Browse by section
Village sections
- Petrouni (15)
- Photos > Modern Portraits (3)
- Culture > Kytherian Identity (1)
- Guestbook (11)
Upload Your Entry
Open full entry
Village archive
Petrouni
Place on the island
Village map
Open larger mapVillage introduction
A small and one of Kythera's more recent settlements, very close to Gerakari. The area was settled during the 18th century when the threat of pirate raids had subsided. The area previously hosted old sheepfolds used by Logothetianika residents, who seem to have been the first new inhabitants. The surname Sougiannis, appearing in Katsoulianika at the same period, is the earliest to be found in Petrouni. The name derives from the stony, rocky character of the soil, and has been known since the 16th century, appearing in notarial documents. It has no connection with the "Petrouni" mentioned in 16th-century portolan charts (a mistaken rendering of "Batrum" on the Syro-Palestinian coast).
Condensed from Emmanuel Kalligeros's excellent Kytherian Geographical Placenames which is available here
Full linked entries
All entries for this village
Kytherian Identity
Pappas Post Review: An Island named Desire
Kythera: An Island Named Desire Film
written by Mario Romano October 14, 2020
There’s a lot going on in James Prineas’ “An Island named Desire,” with its striking imagery, caustic humour, and cheesy suffering. It’s a humane film about the difficulties of living on a backwater Greek island which looks like paradise, but, guess what? It isn’t.
I’m still not much of a cinephile (this is my second Prineas film, and I only watched “Winter on Kythera” so I could see if the island is always the protagonist in his films), but I’m coming to realise that the difference between a good movie and a great one are those moments of intense personal connection where it seems like the filmmaker is reaching out to you through the screen and whispering in your ear.
As if there is no real distance between you and the director, time has changed nothing, and the moment remains as pure as it was on the day it was filmed. There are lots of moments like that in “Desire,” between the jokes (which are great) and the absurd symbolism that admittedly sort of flies over my head.
I wasn’t surprised by those moments, but I was surprised to find that “Desire” has an actual plot (Winter on Kythera didn’t really). It isn’t complicated, but it is logical in its surreal way, and oddly suspenseful, even if the movie is constantly going out of its way to remind us that even if a character does make the occasional rational decision they’ll wind up in strife sooner or later.
Read the full article here:
https://www.pappaspost.com/kythera-an-island-named-desire
Modern Portraits
Petrouni
front, from left:
Tassos (younger son of Panagiotis and Roula), Theodoros (older son of Georgios and Angeliki, grandson of Theodoros and Maria), Evangelis (son of Maria and Georgios), Petros (brother of Theodoros), Evangelio (one of five children of Stavros Sougiannis, who died 97 years old - see photo from gerokomeio, until the last years he remembered most of the mantinades he wrote)
Middle:
Christos (one of six children from a house just outside Petrouni, all of them stayed on the island - he went early to gerokomeio, his brother Theodoros stayed in Petrouni, Kirani and Panagiotitsa (see gerokomeio) married in Karavas, Haralampos in Katsoulianika and one sister in Strapodi (I will check her name), Tassia (sister of Nikos on gerokomeio photo, mother of Manolis and Fotini, grandmother of Tassos below and Giannis (upper), Kirani (sister of Christos, married Trifyllis, mayor in Karavas, she went to gerokomeio at age 91-92?, died a couple of years ago) , Panagiota( mother of Manolis and Politimi, see gerokomeio photo), Politimi (her daughter, married to Georgios with the pigs in Agia Pelagia), Katina and Panagiotis (brother of Maria, the wife of Theodoros), Politimi (daughter of Stavros Sougiannis, married to Manolis Koumezos) and Anna (from Brongi, was married to Theodoros, who worked for the community) with children of the woman to the right, daughter of Evangelio
Top:
Maria (wife of Georgios, ex-farofilakas) with Vasiliki, Roula (married to Manolis,ex- xylorgos in Potamos), Angeliki (married to Georgios, mother of Maria, Petros, Theodoros -she helped me to organize this meeting), Georgios (her husband, son of Maria and Theodoros, works at nosokomeio) with Maria, Fotini and her husband Stavros, Panagiotis married to Roula (died a couple of years later), Maria (sister of Panagiotis) and her husband Theodoros(see Christos) , don´t remember this man, Roula (wife of Panagiotis) and her son Giannis, Manolis (xylorgos), Manolis (Koumezos) and Georgios (farofilakas).
Most people in the area are of Souris and Sougiannis family.
Open full entry
Tassos (younger son of Panagiotis and Roula), Theodoros (older son of Georgios and Angeliki, grandson of Theodoros and Maria), Evangelis (son of Maria and Georgios), Petros (brother of Theodoros), Evangelio (one of five children of Stavros Sougiannis, who died 97 years old - see photo from gerokomeio, until the last years he remembered most of the mantinades he wrote)
Middle:
Christos (one of six children from a house just outside Petrouni, all of them stayed on the island - he went early to gerokomeio, his brother Theodoros stayed in Petrouni, Kirani and Panagiotitsa (see gerokomeio) married in Karavas, Haralampos in Katsoulianika and one sister in Strapodi (I will check her name), Tassia (sister of Nikos on gerokomeio photo, mother of Manolis and Fotini, grandmother of Tassos below and Giannis (upper), Kirani (sister of Christos, married Trifyllis, mayor in Karavas, she went to gerokomeio at age 91-92?, died a couple of years ago) , Panagiota( mother of Manolis and Politimi, see gerokomeio photo), Politimi (her daughter, married to Georgios with the pigs in Agia Pelagia), Katina and Panagiotis (brother of Maria, the wife of Theodoros), Politimi (daughter of Stavros Sougiannis, married to Manolis Koumezos) and Anna (from Brongi, was married to Theodoros, who worked for the community) with children of the woman to the right, daughter of Evangelio
Top:
Maria (wife of Georgios, ex-farofilakas) with Vasiliki, Roula (married to Manolis,ex- xylorgos in Potamos), Angeliki (married to Georgios, mother of Maria, Petros, Theodoros -she helped me to organize this meeting), Georgios (her husband, son of Maria and Theodoros, works at nosokomeio) with Maria, Fotini and her husband Stavros, Panagiotis married to Roula (died a couple of years later), Maria (sister of Panagiotis) and her husband Theodoros(see Christos) , don´t remember this man, Roula (wife of Panagiotis) and her son Giannis, Manolis (xylorgos), Manolis (Koumezos) and Georgios (farofilakas).
Most people in the area are of Souris and Sougiannis family.
Modern Portraits
Woman farmer
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
Open full entry
To view more of her work or to purchase photographic prints please visit her website at:www.kristinawilliamson.com
