next few years in completing the research."

The team's optimism was rewarded. Three coins - two silver and one bronze-were recovered quite early, encouraging the team to probe further. "Finding ancient coins proves that other antiquities were being carried on the ship, not just crates of Parthenon marbles and sculptures," he says.

Also salvaged from the wreck were clay, glass, and porcelain tableware used by the Mentor's crew, two pistols, a cannonball, a compass and other items, including a clock showing the time of the ship's sinking. They also cleared a section of the wreck's shell, still in good condition. All these articles provide information on trade and navigation of the time.

"The early 1800s were a very interesting time for Greece and the Mediterranean, with power struggles between the Ottomans, French, Russians and British taking place. Piracy was also rife," says Fardoulis. "Finding a wide range of weapons on the Mentor shipwreck - a merchant vessel - helps remind us of how dangerous the Mediterranean was for shipping at the time." He states that this was highlighted by the many musket balls, two pistols and canon ball found as part of the wreck.

Findings are currently with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the body responsible for marine archaeology in Greece. Fardoulis hopes that the conserved artifacts might eventually be displayed in the New Acropolis Museum or in the Archaeological Museum of Kythera that has been closed for six years due to earthquake damage. Perhaps attention from the Mentor project will help reopen the island's museum, another of the Kytherian Research Group's goals.

"Kythera is a beautiful and relatively underdeveloped island tourist-wise, so an interesting story and inspiring imagery from the deep blue waters around the island will help increase Kythera's international profile," says Fardoulis, who adds that the excavation proves how people and foundations from the diaspora can help research take place in Greece. He notes the support of the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust and Kytherian Association of Australia that made this under-water excavation possible.

"Such efforts can lead to new chapters of history being written and shared around the world," he states, adding that this is just the beginning. "Key findings and conclusions will grow over time."
Open full entry
Culture, Nature
Archaeology

The Kythera Adventure. November/December 2011 ODYSSEY pp. 18-19

[[picture:"Odyssey Magazine The Kythera Adventure photograph.jpg" ID:19864]]

Photograph: Scraping the bottom divers worked collecting artifacts which they hope will shed more light on the ship and its voyage.

In 1802, one of the ships charted by Lord Elgin to transport the Parthenon Marbles to England sank off the coast of the southern Peloponnese. Most of its cargo was recovered but a Greek Australian foundation and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture have joined in a new salvage mission they hope will yield vital information about the ship as well as its cargo.

By Mary Sinanidis

Last July, a team of underwater archaeologists spent two weeks diving off the coast of Avlemonas, southwest of the island of Kythera. Their mission? To examine the shipwreck of the Mentor that sunk in the early hours of September 17, 1802, as it transported marbles from the Parthenon to London via Malta.

The story of the Parthenon Marbles - muggled out of Greece by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803 - and the ensuing controversy concerning their ownership is notorious. Few people, however, are aware of the details of their transport conditions.

Archaeological enthusiast, John Fardoulis, spokesperson of the Sydney-based Kytherian Research Foundation (KRG) that funded the expedition headed by the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, says that few people are aware of the Mentor's sinking and its valuable cargo consisting of seventeen crates. He jokes that the god Poseidon may have had something to do with it to stop the marbles from leaving Greece.

The Mentor disaster, apart from having the trappings of an Odyssean tale, showcases a very embarrassing moment of the ongoing adventure of the Parthenon marbles. "lt provides a historical link to the Parthenon, socio-political influences at the time, and the history of maritime trade and shipping," says Fardoulis, who sees the shipwreck as a "time capsule".

The ship, a brig built in i 780, and it's eight-member crew set sail from Piraeus. But the notoriously strong winds at Cape Tainaro blew the ship off course before it finally rammed into rocks at Avlemonas. The crew survived, although the Mentor's precious cargo was trapped in the wreckage for two years. Lord Elgin paid exorbitant amounts to Kalymnos sponge divers, who could reach depths of over twenty metres, in an effort to salvage marbles from the sea bed.
Most of the cargo was recovered-at a cost. Some believe that the two-and-a-half-year salvage project may be partly responsible for Elgin's financial ruin which, in turn, led to his decision to sell the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum in 1816 at what's been acknowledged as a very low price.

The Mentor's story doesn't end with Elgin. In 1975, the French sea explorer Jacques-Yves Costeau personally headed a mission to locate and examine the wreck. More dives followed, this time conducted by the Institute of Under"water Antiquities Research in 1980 and the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in 2009. They all failed to recover or identify any pieces of statuary or marbles.
These unsuccessful missions did not discourage Dr Dimitris Kourkoumelis. In July, he led new, a ten- member salvage mission of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate to explore the shipwreck in hopes that new technologies, techniques, and other resources might yield results. "We used a device called an airlift to excavate, a bit like a vacuum cleaner that removes sand/silt covering the wreck. It takes two days just to set it up properly," says Fardoulis. "We have a team that's focused on the project, prepared to dedicate the next few years in completing the research."

The team's optimism was rewarded. Three coins - two silver and one bronze-were recovered quite early, encouraging the team to probe further. "Finding ancient coins proves that other antiquities were being carried on the ship, not just crates of Parthenon marbles and sculptures," he says.

Also salvaged from the wreck were clay, glass, and porcelain tableware used by the Mentor's crew, two pistols, a cannonball, a compass and other items, including a clock showing the time of the ship's sinking. They also cleared a section of the wreck's shell, still in good condition. All these articles provide information on trade and navigation of the time.

"The early 1800s were a very interesting time for Greece and the Mediterranean, with power struggles between the Ottomans, French, Russians and British taking place. Piracy was also rife," says Fardoulis. "Finding a wide range of weapons on the Mentor shipwreck - a merchant vessel - helps remind us of how dangerous the Mediterranean was for shipping at the time." He states that this was highlighted by the many musket balls, two pistols and canon ball found as part of the wreck.

Findings are currently with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the body responsible for marine archaeology in Greece. Fardoulis hopes that the conserved artifacts might eventually be displayed in the New Acropolis Museum or in the Archaeological Museum of Kythera that has been closed for six years due to earthquake damage. Perhaps attention from the Mentor project will help reopen the island's museum, another of the Kytherian Research Group's goals.

"Kythera is a beautiful and relatively underdeveloped island tourist-wise, so an interesting story and inspiring imagery from the deep blue waters around the island will help increase Kythera's international profile," says Fardoulis, who adds that the excavation proves how people and foundations from the diaspora can help research take place in Greece. He notes the support of the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust and Kytherian Association of Australia that made this under-water excavation possible.

"Such efforts can lead to new chapters of history being written and shared around the world," he states, adding that this is just the beginning. "Key findings and conclusions will grow over time."
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Academic Research, Archaeology
Where to stay

accomodation

Dear Sirs,



I would like to spend a few of days in your beautiful island with my family in august.



We are 4 persons (two childs) from Italy and we are looking about an accomodation in avlemonas or in karavas.



Could you recommend an hotel or a boarding house or studio to rent.



Thank you in advance for your attention.



Best regards.

fausto tarsitano
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Tourist Information, Where to stay
Archaeology

MINOAN CIVILISATION ON KYTHERA: THE PEAK SANCTUARY OF AGIOS GEORGIOS STO VOUNO

It was a typically hot August day on Kythera. In the picturesque fishing village of Avlemonas below, locals must have been intrigued at the sight of a tourist walking up the gravel and rocky slopes leading to Agios Georgios sto vouno, the white washed chapel located on the hilltop above and, at 350 metres above sea level, the highest point on the island.

But in August 1991, something exciting was about to happen to the newspaper editor and amateur archaeologist, Adonis Kyrou. As he approached the top he stumbled on a cooper statuette and then came across other pottery fragments. Before long, and at the instigation of Kyrou, the noted Cretan archaeologist, Professor Yannis Sakellarakis, and his wife and colleague, Dr. Efi Sapouna-Sakellaraki, visited Kythera. As soon as Sakellarakis saw the hilltop above Avlemonas he was confident that this was the site of a Minoan peak sanctuary associated with the already excavated Minoan settlement at Kastri (present-day Paliopolis). A chance discovery was the beginning of what Sakellarakis would later describe as a “last, almost dream-like journey to Kythera”.

Throughout history the island of Kythera has occupied the cross-roads of the Mediterranean, a witness to various civilisations and empires. During the 1960s a British-led expedition to Kastri confirmed that Kythera had once been an outpost of the mighty Minoan civilization during the Bronze Age in the Aegean (about 1,500-3,000 BC) but left open the question of whether the Minoans had built a sanctuary as a ritual cult centre on the island. The excavations by Sakellarakis and his team were carried out between 1992 and 1994 and yielded rare Minoan artefacts that were unearthed in an intact Minoan summit-sanctuary.

Professor Sakellakaris has published a book “Digging For the Past” in which his philosophy on archaeology is accompanied by some stunning photographs of the Agios Georgios excavation. According to Sakellarakis, digging for Greece’s past becomes a “descent into a rich and varied history out of which western civilization was born”. For a commentary on the excavations (in English) the reader must go to an article published in the Annual Journal of the British School at Athens in 1997 entitled “Minoan Religious Influence in the Aegean: The Case of Kythera”. The extraordinary adventure which Professor Sakellakaris and his colleagues experienced on the hilltop above Avlemonas unfolds in both text and photos.

Typically, a Minoan peak sanctuary was defined by its location on a mountain top, high above its surrounding region and commanding great views. The peak sanctuary of Agios Georgios was no different. Close to the peak, it was situated less than 4 kilometres from the Minoan settlement of Kastri with a moderately easy path leading up to the sanctuary. It is now regarded as a unique example of a Minoan settlement colony, displaying all the characteristics of a peak sanctuary: accessibility, proximity, general prominence and visibility.

The fruits of the excavation, more than eighty Minoan artefacts, including miniature votive figurines and pithos fragments, are currently on display at the Archaeological Museum in Piraeus. They are compelling viewing.

The Sakellarakis team unearthed a large number of bronze votive figurines (mainly men but also women) as well as many other offerings, including representations of human limbs, small knife blades and a bronze double axe with a carved decoration, the prime symbol of Minoan Crete. For example, the Minoan bronze male votive figurine, with broad shoulders and narrow waist, is depicted with his clenched right hand raised to his forehead in a gesture of devotion and adoration, his left hand at his side, his feet together. There were other interesting finds. Among them a statuette of a woman with distinctive coiffure and dress folds, touching her forehead with her right hand in a venerating pose. Another is a copper cut-out of a woman wearing a long black dress which has distinct Cretan parallels.

The most significant discovery, however, was a black stone ladle or small pot with an inscription in Linear A, the first Minoan inscription ever found on Kythera and dating back to around 1500 B.C during the transition from the Middle Minoan period to the Late Minoan period. The inscription read “da-ma-te”, most likely a reference to the goddess Demeter, and providing evidence of Minoan religious worship and is regarded as the earliest known attestation of the divine name Demeter.

These represent the findings of a typical Minoan sanctuary summit. The significance of the finds at Agios Georgios was that the votive offerings were made of bronze. This was unprecedented for a peak sanctuary. Sakellarakis has suggested that the worshippers who came to the peak sanctuary were not simple shepherds but members of a wealthier class, possibly traders or sailors. Moreover, the unique quality of the bronze figurines found on Kythera also points to Kythera playing a key role in the Minoan thalassocracy.

Importantly, the finds confirm the establishment of a Minoan colony, by far the earliest Minoan settlement outside of Crete itself, some 4,000 years ago. As a peak sanctuary it was the best landmark for worshippers to go and worship the Minoan deities who controlled the heavens. The ritual cult worshipping of the Minoan civilization gradually gave way to the observance of Christianity and it is significant that there are today two Byzantine chapels on the top of the hill. The major church is dedicated to Agios Georgios and next to it stands the chapel of Panagia Myrtidiotissa. Divinity worship has indeed survived though the ages on Agios Georgios.

Sakellakaris in his book writes that excavation is an irreversible intervention which permanently affects nature and time; its aims to recall the memory of a previous historical configuration. The excavations at the Minoan peak sanctuary at Agios Georgios sto vouno and the stunning artefacts discovered by Professor Sakellarakis in the early 1990s emphasise the symbolic Minoanisation of Kythera during the Bronze Age.



George Vardas
May 2008


References

E. Banou, “Kythera between Minoan Crete and Mycenean Laconia: The Small Finds from the Minoan Peak Sanctuary of Agios Georgios” in Kythera: Myth and Reality: Proceedings of the First International Symposium of Kytherian Studies (September 2003) 69-75 (in Greek)
C. Broadbank and E. Kiriatzi, “The First ‘Minoans’ of Kythera Revisited: Technology, Demography, and Landscape in the Prepalatial Aegean” American Journal of Archaeology (2007 Vol. 111) 241-274
Y. Sakellarakis, “Minoan Religious Influence in the Aegean: The Case of Kythera” BSA (1996 Vol 91) 81-99
Y. Sakellarakis, Digging For The Past (Ammos Publications, Athens, 1996)
Y. Sakellarakis, “An Elusive Minoan Peak Sanctuary” Kathimerini Epta Imeres (26 January 1997) p15 (in Greek)

Note: This article was originally published in the 2008 Kytherian Ball Program in Sydney, Australia.
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History, Archaeology
Diaspora Vintage Portraits/ People

My grandfather, Theodor Cavalenes.

Taken June 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
(L-R) Theodor, grandaughter Candace (Candy) Cavalenes and Theodor's 2nd wife (my father's very loved and highly regarded stepmother), Rose (Maw-Maw). She passed in 1968 and I don't really remember her, because she left Chicago for San Diego, California when I was just a baby.

Theodor was Spiro Cavalinis' (Maroubra, Sydney, Australia), father's brother.
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Photos, Diaspora Vintage Portraits/ People
Architecture

Kavalini* house, Avlemonas.

In the decades following the unification of Greece in 1864, Kythera once again became the stop-over port of call for Austrian ships from Trieste, using Avlemona during winter, and Kapsali during the summer months.

The company was known as Lloyds of Trieste. A repre­sentative was appointed to the island by the name of Giovani Kavalini who also acted as Vice Consul at Kythera. The descendants of this man remained on the island for many generations and the name is evident today, with many residing in Kythera, Australia and other parts of the world.

The tomb of one of the original Kavalini family members can be found in a small cemetery outside St Spyridon’s Church at Kapsali.

The Triestian vessels continued their journey to Smyrna where a strong Kytherian community was flourishing. The Kavalini family played an important role in the history of trade on the island as they were the official import-export representatives for many years, with trade from Europe and the Greek mainland.

pp. 147-148. Kythera. A History. Peter Vanges, author.

* Also spelt Cavallini, Cavalinis, & Cavalenes
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Photos, Architecture
Modern Landscapes

Avlemonas from the Air

Even through the murky windows of the Olympic plane flying off the island, the pictureque fishing village of Avlemonas is visible.

We hope to bring out a new book in 2007 - "Kythera from the Air" - filled with a hundred high-quality (non-murky-glass...) pictures of the island. If you are interested in the book please contact me at james@kythera-family.net.
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Modern Landscapes

St George from the Air

Even through the murky windows of the Olympic plane flying off the island, the breath-taking church of St. George - also the site of an ancient Minoan Peak Sanctuary - is visible.

We hope to bring out a new book in 2007 - "Kythera from the Air" - filled with a hundred high-quality (non-murky-glass...) pictures of the island. If you are interested in the book please contact me at james@kythera-family.net.
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Modern Landscapes

Antidragonara from the Air

Even through the murky windows of the Olympic plane flying off the island, the fault running through this whale-shaped island just off the coast of Avlemonas is visible.

We hope in 2007 to bring out a new book - Kythera from the Air - filled with a hundred high-quality (non-murky-glass...) pictures of the island. If you are interested in the book please contact me at james@kythera-family.net.
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Australia

Andronicos George Haralampos

George Haralampos ANDRONICOS
b. 1 May 1895 Avlemonos Kythera
Arr Australia 10 July 1911
Worked at Tamworth,Cessnock,Sydney,Quenbeyan, Maitland, Singleton, Wingham and Moree(1919)
Naturalized June 1921 at Moree.
Partner in Peters & Co East Moree
Died 18 April 1944. Buried in Moree Cemetery.
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Gravestones, Australia
Island Social Life

Boy dancing Zeibekiko at a dance in Avlemonas

This image is part of a photographic documentary series entitled “One Year on Kythera”. “One Year on Kythera” was created by photographer Kristina Williamson, who spent one calender year living on Kythera, documenting the lives of Kytherians today; what aspects of traditional life remain in practice and in what ways the island is changing.

To view more of her work or to purchase photographic prints please visit her website at:www.kristinawilliamson.com
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Photos, Island Social Life
Nature

Kostas Kranis. Avlemonas village

Introducing Kostas Kranis.

His photographic gallery - which includes an exhibition of "One Week in Kythera", can be found at

http://www.pbase.com/image/20859390

which is a photographers "rental" site.

He has a very good eye for Kythera's beauty
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Culture, Nature
Nature

Aprodites Bath by Kostas Kranis

Introducing Kostas Kranis.

His photographic gallery - which includes an exhibition of "One Week in Kythera", can be found at

http://www.pbase.com/image/20859389

which is a photographers "rental" site.

He has a very good eye for Kythera's beauty.
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Culture, Nature
Modern Landscapes

The sinking of the Mentor

A view out to sea from the fishing village of Avlemonas. In 1802 the English brig, the Mentor, carrying part of Lord Elgin's looted sculptures from the Parthenon, sank just outside Agios Nikolaos harbour within sight of the township of Avlemonas and the castle (which is visible in the top right hand corner of the photograph). The sculptures were eventually retrieved by divers from the islands of Kalymnos and Kos and taken to London. In 1816 the Parthenon Marbles were sold by Elgin to the British Government and transferred to the British Museum where they remain to the present day.
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Modern Landscapes

The sundial of Avlemonas

The Kavalini* house at the beautiful fishing village of Avlemonas was built in 1827 and is one of the landmark buildings there. Its main feature is the sundial over the entrance.

* Sometimes also spelt Cavallini, Cavalinis & Cavalenes
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Photos, Modern Landscapes
Island Churches & Icons

St. George 2

The monastery of St. George, overlooking Avlemonas on the north-east coast of the island. There is something magical about this monastery - the earth hums up there, and you feel like you are sitting on the navel of the earth. Four thousand years ago hundreds of pilgrims would ascend the mountain before dawn from the shore at Skandia (Paliopoly) bearing gifts for their sun-goddess.
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Photos, Island Churches & Icons

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