Kato Hora

Lovely old rock wall houses that are over 500 years old at Kato Chora near Mylopotamos. Sometimes when you walk through the little streets of the fortress, you feel you could almost be greeted by past inhabitants wishing you ''KALI MERA''.

the village of kato chora near mylopotamos, kato chora was one of the islands fortress's to protect the inhabitants of invading pirates , the fortress is in the bottom of the photo , once the pirate era ceased the people that onced lived in the protected walls commenced the new communities of kato chora and mylopotamos, now you can walk through the desserted past fortress and  see how they lived some 600 years ago and also watch the magnificent sunset from the castle ..

A weathered plaque of the symbol of Venice adorns the entrance of an ancient ruined residence in Kato Chora. The Latin inscription reads " May Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist"

just past the village of mylopotamos and down to the village of kato chora, you will find one of the main past fortresses of kythera [ the others are the settlement of paliochora  and  at chora ],on the left of this photo is the castle of kato chora with the village next to the castle , some of the buildings like houising , churches are in good condition considering the age of the settlement , you can also witness the various additions from differant rulers of the island throughout the history of kythera ... you can also walk through some of the streets of the fortress and see how people lived in proctected walls of the castle, when the turkish pirate era ended a new village started next to the castle  ... another feature is the wonderful summer sunset you get from the castle late in the afternoon .. go and have a look for yourself one summers evening its magnificent ..

a unique and lovely church in kato chora , near mylopotamo agia marina, which is embedded into the side of a rock mountain

My name is Maria Vardas. I was Maria (Μαριγη) Poteres, but my surname changed to Vardas when I married John. I was born in Kato Hora, Milopotamo on the island of Kythera on 5th April 1928, in the family home. The midwife would come to the house and help out in the process, which was how everyone was born back then. Everyone called me Μαριγη or Μαριω and as the youngest of a big family, I remember often copping punishment (ετρωγα σκαμπιλια) from all my brothers and sisters because I was younger than them and they took advantage of that. We were very close as kids. My dad was in Athens and had a good business so he always sent us nice things and we ate well whereas others didn’t. We had a good life and I can’t complain about my early life back home.

My mother’s name was Theano and father’s was Theodore. He had a shop in Athens and worked so hard that unfortunately he developed a heart condition. Subsequently, he died many years later from a heart attack. To give you an example of how fragile his condition was, the doctor had said to him, that ‘if he was to see his house catch on fire, then he would have to turn the other way and leave so that he would not to worry’. He needed to do this if he wanted to live. However he worked so hard in the family restaurant in Athens and that meant that he was always worrying.

I remember when he would come home to Kythera and in particular this one time in 1939 when I was eleven years old. I went to school and before we went in, I saw my father outside in a taxi. He gave me a letter to give to the teacher and feeling important, I expected that he would let me leave early with my father. The teacher, however, was a hard man and responded quite sternly ordering me to stay inside.

My father came back to Kythera every summer and each summer my mother became pregnant. All the children were one year apart except for the last two because he stayed in Athens an extra year. My mother was strict in the sense that she had to look after eight kids alone and never wanted us to upset our father. She would kick us under the table and give us looks. My father hit me only once. He was a great man, and my mother was of a peaceful nature; she never wanted to cause problems. My father’s parents both had a ‘παρατσουκλι’; my grandfather was a priest and his was ‘σπανιολος’ and my grandmother’s was ‘ενγγλεσoι’. One from Spain and one from England; that was the joke back then.

My mother was from Githion (southern tip of the Peloponnese) and my father from Milopotamo. My mother was previously married to a man from Avlemona. However he died from the flu that hit much of the island at that time. Being widowed at a young age was difficult for her as she had two children to look after; the first being a daughter and the second being a son. Sadly her son stepped on some form of metal that caused his death from tetanus. The daughter married and moved to Crete. All this happened before I was born...I met her only once in my lifetime...a year before she passed away).

My mother was a seamstress and she went to Milopotamo for work where she met my father. They at first called her a ‘foreigner’ but everyone changed their opinion because she was so nice to them all and very capable in cooking etc. She was very generous and gave what she could to everyone. She was a very kind person and so naturally the people of the village put aside the fact that she was a ‘foreigner’ and accepted her as a local. My father was quite handsome and my mother was beautiful; they were lovely people; both inside and out.

I came from a family of eight brothers and sisters; four boys and four girls; Kalomira, Nikola, Stavroula, Othona, Vasili, Manoli, Irini and Maria (me). There are now only three of us left and we live in different countries (Australia, America and Greece) but we have remained very close. I suspect that my father would have had a very difficult time in Athens running the business alone. So when the boys got older he took them and also the eldest daughter, to help him. I believe what he did was wrong because if he had taken us all to Athens we would have been able to learn fundamental life skills that would have helped us in the long run. However, having said that, he did spoil us by sending so much back to Kythera to make our lives easier. He used to send chocolates, apples, halva etc. He could have saved the cost of sending the goods to the island if he had us all there. Without all the trips back and forth, he would have saved money and we could have helped him in the restaurant. He worked too hard. He could have allowed us to be taught a trade or continue some sort of schooling. Instead, we were left in Kythera to work the fields. I guess he did what he thought was best at the time for the family.

My first family home was in fact my last in Kythera because that was where I left from. We had one big bed in the room where we all stayed; which we affectionately referred to as the ‘κρεβατακι’. I can only recall good memories from my life on the island because we were all together as well as being very close siblings. I am lucky enough to have stayed in touch with all of them over the years; of course many have now passed away. I was always closer to Stavroula because she brought me out and then she brought out Manoli and Kalomira. Also, Stavroula and I lived close together here in Sydney, only about a five minute drive between our houses so our families and kids grew up together.

When I left, all I can remember is that there was a lot of crying and screaming. My uncle cried and said to me that I would see everyone else at some point of my life but that he would die before I got to see him again. Saying goodbye was an extremely difficult thing for me to do. One month later I got the call that he had died when I was in Athens on my way to Sydney. I had a big decision to make, whether to go back to Kythera for the funeral and perhaps never make that journey to Australia, or to continue my trip. I didn’t want to lose the opportunity and all the money people paid to get me there and I knew my uncle would have not wanted me to miss out on this opportunity. He also had spent many years in Australia so he understood the importance of this trip. There were no phones in Kythera so we sent letters to each other, which was our main form of communication with our family.

My mother passed away in 64’ in Kythera and at the time I was working in the milk bar with my husband John. When I found out, I only had a moment to cry, out in the back room, and then I had to continue serving. It was lunchtime and the shop was full of customers. I would duck under the counter so that they would not see me crying.

We brought my father out to Australia after my mother’s death and he lived here until he died eight years later. We all shared the duty of looking after him, taking it in turns to have him stay with us. As there were four of us here, we alternated every three months. I can remember that we all loved his company; he was definitely no burden for anyone and that system worked well in ensuring everyone played their part equally. Upon his death he was buried in Yarrawonga, Victoria and after many years, the family was given permission to fly his body back to Greece. Both my parents are buried in the cemetery at Milopotamo, the one near the watermills and it pains me that my physical ailments mean that I cannot go back and visit again.

Growing up in Milopotamo, I can recall all the youth from the area getting together and walking to Ayios Haralambos, the church where my father would be a ψαλτη every Sunday when he was back in Kythera. We would then walk to the school to hang out with our friends. I can remember a funny story when I was young. My sister and I would talk in church and our father would say that if he saw us again he would come down from the ψαλτης position and grab us by the ears to which we responded that “by the time you come down we will be long gone.” We used to have as much fun as we could while we were not working in the fields. We loved dancing at special events and even jobs such as washing the clothes in the kamari at Milopotamo, could be fun. It was work done by the girls of the family, not the sons, but for some reason we really enjoyed it as long as we had company to complete the task.

I returned for the first time in 73’and because it was winter, there was no one there in Mιlopotamo. It was a massive shock for me as I found my village resembling a ghost town, a sentiment shared by my daughter when we first arrived there. There were tumbleweeds rolling down the deserted streets. It was very eerie. I cried when I visited my house, thinking back to all those memories of all of us living there. It was sad knowing that some had died and the rest had moved to Athens or overseas. I couldn’t wait to go to Livadi, John’s χωριο and where we were staying; ironic as I expected it to be very hard to live somewhere else in Kythera, on my first trip back. However in Livadi, the majority of the locals had stayed, which was in stark contrast to the few who remained in Milopotamo during the winter season. Most had left to make a living on the mainland. This helped me and my kids enjoy the island once again and encouraged them to fall in love with it. I am very lucky that John has a place in Livadi. Recently, through photos and video, I have noticed massive changes to the island such as the building of new and bigger houses and businesses and old buildings like the Castro being repaired. It is a different Kythera to what I can remember.

I was seven years old when I started school in Mylopotamo; there was no preschool in those days that I can remember and I finished 5th class at the age of twleve, which meant that I wasn’t there for long. I remember coming first in mathematics in 3rd class and won a watch, it would have been only ten drachmas but to us at the time it was a massive honour and achievement. My parents eventually took me out and my teacher sent a letter to my mother to request that I remain at school. Unfortunately, I suffered from anaemia and because I was sick they had to take me out. All the girls had limited education. None of us went beyond primary school, whereas the boys did reach high school. My brother Othona was extremely bright and when he was pulled out of school, the teacher pleaded with my parents to allow him to return, but he never did.

Therefore it was very important for John and I to send our kids all the way through a good school. We wanted our kids to have the education that we never had. Throughout my early years, I didn’t really have just one best friend, although I was close to Χρυσουλα Στρατιγος, the teacher’s daughter; it was more that I was one of a big group of girls who did a lot of things together. We would amuse ourselves by playing games with homemade toys. My mother would cut some material from clothes to make dolls for us to play with. We also played games with small rocks like marbles, jacks and hopscotch. At school we played tug-o-war. One time the teacher played so we acted as if he was pulling us and then we let it go and he fell over.

I have quite vivid memories of our teacher; ‘Μπακαλιαρο’ was what we called him because he was tall, thin and reminded us of the fish by that name. One time during νηστεια he didn’t let us leave. When we left, my friend and I teased him out loud. He heard us and called us out and we got into trouble the next day.

We also used to dance a lot as a family, especially my brother Manoli and I. I remember one particular time when it was the festival of Ayios Haralambos and everyone had gathered together to celebrate. During the day Manoli and I rode our donkeys to Limniona (mine was called Rouli and was slightly mentally unbalanced), where we collected salt by scraping it off the rocks. We then would refill the pot holes in the rocks with sea water so that when the sun evaporated it, more salt would accumulate, by the next week. As it was very hot during the day and we would tire easily, so we hid our swimmers underneath our work clothes, so that when we got there we could go swimming secretly. My swimmers were simply an old dress with a safety pin which I pinned the front to the back between my legs to make it similar to culottes. Later we had to go to a wedding where we had to dance. By then my feet were killing me and we were both exhausted!

My parents had a fulltime job in looking after all those kids, especially my mother who didn’t work after she started having children. As my father was generally in Athens working hard for us, he was not home to help her all the time. He was very εργατικος. During the war it got even harder for them both, particularly at the beginning. We were very hungry. However, then our father opened the watermill where he made flour and we were able to make loukoumathes or makaronia. So we had milk, cheese and most things. That was good for us. At that time, my parents would live and work in the mill. So after our chores of looking after the animals, we would pass by there and our mother would have prepared food for us. She never neglected our needs.

The climate in Kythera was fairly predictable. Only one time can I remember a lot of snow falling, or anything out of the ordinary. However, when I was seven years old, I also experienced a very traumatic event, where I witnessed lightning hitting the building/house next door and it catching fire.

I was at home when I saw it. Luckily no one was living there at that time. It went through the chimney and hit a big tub of vinegar. I went into shock and could not speak for three days. I am still afraid of lighting till this very day. Had that occurred here in Australia we would have had some sort of psychological help. However back in those days, on an island like Kythera, help like that was not available.

We had a lot of animals to deal with. All my siblings used to help out a lot. I would go with my sister Irini through the mountains of Kato Hora up to Ayia Sofia to find the animals and there was no road to get there. We went by foot and had to work our way through the agathia. Once, my uncle made me some sandals made with a wooden base and tin straps. It was not the ideal footwear and I returned home with bloodied feet.

During the war, when we were hungry, I would go with a friend of mine, Maria Stratigos, to gather fresh peas. We would also boil milk and put fig leaves into it to make ricotta. Easter was particularly exciting for us. We would wait for Easter to go to church and we loved the food for all the celebrations. As a family we fasted for the whole fifty days, even milk. We would gather around with the entire family for these events. Church and religion was a very important part of our lives and for me it still is.

We frequented Ayios Haralambos every Sunday and every Saturday night we would go and light a candle at the church across the valley named Ayia Orfani. I remember my parents impressing upon us the importance of faith (θρησκεια) and I have tried, with the help of my husband, to pass on those similar values to my children. Easter usually consisted of good food; the making of koulouria would smell beautifully throughout the house. My father would give us money as our presents. We would all sit outside in Kato Hora and the entire village would celebrate the importance of Jesus Christ.

As a teenager I remember working a lot, ploughing the fields, gardening, picking and then crushing olives. It was all very hard work for any young person and so then I left for Australia in search of a better life. In terms of what we wore at the time it was generally hand-me-downs for me as I was the youngest. Only the shoes I couldn’t wear because I had the biggest foot out of all my sisters. We also were dressed in σπαλετα by my aunt on special occasions.

I started working my first proper job in 53’ when we opened the milk bar in Kingsgrove, Sydney. However, I worked from a young age in Kythera; working the land and looking after the animals, collecting olives, etc although we would make the best of it by singing and enjoying ourselves whilst working hard.

The transition to life in Australia, was not easy at first because it was so different and a there was a lot of hard work needed to establish ourselves. Not knowing the language at the beginning made it even harder so I told my husband John that I wanted to learn and to put me at the front of the shop so I could learn quicker. All my dealings beforehand were with Greeks so I hadn’t really picked up the language at all. Although it was difficult, I knew I had to struggle a bit at first to learn the Australian way of life but it became easier in the long run.

I didn’t really have any grand career aspirations. I genuinely just wanted to leave Kythera and the hard life we had there. Shortly before I left, I went to tend to the sheep, when I discovered that one had given birth to a number of lambs, which were killed by crows. I was extremely upset and my mother said to me “φυγαι και ριξαι πετρα πισω σου”... in other words, leave and don’t look back. I am appreciative that I had the opportunity to leave and that my parents were selfless in wanting a better life for me. However retrospectively, I can now see how beautiful the island really is. Had I stayed, my opinion would have been very different, and therefore my children and grandchildren may not have had such an affiliation with the place.

John and I married on the 1st of November 53’. John came to my sister’s deli in Auburn with a friend. I was looking after my niece in the back of the shop. My sister came running to the back and she told me to fix myself up, because a potential husband was downstairs. I responded “he should see me how I am if he wants to marry me.” The rest is history.

We owned a house in Dee Why, close to the water. I can remember playing the old records that John owned and I would listen to them all day. This is where I first learnt to cook. John, however, made it easy for me, as he never once complained about my cooking. John bought a business in Kingsgrove and we came here from Dee Why after we did an exchange for our house up north with a house down here. At the time we got the better deal because Dee Why wasn’t the area it is now. We needed a home that was close to our business, so at the time it was the perfect trade for us.

We knew from the outset that we wanted kids, primarily two. We did initially want more but we couldn’t as we had the shop to look after whilst schooling our children, George and Kathy. It would have been too hard to have a larger family. It was already difficult to have both the shop and look after the kids because we had no other help. Looking back at how hard our parents had it with so many children we decided that was not how we intended on spending our lives. We did however keep the same morals and beliefs that we were taught as kids and passed those onto our children. I held on to the same values from back home, which was very important to John and I as we felt it necessary for our children to maintain that disciplined Greek heritage that we grew up on. I liked helping the kids with school homework such as spelling when they studied for tests as it would help me learn more of the language and I’d try to read as much as I could. Plus working and serving at the milk bar was a great help.

I decided to leave Kythera from an early age. I chose to migrate to Australia over America because I did not know anyone there at the time. My sister had told me before leaving that when she eventually decided to leave, she would take me with her. So she sent the papers and I filled them out straight away because I wanted to leave as soon as possible. I knew nothing about Australia. When I first came I stayed with my sister in Darlinghurst. I cried the very first day I arrived as it was so different to all that I had known, and on top of that I did not know the language; plus I was the youngest and I longed for Milopotamo and the comforts of home. But I thought to myself that no matter how hard it seemed, I had to persevere because I could not go back, and eventually life did get much better.

We set sail on the Cyrenia on 1st of March 1952 and landed in Australia on 1st of April the same year. The Cyrenia was very comfortable and the cabins were nice. I often considered it as my favourite holiday. There were twenty-eight fellow Kytherians on board, so as you can see we would have had a lot of fun. You could say it was the best month of my life, a very enjoyable journey because I was with people from Kythera whom I had grown up with. They gave us chocolates and plenty of food to eat. We danced so much. We stopped in Cairo and we got out where they were trying to sell us anything, rings etc; they wouldn’t leave us alone. That was slightly frightening to someone born and bred in Kythera. We stopped in Melbourne and a fellow villager took us by car to Sydney.

When I first arrived I noticed how completely different Australia was to anything I had ever seen before. Nevertheless, it was quite an easy transition, as I was with so many people who I knew. I was initially surrounded by only Greeks. It also helped that I felt part of the community immediately.

When John first came in 1938, he was victimised with name calling. However, slowly more and more Europeans began to migrate here. We had Greek friends to help us assimilate. I felt welcomed; no one told me to go home or anything else discriminatory. It was very different to the treatment of the boat people these days. They welcomed us back then probably because they knew we would be hard workers and we made an effort to learn the language and assimilate.

The absolute highlight of my life was when I gave birth to my son and daughter and now looking at all they have accomplished with their spouses, and what my grandchildren have done for themselves as well. In terms of difficulties I remember how hard it was when John first got sick with a hernia and had to go to hospital; I had two young kids and a shop to look after. Luckily George Haros, a nephew of my husband, had a milk run which finished in the mornings and he would come and help out. And another relative would also help.

All the deaths were tragic. The ones who died in Kythera were particularly hard and one brother died here when I was on holiday in Greece. But my husband’s death has affected me the most. He was and will always be my lifelong companion and to lose him after fifty-eight years of marriage has been extremely difficult. I thank god that I was blessed to have him around for that long.

Our house was quite different to mainstream Australian society. My cooking of Greek food like keftethes would make the next door neighbours call out “Maria something smells nice” and I would always make a plate for them. Other neighbours asked how I made pastitsio and would come over to learn how. Once, one said “Maria with all those things you put in one dish we could eat for a week.” They hardly had gardens whereas we would have everything grown from the backyard such as vlito etc.

Back in the day, the neighbours helped out a lot. For example, when my daughter Kathy got sick with chicken pox at the age of five and we had to look after the shop, my neighbour waited for the doctor to come and would come in to check on her from time to time. I would rush home whenever I could, to check on her myself. My neighbour would also hang my clothes up to dry and collect them while I was at the shop.

However, not all of the neighbours were nice. The ones on the other side treated us badly. In those days, we used to burn our rubbish. All decent people would never think of burning rubbish if the neighbours had washing hanging on the line. These people, however, often burnt their rubbish if my washing was out and occasionally, when we were burning rubbish, they would lean over the fence and use their water hose to put the fire out. They didn’t have washing out; the smoke was simply annoying them even though that was the only way to get rid of rubbish back then.

When my daughter recovered from chicken pox, on the very first day that she went back to school, we were robbed. I had returned from the bus stop having seen the kids off, to find that I couldn’t get through the front door. Little did I know that someone had broken in and was blocking the door so that I couldn’t open it. By the time I had reached the back door, he had escaped through a window. To this day, we suspect those people (who moved away many years ago) as they had a vicious dog that barked at any sound. Yet on this occasion, it didn’t bark once even though the burglar escaped through a window on the side of the house overlooking theirs. If that had happened now, he probably would have killed me...times have certainly changed!

Thank God, I have nice kids and great grandchildren and had my husband for so long. It was hard keeping contact with all my friends from Kythera as some, depending on who they married, went to Queensland. The only time we met was at the Kytherian Brotherhood picnics and dances where we would bump into old friends. I remember at the picnics we would have a great spread with so much food while the Aussie families who were sitting close by would have one sandwich each. The Brotherhood was a good thing for us as it enabled us to keep in touch. The kids also made many friends from it.

I think that I was very lucky and have been blessed with a wonderful family. I would like to be remembered for the person I was and I certainly don’t want anyone to cry when I die.
.._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _..._ _ _.._ _ _...

This oral history was taken in 2011 by Joshua Kepreotis and final edit in 2014.

Traditional blue shutters define a whitewashed house in Kato Hora

Lyndey and Blair walk through the ruins

The Milans visited the old Venetian castle in Kato Hora

View from the Venetian fortress looking out toward the road. Such an interesting place!

The glorious view from the rear of the castle. I love this place!

The Lion of St Marcus - a Venetian symbol of democracy - can be seen above the doorway. This is an amazing place made even more interesting to know that it was built in 1565!

The old with the new...ancient walls with new growth. Love the contrast. The coulours and textures were amazing.

Side view of one of the many churches in the Castle of Mylopotamos.

One of the many churches in the Castle of Mylopotamos.

one of the past fortress's of the island of kato chora near mylopotomo,once a village to protect the people of kato chora against priates,now a great location to view a magnificent sunset!!

the castle at kato hora near mylopotamos . where you will find plenty of rock walls.....

Part of a wall as seen from the English-built school at Kato Hora

A view of a crumbling wall through the Gothic window of the English school in Kato Hora

the opening of aspasia patty's art exhibition at kato hora, invited guests enjoyed cia's lovely paintings of kythera and guests caught up on island news.

restored home in the village of kato hora.

at the back of the small village of kato hora, near mylopotamos, some of the homes and churches in the castle, have a look at the amount of rocks needed to build the church in the front of the photo. lot of work there!!

agia marina at kato chora, that survived a early summer fire.

watching another spectacular summer sunset at kato chora,

fire damage in kythera early in the summer at kato chora, however the lovely church survived the fire damage.

this 1990 photo of a group of '' choranee'' having a chat at katochora.

The Keystone Kato Hora
The significant keystone in the top of the archway indicates that the arch was built by master stone masons of a superior class
Peter Makarthis

Lion of St Mark
The winged lion of St Mark, the Evangelist, protector of Venice, was the emblem of the Most Serene Republic. Beyond the city itself the lion was used in a variety of ways in all areas under Venetian dominion. The emblem of the lion is depicted in Nafplion and Crete on Venetian buildings and fortifications. Carved in marble or local limestone, they crowned the gateways and major sections of fortifications and public buildings. There were three main types of representation:
a. The lion depicted looking straight at the observer (gardant), its body doing a three quarter turn, moving either right or left with wings spread over its head. This type of representation was particularly common in the 14th and 15th centuries.
b. The lion is depicted side-on, in motion with its wings spread back and a closed or open inscribed gospel between its front paws. The closed gospel indicates a time of trouble and an open gospel a time of peace at the time of construction.
c. The lion is depicted frontally, with the main emphasis on the head, which is surrounded by raised wings. This type is known as ‘in soldo’ or ‘in gazzetta’, after the type of coin on which it usually appeared, or ‘in molleca’ on account of its resemblance to a crab.
In all versions, particularly in later examples, the lion is depicted as vigorous and arrogant, radiating strength and confidence, while its highly intense form is increasingly anthropomorphic.
In areas of Ottoman occupation the face of the lion has been defaced, particularly on Crete.
Peter Makarthis

one of the main paths in the castle with houses on both sides ,

houses, churches all were within the walls of the castle.

housing in kato chora within the proctected walls of the castle

traditional kytherian house found in many parts of the island

past kato hora and on the way to kalami beach panagia orfani sits on the side of a mountain.

the kastro at mylopotamos is where people lived some 500 years to protect against pirates once that period passed villages like kato hora emerged all over the island. the other kastros where at palochora and hora.

another super sunset at katochora

always breathtaking views at kato hora at sunset but this near dark view is just as haunting.

It wasn't until I returned back to the U.S. and viewed the images that I realized that the crosses were painted on the cliff face.

.

different styles of houses at kato chora a lovely little village just past mylopotamos,on the western side of the island with the blue ocean as a back drop.go and watch a summer sunset from there, will take your breath away!!

The Lion of St Mark stands guard over a Venetian door at Kato Hora.

From, ATHENS NEWS, 23/08/2002, page: A20.

Reprinted in The Greek Australian Vema, January, 2003. 19/39.

Aphrodite's birthplace revisited

Kythira has an atmosphere all of its own to which labels simply won't stick

[[picture:"Diana Farr Louis.jpg" ID:5948]]

DIANA FARR LOUIS

How often can you say, going back to a place first visited some 20 years ago, that it has actually improved? Most places, especially islands, that we knew and loved in our youth (a nebulous stretch of time that seemed to go on and on) live in our memories in a romantic blur. Jasmine-scented nights stretched until daybreak, bathing suits were superfluous on rubbish-free beaches, picturesque tavernas where the fish was always fresh adorned the water's edge, souvenir shops were quaint, and there was not a plastic chair in sight. The next time we went back our favourite hideaways had been discovered. Tourists had descended en masse (we were never in that category!), fancy hotels and cheap rooms encroached on the pristine sands, and menus appeared with glossy photos in restaurants whose waiters tried to hustle us into their clutches. "Never again", we muttered and hurried away.

[[picture:"Diana Farr Louis, Kastro views, Hora.gif" ID:5950]]

A panoramic view of the Venetian castle and the Hora

But Kythira seems to have escaped this syndrome. In the 80s, the situation was pleasantly primitive. Kapsali, the twin-beached bay beneath the crenellated Hora, at the southern end of the island, seemed to have a virtual monopoly on places to eat and sleep. Agia Pelagia, where the ferries from Gytheio and Neapolis dock, had one pension and a smattering of nondescript buildings. Most beaches lay at the end of rutted dirt roads, and most of the villages appeared abandoned and crumbling. One friend wanted to keep it that way and grumbled when I wrote a few paragraphs on Kythira for inclusion in a guidebook.

[[picture:"Diana Farr Louis, ruined church.jpg" ID:5949]]

A ruined Byzantine church in the cemetery below the Hora

No thanks to me, Kythira hit the travel pages with a splash in the mid-90s and swarms of Athenians invaded this "unspoilt paradise". Unprepared for the onslaught, the islanders reacted, charging tens of thousands of drachmas for the privilege of sleeping in their stables and barns. Tourists with cars were luckier; they could curl up in them.

Two years into the 21st century, Kythira is neither virgin nor overdeveloped, flooded with neither foreign busloads nor Greek yuppies. And by all accounts the locals want to keep it that way. There are many new hotels, but they are smallish and attractive, for the most part in keeping with the landscape. Tavernas are numerous, too, and the food invariably good as opposed to the sometimes barely edible fare offered in the past. The roads are decent, the beaches still clean (though crowded in August, but what do you expect!), and the villages are slowly coming back to life.

Much of this can be attributed to what I like to think of as the Australian factor. In the 19th century, under British rule along with the rest of the Ionian Islands - Kythira somehow got swept into that archipelago despite its obvious lack of geographic connection with the Ionian - the population prospered and rose to its highest, 14,500 inhabitants just before union with Greece in 1864. Between 1920 and 1990, this figure dropped to 3,000, with the lion's share of emigrants turning to Australia for a new start.

Be that as it may, the hyphenated Kythirans never lost their love or longing for their birthplace and besides returning in large numbers for summer holidays or after retirement, they have put their money and experience to good use. Australian dollars have built a fine hospital that actually works, an old age home and, what could be more logical?, a mortuary. Kythiran school children learn about the environment and, more importantly, tell their parents, so the roadsides are empty of trash. (Kythira was one of the first places in Greece to boast compulsory education for girls, and there's a tradition of them growing up to be teachers.) And you'll also find many "Australians" behind the hotel desks and taverna cash registers, not to mention inside beautifully restored houses.

[[picture:"Diana Farr Louis Lion of St Mark.jpg" ID:5953]]

The Lion of St Mark stands guard over a Venetian door at Kato Hora

This does not mean that the island is any less "Greek" in atmosphere. In fact, Kythira has an atmosphere all its own, to which labels simply won't stick. Its chief feature is the high plateau spreading out in all directions from the centre, flattening into a low plain as it runs eastward to the sea but fissured with lush ravines to the West. Green and yellow are its colours, in early June at least, with broom and gorse alternating with olive trees and cypresses, and some pink oleanders thrown in for good measure. In the more fertile North, terraces ring the hills, while every mountain is crowned with a church, a monastery or a Nato/OTE communications tower, and sometimes even a Minoan peak sanctuary. Fantastic views abound, to the point that if you followed one guidebook's advice and admired them only at sunset, you'd have to stay a month.

As you drive from north to south along the main road which bisects the island, you pass solitary churches with Italianate belfries, extended farmhouses with blind walls resembling North African casbahs and, here and there, a tall, stern-looking fortified mansion built by a Venetian noble. Even more striking are the remnants of British protection: an arched stone bridge, the longest in the Balkans; a gothic schoolhouse poised not altogether incongruously next to a gate guarded by the Lion of St Mark, not to mention the roads themselves. The British took their role as custodians of the Ionian seriously.

The Venetian legacy is markedly more widespread; after all they were entrenched there for four hundred years, the British a mere fifty. It was the Venetians who first made Kythira the seventh major Ionian island, and the resident lords, Venieri by name, justified possession by tracing their descent from Venus herself. Besides houses and churches, three Venetian fortresses add drama to the landscape. The largest one, at Hora, the capital but by no means the biggest settlement, can be seen from miles away, completely overshadowing the flat-roofed, Cycladic-looking buildings crowded round its base. The view from it, of Kapsali below and Avgo (egg) islet bursting from the sea, is extraordinary at any time of day. Kato Hora, by contrast, is modest and intimate, enclosing a remarkably copious handful of churches, whose stone tile roofs make me think of armadillos. Finally, the squat polygonal fort at the entrance to the little port of Avlemonas is itself eclipsed by the villas, gardens and seductive fish tavernas that have sprouted in front of it.

[[picture:"Diana Farr Louis Avelemonas.jpg" ID:5951]]

Avlemonas is one of the most charming spots on the island

Avlemonas is an example of what Kythira is doing right. In the process of transforming itself from fishing village into one of the island's most popular resorts, it hasn't allowed tackiness to creep in. The restaurants and cafes have rush or canvas-bottomed chairs, a shop sells sculptures carved from the characteristic soft, yellow stone instead of mass-produced trinkets.

For some inexplicable reason, Kythira has become an island of craftspeople. Some are locals: the Roussos family near Kato Livadi turns out pottery according to traditional prototypes, Hora's shops are filled with art and objects made by their talented owners. Others are foreigners or mainland Greeks. They set up stands at the Sunday morning market at Potamos, Kythira's biggest village, amidst the farmers with their freshly picked fruit and vegetables. You might find ships painted on driftwood by Maria, Argentian Jose's jewellery, a German peddling old willow baskets and Bosch-like paintings by his dead Polish friend, clothes designed by an American woman or by Karin from Holland, just to name a few of the regulars. When asked why they're here, they invariably reply, "I just had to get out of the urban rat race, away from the scene where money's the only thing that matters."

Apart from being a refuge for rebels re-evaluating their lives, Kythira is also becoming a heaven for foodies. In addition to individual farmers and a few small factories making excellent fresh and hard cheeses, the butcher in Potamos (among others) produces delectable thin, spicy sausages, the oil-based paximadia (rusks) from the baker at Karvounades are legendary, while another small plant specialises in homemade pasta. Leading the home-bottled jams and pickles movement is an Australian named Cherile, who manages an organic farm here with her husband. Look for her jars at Stavros's bookshop at the entrance to Hora and at Kythiropiimata in the middle of the waterfront at Agia Pelagia. There you can also find local sweets like rozedes, crushed almonds bound with honey, and tins of the delicate honey itself, for which the island is famous.

Another product to look for is sea salt, snow-white crystals gathered from the rocks. Competition for the most lucrative stretches of coast is so intense that the municipality has assumed ownership and actually auctions off their use to the highest bidders once a year. Swimmers, however, are not affected by this ruling, and in any case seem to prefer the sandy beaches at Kaladi, Palaiopoli, and Firi Ammos, all to the Southeast.

Lest this article start a new rush to Kythira, I hasten to add that the island is not perfect. It is vastly overcrowded in August, the season is terribly short, with many hotels and restaurants open only from June to September, and thanks to the veto power of the taxi mafia (about 17 cabs for the whole island), there are, unbelievably, no public buses, not even from the airport to Hora. And never, never plan a trip there when bound by commitments elsewhere, because transportation on and off the island can be erratic, to say the least. Even the local map/guide admits that Kythira is one of Greece's most wind-battered regions. Ever wondered why it was selected as the birthplace of Aphrodite? Three seas beat against Kythira's shores - the Ionian, Cretan and Aegean - creating havoc with the weather but plenty of foam for a goddess to rise from.

* How to get there

There is a plethora of options in summer; off-season you have to be very resourceful to get on and off the island. Olympic flies there five times a week (tel 010-966-6666); hydrofoils skim, weather permitting, in about five hours (tel 010-324-4600); and ferries leave once or twice a day from Piraeus (tel 010-422-6004), Gytheio (tel 0733-022262), at least four hours' drive from Athens, and Neapolis (tel 0734- 022228), five hours plus from Athens. The Neapolis ferry, which takes one hour to Agia Pelagia, and the plane are the only means of transport to and from Kythira in spring, autumn and winter. And remember, if you fly or take the boat, you have to rent a car or motorbike, or remain at the mercy of the taxi mafia.

* Where to stay

Kapsali has the most hotels and rooms, the nicest being 'Vasilis Villas' (0736-031125) and 'Raikos' (0736- 031629), which is half way between Kapsali and Hora, but has a pool. 'Margarita' (0736-031711), in a converted Hora mansion surrounded by flowering vines, has the most charm. Agia Pelagia has several new hotels aimed at a family holiday by the sea.

* Where to eat

We ate wonderful fish and mezedes at 'Andonis o Magos', who's been an institution on the Kapsali waterfront for years, and more wonderful fish at 'Sotiris', who's equally well known in Avlemonas. 'Filio', in Kalamos, serves superb traditional and local dishes (rabbit, rooster, aubergines with trahana) in a romantic, terraced garden, while 'Michalis cafe' in Mitata, open all day all year, charmed us with its peppery sausages, delicious, slightly bitter horta (called pharmakovlastara) and fresh myzithra, not to mention the view.

* Note:

Byzantine churches are plentiful on Kythira, but their doors are always locked. For a glimpse of the best of their contents, don't miss the collection in the Analipsi Church at Livadi. Though only one room, it has been put together with tremendous care and you can examine the paintings and frescoes much more closely and far better lit than is normally possible. One of the prize exhibits here, a fresco with traces of charcoal drawing, was sent to New York's Metropolitan Museum for inclusion in its big Byzantine show of a few years back.


Other Diana Farr Louis articles in Athens News can be accessed by going to the Athens News website,

http://www.athensnews.gr

and searching under Diana Farr Louis.

one of the fortress of kythera for protection of pirates kato hora.

The British helped improve eduction on the island of Kythera through the construction of several schools, including this one in Kato Hora. They were based on the Lancastrian system of education where one teacher was required to teach large numbers of students in one large hall. This photo was taken in 1985.

One of the many abandoned homes within the castle at Kato Hora. A feature of the architecture of these types of laika houses was the narrow external staircase which provided entry to the first floor, usually to a landing or balcony above.

The ruined settlement within the Venetian castle at Kato Hora

A view of the Venetian fortress at Kato Hora in Mylopotamos.

The lion of St Mark still stands guard over the entrance to the Venetian castle in Kato Hora in Mylopotamos. The fortress unfortunately is dominated by crumbling ruins although a number of churches have been preserved.

Just one of a number of memorable and charmimg glimpses which remain with us as a reminder of our 2003 Oddessey to Kythera.- Panayotis (Skoulandris)and Sophia Makarthis(nee Psaros)

Below the village of Kato Hora is the beach at Limionas. The seaside huts are reputed to have been built by Saracen raiders who used the island as a staging base for raids on passing ships.

Walking along a pathway in the Kastro at Kato Hora nearing sunset

Whilst walking along the narrow alleys of Kato Hora in Mylopotamos I came across this exquisite entrance

The fortress of Kato Hora can be found outside Mylopotamos. go watch a sunset from there - it will take your breath away!