BEYOND MYKONOS

BEYOND

MYKONOS

BEYOND

Summer 2018

MYKONOS

The Authentic

WELCOME TO MYKONOS

ATHENS Vouliagmenis Ave. 44-46, Voula, Z.C. 16673, Athens T. +30 2108950207 | F. +30 2108950206 athens@cosset-mykonos.com MYKONOS Argyraina – Dexamenes, Z.C 84600 T. +30 2289078146 | F. +30 2289078147 info@cosset-mykonos.com Goumenio Square, Mykonos Town, Z.C 84600 T. +30 2289024450 | F. +30 2289024451 WWW.COSSETDESIGN.COM

PRINCESS FLOWER COLLECTION | robertocoin.com

AGIA ANNA - MYKONOS - GREECE TEL. +30 22890 79259, E-MAIL GEORGIOSCO@GMAIL.COM VISIT US AT WWW.GEORGIOSCO.COM

ATHENS Vouliagmenis Ave. 44-46, Voula, Z.C. 16673, Athens T. +30 2108950207 | F. +30 2108950206 athens@cosset-mykonos.com MYKONOS Argyraina – Dexamenes, Z.C 84600 T. +30 2289078146 | F. +30 2289078147 info@cosset-mykonos.com Goumenio Square, Mykonos Town, Z.C 84600 T. +30 2289024450 | F. +30 2289024451 WWW.COSSETDESIGN.COM

Real Estate Company Since 1989

Alexandros, Yiannis, Akis Revithis

www.revithis.com info@revithis.com | +30 210 81 35 181

Petridis LV Luxury Floral Creations ATHENS: 314, Kifisia Ave., N.Psichiko, T: +30 210 672 8370 MYKONOS: Nammos Village, Psarrou, T: +30 22890 22641 Email: mykonos@petridislv.gr Instagram: petridiscreations

EDITORIAL

THE GREEK SUMMER

The French writer Jacques Lacarrière adored Greece. He visited our country for the first time in 1947, as a member of the Ancient Theatre Group of the Sorbonne University and fell in love. The book he wrote in 1976 entitled The Greek Summer (Hajinikoli Publications) is considered one of the best foreign books ever written about Greece.

As the writer says, “It was a country I wanted to share with my readers, (…) the Greece I experienced on my first trip in 1947 and how I became acquainted with it through the work of ancient poets and writers when I was still a child. A Greece that ranges from Homer to Seferis, from Orpheus to Tsitsanis, through voices, poems, songs and books that I have been translating for so many years. A Greece that comprises both Anaxagoras and the zeibekiko dance, Sappfo and Sikelianos, almond biscuits and rusks, Acritic and rebetika songs…”

After his death in 2005, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the Aegean sea, in accordance with his last wishes. Lacarrière believed that “in Greece one doesn’t need to be taught about beauty, it is spontaneous, as innate as the white capped waves on the sand, as the symmetrical cypress trees lining the roads, as the colourful doors or the kaleidoscopic Greek clothing and jewellery. Because beauty is a battle, the victory of light over shadow.”

Vangelis Chaniotakis

BEYOND MYKONOS

Publisher-Director Vangelis Chaniotakis

vangelis@vagmamd.com

Editor-in-Chief

Eleftheria Davatzi

eleftheria@vagmamd.com

Creative Director Babis Melikidis, E6 creativedigitalspot Advertising Department Alexandra Aravantinou alexandra@vagmamd.com

Contributors

Mary Adamopoulou, Thanassis Diamantopoulos, Kosmas Vidos, Nikos Lagodimos, Giorgos Papachatzis, Mikaella Theofi lou, Giorgos Papaioannou, Afroditi Theodorou, Katerina Papapostolou, Zoe Dimitriou, Panagiotis Panagopoulos, George Xylas, Theodore Zoumboulakis

Copy Editors

Niki Stathia, Komninos Papakyriakou

Photographers

Vangelis Kyris, Kosmas Koumianos, Dimitris Karteris, Dimitra Hatziadam, Giorgos Aronis

Fashion Editors

Margarita Pinioti, Eleni Nomidis

VAGMA MEDIA DEVELOPMENT 23 Posidonos st, Metamorfosi, 14452 +30 210 2827823, info@vagmamd.com www.vagmamd.com

This magazine is distributed free of charge. Nothing appearing in the BEYOND MYKONOS may be reprinted, reproduced or transmitted, either in whole or in part by any electronic or mechanical means, without prior written permission from the publisher.

VAGMA MEDIA DEVELOPMENT do not necessarily share the opinions expressed in the BEYOND MYKONOS MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS

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Inspiration Begins In The Past A walk around a charming Mykonos that no longer exists

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No Ordinary Writer M. Karagatsis one of the famous Greek 20th century writers and his beloved Mykonos

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Mykonos Muse The author of the book “Mykonos Muse”, Lizi Manola, talk about exciting experiences in Mykonos

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Karolina of Mykonos The legendary painter Carol Wells aka Karolina of Mykonos and her magnificent life story.

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Dimitris Parthenis The charismatic, prolific designer who created clothes with a specific identity.

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Calliope The international photographer and her memories from Mykonos

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Where Light was Born Fashion in Mykonos

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Evzones The ‘well-girded’ soldier fought so bravely that he became a legend and survived as a symbol through the centuries.

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The Pithos of Mykonos A jar of 670 BC features a rare early Greek depiction of the wooden horse used to capture Troy.

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The Countless Aspects Of Beauty Beauty in ancient Greece, inviting visitors to indulge in its scent at the National Archaeological Museum

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When Art Meet Summer The first heartbeats of modernism through classics paintings.

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An Architectural Masterpiece The extraordinary architecture of Mykonos

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CONTENTS

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The Art of Living Theodore Zacharis and Marios Sergidis, COSSET, a creative duo who breath life into every home they design.

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Harry Mestros Jewellery designer Harry Mestros tells us about his ‘own’ Mykonos

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Apocalypse Now The Mykonos Icon Painter Merkourios Dimopoulos

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Being an Islander Aphrodite Delaporta knows well how to promote the values of Mykonos

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Under the Sun and Into the History Delos. The largest archaeological site in Greece

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Tinos The handmade island

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Natural Beauty and Blissful Hideaways Five of Mykonos more secluded beaches

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Mykonian Textiles Weaving, warp and weft, three words that left an indelible mark on the history and the economy of the island.

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Rides Along the Beach Horse riding experience at Fokos beach

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Last Page When Rudolf Nureyev visited Mykonos

Inspiration Begins in the Past

WHEN MYKONOS WAS THE ISLAND OF SIMPLE AND CAREFREE LIVING One could say that a picture is a kind of tombstone, because the moment depicted in the shot is lost forever. Join us on a walk around a charming Mykonos that no longer exists.

By Vangelis Chaniotakis

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“Despina”, outside of old harbor, 1960s

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Voula Papaioannou, Mykonos, 1950-55

Imagine a simple, majestic Mykonos peacefully lying by the sea, like a sun-bleached pebble. A place of such flawless aesthetics that it almost feels like a film set as you leave the harbor behind, clean, quiet and steeped in darkness, with none of the frenzy of modern-day Mykonos. As recently as the 70s, ships dropped anchor a short distance from the port of Mykonos in summer.

The passengers were transported to the island aboard small boats used exclusively for that purpose. There were no vehicles on the island, apart from a few taxis and buses covering the routes between Chora and Platis Gialos, Agios Stefanos, Ornos

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Nammos Shopping Village, Psarou Beach 84600, T. : +30 228 90 22 346 www.callistacrafts.com

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Paraga, Mykonos, 1960s

and Ano Mera. Super Paradise and Elia beaches were only accessible by boat, unless you preferred to make the journey on foot, across a rocky landscape. Panormos and Agios Sostis hadn’t yet been “discovered”. It was only when the port was built in the late 70s that Mykonos began to evolve into the cosmopolitan island it is today. Through the photographs of, we recall that charming, authentic era on Mykonos, which is irrevocably lost. Let’s cast our minds back to that Mykonos – untouched by waves of tourism and development, summer homes, high-speed ferries and charter flights.

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SANTORINI - MYKONOS

Andronikos Santorini Imerovigli 84700 T: +30 22860 36545 info@andronikossantorini.gr www.andronikossantorini.gr

Andronikos Mykonos Drafaki 84600 T: +30 22890 24231 info@andronikos.gr www.andronikos.gr

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Petros Brousalis, Platis Yalos, Mykonos, 1960s

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PAROU

+30 698 162 9500 | INFO@FTELIABEACHCLUB.COM

PAROUSIASI_FTELIA BEACH CLUB.indd 124

27/06/18 16:55

No Ordinary Writer

THE MYKONOS I LOVED

M. Karagatsis wrote many pages of fine prose with poetic sensibility inspired by the sun, the moonlit nights and the meltemi winds on his beloved Mykonos.

By Nikos Lagodimos 46 44

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My eyes tried in vain to find another colour to rest upon, a respite from the overwhelming white.

M. Karagatsis (nom de plume of Dimitris Rodopoulos) is one of the few Greek twentieth century writers –and the only one of the ’30s Generation– whose name hardly fades with time and whose books constantly gain popularity, even among younger readers. This is far from surprising, as his engaging narrative invests his characters with enticing hues, his novels create entire worlds and his short stories vividly portray life. M. Karagatsis was no ordinary prose writer. His versatile style could easily adapt language, fiction and eroticism to produce in print incredibly detailed images of both the natural setting and the spirit of his characters, leaving the reader no room for negative criticism. He is certainly among the most significant writers of the ’30s Generation and his works continue to intrigue and take the reader on an imaginative journey to a very different atmosphere of bygone Greece.

In his works, Karagatsis speaks of Mykonos with love and uses the island as the setting for parts of the plot. Mykonos was a source of inspiration for the author and he actually wrote some sections of his novels while on the island.

Karagatsis’ account of his first encounter with Mykonos is imbued with a literary style that is truly worthy of a writer who so greatly contributed to 20th century Greek prose.

“In the summer of 1948 a precious ingredient was added to my life and constantly fills me with invaluable joy: Mykonos. Until that day I had wasted exactly 40 years of my life without getting to know this island, which is supreme in every respect. What was the reason? Mere negligence and prejudice. I was prejudiced against Mykonos, thinking

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of it as the hotbed of cosmopolitan vanity, which I despise and avoid like the plague. And I neglected to visit –if only for a day– the island of legendary charm, even if that meant I would have had to endure the cosmopolitan atmosphere which I so detest.

Eventually, it was my good friend Maria Karantoni –Andreas’ wife and a committed Mykonos lover– who persuaded me to take the great leap. I had just returned from the Grammos front, with my heart burdened by the fratricide of the civil war. I had seen death on so many occasions that my joy at seeing any aspect of life was even more profound. So, in order to fully appreciate my life, which death had just spared, I got on a boat and set course for Mykonos. […] And suddenly I saw it. At the base of a light blue cone –which was hardly discernible, as it was almost the same colour as the sea and seemed to consist of the same matter, looking like a huge, unmoving, frozen wave– mottled with countless white spots like splashes of still foam, a small whitewashed town emerged from the surface of the sea and worked its way upwards to form a symmetrical cone. My eyes tried in vain to find another colour to rest upon, a respite from the overwhelming white. There was not a single green leaf on a tree, not a single red tile on a sloped roof, not a dull wall washed off by the rain and the fog. Just vertical and horizontal lines forming a grid on the low cone, splitting it into countless pieces, creating a chiaroscuro effect, rigid and absolute, with no play of shades and no gradation of light.

This was no town. It came like the irrefutable proof of a geometry theorem, like some metaphysical thought dogmatically captured and

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Mykonos was a source of inspiration for Karagatsis and he actually wrote some sections of his novels while on the island

applied on a dry rock which drew its grace and beauty from the fiction of some magic light. The light! That magnificent light which, at sunrise, would shine all around, go back to its transmitting source –the sun–, undulate over the sun porches, the slopes of the rocks, the quiver of the just awakening sea; and it would then fade out towards the open sea, towards the boat that was slowly making its way, and towards me, as I was leaning over the railing, ecstatically gazing at the vision of that incredible beauty.

Another passenger pointed to the right: – Can you see that barren island? It’s Delos.

Another merciless light now pierced my eyes. That was no island. It was the very sun, half-immersed in the sea. On its solar matter a mortal woman bore the God of the Sun, begotten by the bright Zeus when he sowed his radiant seed into her womb. My heart was throbbing and I thought to myself: “Apollo! Phoebus! Have mercy! Mercy!” I remained motionless awaiting the god’s response. I could actually hear the sound of the ropes of the mast as they vibrated in the morning frost, as if some huge unworldly fingers were plucking the strings of an Ionian lyre. Might it just be possible that the divine response I was awaiting was hidden within this undefined melody?

That is how I fell in love with Mykonos, before I actually set foot on its rock, imbued as it is with the secret radiation of the bowels of chthonian Cybele. I found a place to stay in Kastro, next to Paraportiani.

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The house was built right on the water. I had a spacious bedroom with a small bed, a big wooden sofa, an equally big table, an enormous wardrobe, a washbasin and a small toilet. The furniture was old-fashioned, brought from Venice at the time when the ships of Mykonos were incessantly ploughing the Mediterranean. My window looked out to the sea, facing west, where the horizon was adorned with the islands of Delos, Syra (Syros) and Gioura (Gyaros) lined up in perspective. In the morning, the dark blue sea, driven by the almighty meltemi wind, would be cut into towering waves which would forcefully break against the foundations of the house with their frantic foam and hollow roar. […] That was, indeed, how I fell in love with Mykonos and with the big room in Kastro, thrashed by the waves and the wind. In the following year –1949– I went back and, once again for twenty days, I escaped from the unpleasant reality of life and found myself –without a care– immersed in an atmosphere of absolute bliss. In the summer of 1950 I travelled to the United States. I visited fantastic cities, I climbed magnificent mountains, traversed vast plains and forests with mighty tall trees and I crossed huge lakes and rivers that were as big as the ocean. It is quite impossible to tell what wonderful things my eyes beheld! […] Never before had I seen such beauty in my life. Yet my heart was heavy and I kept thinking to myself I’m not going to Mykonos this year. Pity my summer was wasted…”

INFO Extract from Panagiotis Kousathanas’ ‘Paramilita D΄’ by Indiktos Publishers.

Price: €40

Lizy Manola

ΜYKONOS MUSE “The place for the few has become the island of the many,” says the author of a very different book, as she becomes our guide and walks us through the most exciting experiences Mykonos can offer.

Interview by Mary Adamopoulou 50

At the waterfront in the Old Port

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

I have a special relationship with Assouline Publishing and strong ties with the island in the last 40 years. Our goal was to create an alternative travel guide, a coffee-table book about Mykonos, which would not follow the standard approach of magazines and commercials. We want to give our readers the true sense of the place.

And how do you go about it?

The book contains true stories about the island and many of my own personal memories. The narrative gives the reader a good taste of the past and the present. The book is illustrated; half of the photographs are mine and the other half are by famous photographers, both foreign and local. We also included some vintage shots from the Benaki Museum.

In a way, many different people have contributed their perspective towards the making of this book. At the end, there’s a directory of things to do –exclusively based on my personal likes– which is in no way promotional. It is not very extensive but one cannot possibly include all the wonderful hotels, restaurants and beaches Mykonos can offer.

Visitors to the island are bound to discover them.

What’s so different about this book compared to other, similar publications?

We tried to capture and communicate the most exquisite aspects of the island’s vibe and atmosphere in a global approach.

Do you find that Mykonos is a misunderstood island?

No. I believe it is a very special island with a unique kind of energy flowing from its beautiful landscape, the blue sky, the whitewashed

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houses, the curved stone benches, the colourful tin pots filled with fragrant basils, the narrow alleys, and the local festivals and customs.

However, what really distinguishes this place from any other is the locals themselves. They are hospitable, open-minded people, happy to see the island’s visitors indulging in its beauties, no matter what this entails. They embraced homosexuality at a time when all other island communities would not even hear of the word. They accepted nudism not because they were desperate for more tourists, but because they realized that it made people happier. They enjoyed seeing their visitors feeling liberated and they willingly offered their hospitality to anyone, when other islands, on the contrary, would even close their ports to bar access to certain groups of people. Gradually, Mykonos became a synonym of freedom, the island where celebrities could blend in and relax, unrestricted by stereotypes. This is a place where everything is allowed, provided it is done with decency and respect.

How much has the island changed over the last 40 years?

I can still remember the summer of 1978, when the boats from Piraeus couldn’t dock and passengers had to board tenders to come ashore.

These are the memories of the good old days. But times change and so do people’s needs. People evolve and nothing can stay the same.

One of the most noticeable changes was the building frenzy the island experienced. Still, Mykonos has retained its architectural and traditional integrity, invariably manifesting an appreciation of aesthetics.

There are no architectural monstrosities to be seen. Every building is carefully designed. Moreover, Mykonos upholds tradition, celebrating local festivals and religious customs. The island’s fêtes are the most famous throughout the Aegean islands.

Selinas and Babelis playing and singing local traditional songs

Young mykonians in traditional clothes

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Delos

When did the big change come about and what caused it?

Mykonos began to change in the ’90s. It used to be a bohemian retreat.

People used to have fun on the beach all day long and, when the sun went down, they would sit around bonfires singing together till dawn.

Then families started visiting in the ’90s. The same people that a few years back had enjoyed the freedom of the island as youngsters were now married and had kids. In 1975 there were no kids in Mykonos.

It was not a popular destination for families. The place for the few became the island of the many.

for a fresh catch of fish at the dock. Early morning in Mykonos is an experience to remember. And you can have a wonderful time without spending a lot of money. You can even enjoy a quiet holiday in August, as impossible as this may sound. There are still wonderful, remote and quiet beaches one can discover and lovely little tavernas right on the seaside or in Ano Mera. You can easily have an alternative holiday experience. And then there’s Delos, a place with incredible energy and light, which is only a nautical mile and a half from Mykonos. What we see in Mykonos today is what used to happen in Delos in antiquity.

Do you think that, as a photographer, you can spot things that the average visitor wouldn’t?

Anyone can see and photograph a beautiful landscape. Photographers usually take great pleasure in creating a story with every shot and Mykonos has given me plenty of stories that I’ve captured in my photographs. It’s a place which prompts you to transcend your limits. It liberates you. It fills you with energy. My photographs are not about glossy Mykonos. They do not advertise. They are realistic, genuine images.

In a few words, what is ‘your Mykonos’?

The bohemian beauty of the Cyclades.

Do you see your Mykonos in black-and-white or in colour?

Both, actually. Mykonos is everything and that’s what makes it so beautiful. You don’t need to embellish this island. But if you want to really ‘feel’ Mykonos, you have to be there and soak in its magnificent sunset, walk around its alleys at the crack of dawn, observe how the locals live their everyday life, buy vegetables and wild flowers, haggle

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Your top 5 things-to-do in Mykonos Enjoy the sunset from Little Venice Go swimming at Fokos beach Explore the maze of narrow streets in Chora Visit Delos Taste luza and kopanisti INFO The book Μykonos Muse, a publication with more than 200 photographs, contains texts by Lizy Manola, Rachel Howard και Michalis Skafidas and will be available in May from Assouline Publishing. Price: €85.

For more information on Lizy Manola and her work, please visit her website www.lizymanola.com

Welcome to Magazzino group

MYKONOS TOWN +30 22890 24053 LAKKA HAIRLAB +30 22890 78278 MYKONOS FABRIKA +30 22890 24774

info@magazzino-group.gr | www.magazzino-group.gr

Carol Wells

A LIFE LIKE A PAINTING… Carol Wells, aka Karolina of Mykonos, is the legendary painter whose magnificent art introduced the island to people throughout the world. Her paintings –full of explosive colours, light and love– have travelled far and wide around the globe. Both the artist and her son spoke to us and unveiled their most personal memories of Mykonos and its people.

By Giorgos L. Papachatzis 56

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Theodore, a seaman body and soul but also by trade, is a difficult person to approach. The son of the legendary painter Karolina, a Mykonian by choice, was rather guarded when he first welcomed me to Chora in Mykonos, eyeing me cautiously at the beginning.

After a while, however, the ice broke and a warm, trusting smile lit up his face. He opened his heart and his home to me and I walked into the atelier of the famous Karolina of Mykonos in the centre of Chora. As he started sharing loving memories of his childhood, her paintings and her dolls, he covered the table with photos of the old days, all speaking of her adoring relationship with the island and –above all– its people.

The painter of Mykonos Theodore climbed to the attic to scavenge for family photos. In Karolina’s magical realm, everything strongly suggests that she

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is somehow actively present in the house –a gift from her father–, surrounded by colours and her characteristic naïf paintings and by the locals who rush to say ‘hello’ whenever they see her.

She was a rebel ever since she was little…

What does it feel like to be Karolina’s son?

“Our mother was a rebel ever since she was little. She had three sisters and a brother and she was the most unconventional, the most talented and the most open-minded child of them all. She studied at the Boston School of Fine Arts and one day she suddenly decided to come to this island and settle down for good, with her beloved Mykonians. It was love at first sight! She loved their silhouettes, their simplicity, their way of life. Today she is sad to see this different side of Mykonos that is so nouveau riche and superficial. My mother admired the old Mykonians, especially the fishermen.”

Karolina herself says: “The first time I ever saw Mykonos was in May 1962, under a bright full moon; I was travelling on the freighter ‘Despina’, from Athens to Samos, a passage that took twenty-four hours. My ‘fellow-passengers’ were soldiers, black-clad women, poultry, goods and postmen – the latter carrying parcels and mail from the capital. These people shared their food with me during the journey.

When the boat arrived at the port of Mykonos, we climbed down a stepladder hanging on the side of the ship and got on a few small wooden boats that took us ashore. The Chora lay there, shimmering under the full moon light, her whitewashed houses and churches forming a magnificent lace against the vast and dark Aegean. There was no electricity back then. I stayed at Konstantis and Maria Xidakis’ guest house near the Paraportiani Church.

When I woke up the next morning, I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

I took a walk down to the port, as a number of children, with their

deep, brown, inquisitive eyes followed me and scrutinized my every move. There were three coffee shops on Gialos (waterfront), all filled with locals and fishermen. As I walked past Kioukas’ coffee shop, a few of the men invited me to join them, kindly and openly smiling at me, and offered me orange juice and courgettes. Wherever I went, the locals treated me with kindness and warm hospitality. I was one of the ten tourists in Mykonos at the time. That was when I realized I just had to live on this island and discover what it is that makes it such a special place. I had to learn the language and discover the secret to this blissful, effortless living.

The Mykonians just won me over from the first moment I set foot on this island. They were beautiful, generous and decent folk. There is not one little home in this village that I have not been invited to and shared the family’s food. I remember Maroulio and Thanasis Lykouris, who invited me to have lunch with them. They had the fire

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Mykonos is special to me, precisely because of these people, their hospitality and their graciousness

on under a big pot that held the family’s meal. Nothing with meat of course. That was reserved for the Sunday roast which would be cooked at the village bakery, in a big tin pan. There were no electric stoves either and no refrigerators at the time. The Mykonians fed me and taught me how to speak Greek; they took care of me. There are no words that can really describe the love and kindness they have offered me for 55 years. I just wanted to paint the island and its people. Mykonos and the Mykonians have been the absolute source of inspiration for me; they are my life, my art, my creations.

These people have worked hard and earned a decent way of life, thanks to their openhearted hospitality and tolerance of others, of all strangers, regardless of social status. I respect them today just as much as I did 55 years ago and I will always long for their affection, support, acceptance and recognition.

Mykonos is special to me, precisely because of these people, their hospitality and their graciousness.”

A life like a painting… a blue and white backdrop with old fishermen, colourful fishing boats, whitewashed houses and narrow alleys in the foreground. This is what the 78-year-old Karolina captures in her naïf paintings.

“She only paints here. In New York she has never touched a brush or a piece of paper to paint. I am lucky to be her son. Just to give you an idea, people here love me simply because I am Karolina’s boy. She raised us all by herself, painting all day. Not that she was the traditional mother figure, staying at home, cooking meal after meal. She has a fiery personality, that’s why no man could ever stay on as her partner. There isn’t a shipowner’s house or yacht on this island that isn’t adorned with at least one of her paintings,” Theo says. Yes, Karolina is everywhere. She is present in the alleys and on the waterfront, just as she is present in the classiest hotel lobbies in Mykonos. But above all, you will find her in the thoughts and hearts of all true Mykonians.

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ΟSTRACO HOTEL & SUITES

Just 600 meters from Mykonos Town, Ostraco Hotel & Suites welcomes you to a fully renovated Cycladic architectural background with panoramic views of the Aegean Sea! The unparalleled luxury and the high end comforts (concierge services, 24h service, suites with heated outdoor jacuzzi, etc.) hold the high standard of hospitality in the 22 rooms (classic, superior sea view, deluxe, deluxe sea view outdoor Jacuzzi ) And suites (superior sea view, honeymoon with private pool, deluxe 2 bedrooms). The rich breakfast with organic delicacies, breaths of freshness and rejuvenation in the pool, gourmet treats and cocktail bar as well as customizing services can offer you a unique experience of living!

ΟSTRACO HOTEL & SUITES DRAFAKI - 84 600 MYKONOS

Tel.: +30 22890 23396, +30 22890 27121 Εmail: info@ostraco.gr

Dimitris Parthenis

THE CHARISMATIC MINIMALIST The designer who became internationally known for the solid colour simplicity of his creations.

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By Michaela Theofilou Photos: from Parthenis’ personal archive

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“The most elegant people I know stand out for their own dress code.

They’re people who, over the years, have developed a refined personal style and have remained faithful to it,” Orsalia Parthenis had once said. This is also true of her father, Dimitris Parthenis, who passed away a few months ago. The people who knew him described him as a free spirit who communicated through his creativity, with silhouettes and fabrics that simply loved the body. He was a charismatic, prolific designer who created clothes with a specific identity.

He has rightfully earned a place in the history of Greek fashion, as he managed to expand globally and, using the driving force of his two flagship boutiques in Mykonos and Athens, he introduced to the world the radiant and elegantly minimal Greek aesthetic through his designs. “I am grateful for all that I have been through in my life’s adventure,” he used to say. And who can blame him…?

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How did it all start?

Dimitris Parthenis opened his first two stores in 1969, one at Syntagma Square and another on Charilaou Trikoupi Street. They were the well-known Brigitte boutiques which sold a variety of other items but also the designer’s first collections. Word of mouth inevitably made his work known to a wider public and in the ’70s his creations were finally given their own ‘roof’ and brand name.

The first Parthenis boutique opened in Athens in 1978, on the corner of Dimokritou Street and Tsakalof Street, and over time the store became a landmark in the posh Kolonaki district. Just a year later, in 1979, the legendary Mykonos store was born on Alefkandra Square.

Dimitris Parthenis got to know Mykonos by chance in 1975. “I was taking my mother to the thermal springs in Ikaria and our boat had to make an unscheduled stopover in Mykonos for repairs. I got off the boat, had a look around and liked what I saw. I escorted my mother to Ikaria and travelled straight back. I adore this island,” he once said. The building housing his store is an 18th century structure that used to be a cabaret before being taken over by Parthenis.

His clothes were a staple of Cycladic island style and in a way they became the official ‘summer kit’. His sleek, fine, graceful but comfortable clothes, exclusively ruled by an austere palette of basic colours –white, black, grey, brown– combined with just a few explosive shades of red and burgundy, resonate what most of us have in mind when referring to Greek summer: pure, soft, broad white lines on a backdrop of whitewashed houses and the blue sky and sea.

The clothes Parthenis created became a statement. You could immediately tell if a piece was his: it would be made of fabric that hugs the body – cotton, jersey or wool –, invariably in solid colours, and he even set a trend by transforming underwear into an essential part of our minimal wardrobe… as outerwear. Moreover, he was one of the few designers who remained faithful to his smooth, simple silhouettes in the ’80s, when fashion was dominated by a pompous, overpowering maximalism.

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1. Dimitris Parthenis & Orsalia Parthenis 2. Dimitris Parthenis In Mykonos 3-4. Opening of Parthenis store in Mykonos 5-8. Parthenis Campains and advertorials 9. Parthenis store in Mykonos

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Dimitris Parthenis's Collection Sketches

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Parthenis’ collections for men and women had loyal followers amongst intellectuals, architects, artists.

Mykonos and international acclaim Parthenis’ accolade for his unique style was not meant to be confined within the country’s borders. Together with Yannis Tseklenis, they were the only two Greek designers who retained an agent in the USA to help them fly their work across the Atlantic and attain the dream of international recognition. So the road from Brussels to Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles where he opened his first shops abroad was really paved with his signature creations. Parthenis had spent five years in Los Angeles. In 1989 he wholesaled his outfits to a few select outlets that were exclusively focused on designer clothing. “I had a very good time in the States. I stopped because I just couldn’t keep up with the order load.”

The island was instrumental in helping him carry his business abroad; at the time, Mykonos was an internationally celebrated cosmopolitan destination, with its narrow alleys bustling with jet-setters strolling casually every day, so worldwide fame for Parthenis’ creations was simply a matter of time. Besides, as many of the designer’s friends and the locals say, if you were on the island in the ’80s, paying a visit to his shop was simply a ‘must’; you just had to buy something, be it a kaftan or a beach towel with his signature. He would be his usual jolly self, always a charming tease, greeting everyone with a smile.

Parthenis’ collections for men and women had loyal followers amongst intellectuals, architects, artists. His clothes were the ideal buy for spirited, active women who made them their own while enjoying the designer’s unique ‘easy’ feel. In fact, this very aesthetic had

‘starred’ in a number of drama productions for which Parthenis had designed the costumes, as he loved the theatre since he was a boy.

He was especially keen on his luscious, velvet pashminas that could effortlessly dress a woman and add a dash of glamour to any outfit, whether casual or even sportif. Even the children’s clothes he created had their own unique style, designed with simple lines and dressing a child in an unassuming way, far from the popular trends that made kids look like cartoon characters.

The next Parthenis generation Dimitris Parthenis’ greatest love was his daughter, Orsalia, who now successfully runs the family business. The company owns four shops in Greece, including the two flagship stores in Athens and Mykonos.

It also runs a wholesale network with exports to Cyprus, Lebanon, Kuwait, the USA and the UK, while all manufacturing and design work is still exclusively done in Greece. “Orsalia possesses a beautiful energy. It’s like her face is encircled by rays of light, as a friend in the States had told me,” he used to say when he proudly spoke about his daughter. “I taught her plenty of things but she also taught me art.

She develops what took me decades to build and she adds to clothes her own, special fragrance: a touch of femininity and refined glamour.” And that is precisely Orsalia’s goal: to carefully balance all those elements that contributed towards making her father’s collections immediately recognizable and world-famous with her own innovations that she plans to bring into the mix.

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Calliope

THE QUEEN OF LIGHT She has travelled the world, photographed the most influential international figures, and made her mark in aesthetics and fashion while working for the world’s leading magazines.

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Backstage from the photoshooting of her album "Children of the Light"

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Super Paradise, 1980

Calliope’s life is definitely one that many of us would envy; legendary photo shoots for the Italian Vogue, portraits of royalty and worldwide known celebrities, expeditions to some of the most fascinating destinations in the world – but there is one experience to top them all: the internationally acclaimed photographer got to know Mykonos during its most fascinating period – in the ’80s and ’90s. This is how she has ‘saved’ the memories of an entire era on her ‘hard disk’: “I was 16 years old, it was summer and I set out with a group of Italian and Greek friends to visit Mykonos for the first time. No big liner could then dock at the port and passengers would board small boats that took them ashore. It was a different time, a different picture …

On that first visit, and for many years to come, we stayed at Mrs. Irene’s house in Chora. She was a simple, jolly, kind woman who put us up in two sparkly clean rooms in her beautiful house. That was the only type of accommodation available back then: a room in a local’s home. There were no cars and no roads leading to the beaches. You either had to take the bus or a boat. Of course, there were no sunbeds either. We would be the only people on the beach and we could swim in the nude anywhere – at Panormos, Elia, Paranga, everywhere. We would pack some food and drinks, get on a small boat and sail to the nearby Deles islets… It was such a carefree and beautiful time…

Ever since that first visit, I would spend all my summers in Mykonos with friends. And every time we had the same carefree feeling, which was not just because it was the ’80s; it emanated from the island itself. I was working for the Italian Vogue at the time and I would land on the island carrying big cases full of designer pieces by Moschino and Gaultier. My friends would flock around them to take a look; everybody, including Billy Bo, Vasilis Zoulias and Aggelos Droulias. I remember I used to carry a gold Prada purse and it was the first they had ever seen. At the time, the only ‘boutiques’ on the island were the

local stores selling traditional hand-woven fabrics on the seafront and Maroulina’s Little Shop with her exquisite jewels. Minas opened his shop much later…

We knew everyone and everyone knew us! First of all, there was Babis Pasaoglou, who initially owned ‘Ibiza’ –it was tucked away in a tiny alley– and then opened ‘Astra’. I even got the chance to meet Pierro, the Italian owner of the famous ‘Pierro’s’; he was an amazing artist –a painter–, a true cosmopolitan, a charismatic man…

We were all one big group of friends! We used to bar crawl, we would go by the ‘Muses’, Kostas Zouganelis’ bar overlooking the port, ‘Remezzo’, owned by Makis Zouganelis, Fouskis’ restaurant, Filippis’ and Chrysa’s place, ‘Vengera’ late at night, with Giannis Reed, a gorgeous half-Brit who was married to Maouzi Tsaldari.

Greek and foreign artists, some high-society Athenians, we were all one big gang! We used to rush from one place to the next, eager to do it all. We never took a moment to rest. We had so much fun, it was exhausting! I recall Anna Veltsou with her kaftans, her sophisticated style and her husky voice, a true lady, hanging out with Gianfranco Ferré… I remember Nicky and Gika Filini, who were the first ones on the island to install a swimming pool at their house, Carlito Von Fürstenberg, such a beautiful soul, such an amazing man! He adored Greece and he built a house there. We used to have so much fun at ‘Pierro’s’! I also remember Fiona Thyssen’s remarkable panache; she was Alexander Onassis’ great love, a stunning woman, a true beauty…

I have done hundreds of photo shoots in Mykonos. I recall one of my visits to the island, in the early ’80s, when we got there from Milan with the famous photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri who then worked for the Italian Vogue. We had brought with us a German goddess, a gorgeous model who used to work with Helmut Newton at the time. We stayed for a week and we kept accepting invitations

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Romeo Gigli, Christos Karvounis, Calliope

From left to right: Vasilis Zoulias, Calliope, Michalis Aslanis, Dimitris Zourdos, Anna Veltsou

Pieros 1980

to people’s homes and to restaurants; it was such a lovely time…

Since then I did several photo shoots for Vogue and Vogue Bambini.

I remember Zoe Laskari trying to persuade Alexandros Lykourezos to allow his beautiful daughter Alicia –just a little girl at the time– to model for me. Those were some great shots! The Italians saw them and went crazy over them! One of my favourite sessions, though, was the one I did for Vogue Hellas, two fashion editorials and a cover.

We had brought over a crew from Milan and models from Paris, some beautiful jewellery from Lalaounis and a line of kaftans; it was a great fashion moment! Hippy chic with references to the ’60s and the great dames of that era…

From the ’90s I remember Lakis Gavalas’ wild parties in Ftelia.

Everyone was invited, his doors were open and we used to party till dawn. I recall our evenings at ‘Sea Satin’ where Petros Kostopoulos used to DJ and play Greek music. And of course everyone remembers my Mykonos wedding; it was in August 1998 at Agios Sostis. Our best man was Romeo Gigli, another Mykonos aficionado, who used to carry tons of stuff every time he travelled to the island, trunks full of things, and he even brought his own cutlery. He was the one who designed my famous red wedding dress and I clearly remember it was so windy that day that our crowns and sugared almonds would fly off the ceremony tray. It was crazy! I set a trend, I think, when I strolled down with the violin players – no one had ever done that before…

As we got into the new millennium, I realized something was wrong with Mykonos, as I saw it changing into something very different. It

occurred to me when I stopped seeing my friends there… The old gang would hardly visit any more and other people –people we didn’t know or care for– started flocking in. That’s how we stopped going, too. It was the end of an era… Now Mykonos has become a money-making machine. In the summer it gets so crowded that you literally have to elbow your way around. Traffic jams are a nightmare. The building frenzy has left no spot unspoiled. Psarou beach, where families with children used to go for a swim, is now a posh spot where sunbeds cost a fortune. I hate all that. I am not interested in this Mykonos. The Mykonos I loved was the island of simple and carefree living. It was a hippy hideaway, a place where people felt free. It was a place for the sophisticated, regardless of their social status…

I rarely visit Mykonos any more, as I have no real reason to be there. And when you have such good memories of a place, you really don’t feel like going back …

However, every time I do go, either to see friends who have flown over from New York for a long weekend or for some social event like a baptism, I always manage to have a good time. We usually pass by Katrine’s for lunch, visit a local fete, pay a visit at the family tower mansion house of Lydia Venieri who’s a friend and –if she happens to be on the island– I make a point of seeing Fiona Thyssen in Ano Mera, just to say hi.

I love Mykonos regardless of how much it has changed. It is a part of me. As I look at the island from afar, all white and wonderful, my heart still skips a beat…”

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WHERE LIGHT WAS BORN Photographer Kosmas Koumianos Fashion Editors Margarita Pinioti,Eleni Nomidi Make Up/Hair Eva Tsalkitzi Model Danai

Maxi dress RATT (The Jars Of Brands).

Yellow golden jewellerys an inspiration from ancient Greek history (Georgios & Co).

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Silk top,maxi skirt with prints and straw bag (THEMIS•Z) Handmade rose gold 18K earrings and bracelets with diamonds (Apriati).

High platforms Castaner

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Maxi dress RATT (The Jars Of Brands).

Yellow golden jewellerys an inspiration from ancient Greek history (Georgios & Co).

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Top Myrto and oversized trouser Achillion (Ergon Mykonos).

Sterling silver 925 bracelets and ring with diamonds (Apriati) 86 High platforms Castaner

Shirt and jean shorts ERMANO SCERVINO (Linea Piu).

Platforms espadrilles Castaner

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Ancient Greek design cotton dress,Tunica Stola (Emmanuella’s Mykonos).

Rose golden jewellerys with white and black diamonds (Georgios & Co).

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Oversized dress,Great Magister (Ergon Mykonos).

Leather sandals from personal collection.

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Evzones

THE GUARD OF THE UNKOWN SOLDIER Evzone. The ‘well-girded’ soldier fought so bravely that he became a legend and survived as a symbol through the centuries.

Thanasis Diamantopoulos, Photos: Dimitra Hatziadam 90

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Honor guard at the Memorial of the Unknow Soldier.

The Evzones’ bravery and infinite endurance are the traits that give value to this universally recognized symbol. Their special attire incorporates elements of Greece and symbols of Orthodoxy, war and Greek pride.

The word Evzone we find in Homer, describing the well-belted, well-girded soldiers. Colloquially known as ‘tsoliades’, they were elite fighters since the creation of the Greek Army.

The history of the Presidential Guard begins on 12 December 1868 when it was formed as both a combatant and a ceremonial unit. In 1914, a special Evzone detachment was designated as the Palace Guard. It was to have several names over the years: Palace Guard, Flag Guard, Guard of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, Royal Guard and finally Presidential Guard, as of 1974. The glorious action of Evzone battalions in the Balkan Wars, the Asia Minor Campaign and the two world wars meant that they have remained as heroes in the collective memory of the Greeks.

The special marching and the uniform of Evzones make their parading an emotional experience for onlookers, bringing memories and stories to life. The marching is symbolic, with strong, forceful steps to let the dead heroes know that we are free and we owe it to them.

The Monument to the Unknown Soldier is unlike any other, being dedicated to the country’s most important heroes: the unknown men who gave their life for the country’s freedom. This is why so great

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honours are bestowed on this Evzone-guarded edifice, reflecting the respect and gratitude of all Greeks to those who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of the fatherland. As the four Evzones present arms to the Monument during the changing of the Guard, the band plays the national anthem and the gaze contemplates the awe-inspiring words of Thucydides as inscribed on the monument to embrace the dead hero: “TO FAMOUS MEN ALL THE EARTH IS A SEPULCHRE” and “An empty hearse is borne covered over for such as appear not”. A deeply moving scene, no matter how many times one may witness it.

The Evzone’s dressing process is a ritual in itself, with several symbolisms in the attire. The uniform was based on the traditional white ‘fustanella’ [kilt] and the ‘tsarouchi’ shoes as worn by the klephts and armatoloi –the brigands and irregular soldiers of the Ottoman period (1453-1821)– and was adopted as the national uniform of chieftains and fighters during the 1821 Greek War of Independence. Today it is solely worn by the men of the Presidential Guard as a tribute to the heroes in the nation’s struggle for freedom and independence.

The traditional uniforms are manufactured, kept and maintained in a special area within the Presidential Guard barracks by specialist tailors and permanently employed civilian staff.

Making an Evzone costume is not a simple process. Entirely handmade using painstaking and time-consuming techniques, it takes long training and experience. A ‘fermeli’, for instance, the elaborate jacket

Evzones in front of the Memorial of the Unknow Soldier are performing their ritual with precise coordination.

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The elaborate “fermeli” of the Evzone with the blue-white fringes “loaded” with national symbolism.

An Evzone is shining the buttons of his “fermeli” and precisely sets in place the pleats of his “foustanella”, in preparation for the parade of Sunday.

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1. The 60 nails under the sole of each of the “tsarouchia” are responsible for the imposing sound that is heard as Evzones march. 2. “TO THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER” Τhis phrase is carved on the marble, on the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier. 3. The Evzones in traditional uniforms always travel standing to avoid creasing the pleats of their “foustanella”

skirts. 4. The Evzone’s uniforms are entirely handcrafted and their manufacturing process is extremely difficult and timeconsuming. They require special skills and experience on the part of the makers. For example, the manufacturing of the elaborated vest “fermeli”, with the handmade twisted woollen laces, takes more than six months to complete.

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The main parts of the official Evzone uniform are as follows

Τhe National Flag is hoisted and is lowered only during day light, which symbolizes the Divine Providence and the Eye of God.

with its handmade ribbons of twisted wool, takes six months to make.

Given their high quality and authenticity, Evzone uniforms come at a very high cost.

The ‘tsarouchi’ shoes are made at a special workshop within the barracks. Made of hard hide in red, their weight, toughness and resilience symbolizes their ability to ‘kick away’ any invader. Entirely handmade, each pair entails six hundred stitches and takes a whole week to make. Depending on their size, which ranges from 44 to 55, each sole has up to 60 nails which ensure the majestic sound they make when they hit the ground. Originally, their presence was meant to ensure stable walking.

The ‘trademark’ of the tsarouchi is the black pompom sewed on the shoe and made

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of woollen strands which are trimmed with precision to a neat spherical shape. In the old days, fighters used to keep sharp little knives in there with which they could surprise and injure an enemy. A pair of tsarouchi shoes weighs on average 3.5 kilos.

The changing of Evzone guards, at designated times every day, starts with a procession from the Tzavela Barracks on Herodes Atticus St. to the Monument to the Unknown Soldier.

Walking in single file, they follow a specific path from which they never deviate; over the years, the pavement has been worn white by their strong, loud marching. Known as the ‘tsarouchi path’, it symbolizes the unending course of the nation’s struggle for liberty which every new generation of Greeks must keep up.

• The ‘farion’, the red-felt cap with a long black pompom on the right and the Greek coat of arms up front. The red stands for the blood sacrificed by Greek fighters, the black is in mourning for those who gave their life for freedom.

• The ‘hypodetes’, a white cotton vest with large openings at the sleeves.

• The ‘fermeli’, the jacket with its exquisite handmade embroidery depicting major religious and folklore symbols such the Α-Ω of Orthodoxy and several crosses. The white colour of the fermeli denotes purity, the black mourning. The ‘cypress of Mystras’ embroidered on the sleeve symbolizes the impossible feat of the revolution.

• The ‘fustanella’, made of a 35m length of white fabric, has 400 pleats and reaches mid-thigh.

• The ‘flag’, a series of 174 ribbons in the national colours (light blue and white) worn over the fustanella.

• The white woollen leggings are worn throughout the year, two on each leg. They are suspended by the ‘anaspastos’, a leather belt worn at the waist under the fustanella.

• The ‘knemiodetes’, black silk garters.

• And finally the ‘tsarouchi’ traditional shoe of thick red hide with a large black pompom.

• The complete official outfit weighs 13 kilos, or 20 kilos with the gun.

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The Fall Of Troy

PITHOS OF MYKONOS

In the summer of 1961 the construction works for the opening of a well in a Mykonos house hid a surprise: A jar of 670 BC, a half meter tall, with impressive relief decoration, features a rare early Greek depiction of the Wooden Horse used to capture Troy, which became known as the “Pithos Mykonos”.

By Josho Brouwers

When I think about the story of the Trojan War, one of the images that spring instantly to mind is that of the large wooden horse that the Greeks used to capture the city. But when you examine the ancient sources, references to and depictions of the horse are rare.

When it comes to art, depictions of the wooden horse are uncommon. One of the most impressive pieces of art is a large relief pithos or storage vessel from the island of Mykonos. It was unearthed in 1961.

The pithos was accidentally broken during excavation, but has since been restored. It is 1.34m tall and had been used as a burial pithos, containing human bones. Nearby, excavators also found a crater of Late Geometric style. The pithos most probably dates to around 675 BC. Similar to other relief pithoi of this type, the object is decorated only on the front of the body and the neck; the lower third of the pithos is left blank on both sides. The reason for this is that storage vessels like this were usually partially buried into the ground (for stability and to keep the contents cool), and they often lined a wall. As such, it would have been useless to add decoration to parts of the pot that would have remained invisible.

The scene on neck of Mykonos pithos, features the wooden horse.

The neck of the pithos shows the descent of the Greeks from the Wooden Horse. His hooves rest upon little wheels, the rims of which are represented by a series of curved stamps, and whose axles, hardly central, are placed to one side of the hoof in order to show. The artist has not distinguished between right and left, inner and outer sides, with the result that all four feet of the horse are shown in the foreground outside of the wheels. In the body and neck of the horse are seven windows, in each of which can be seen the head of a warrior facing the front of the animal. Seven warriors have already descended from the horse. Of these, four stride right, along a single low ridge on a level with the back of the horse that could suggest the walls of Troy, but is more likely to be a retention of the Geometric practice of dividing a scene into registers, and placing above and below what is to be considered as being on the

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side. The warriors are thus understood as simply walking along beside the horse. That one of them appears to be stepping from tail to back, or vice versa, could however be an attempt at literal representation.

On the body of pithos, the panels are divided into a series of one two - and three – figure metopes showing warriors attacking women and children. The women wear a sleeved peplos, the men a short chiton of the type usual in the seventh century. Hair, beards, shields, helmets, swords, scabbards and garments are decorated by incised and stamped patterns. Incised wavy lines represent blood. The pieces missing from the wall of the pithos have been restored in plain plaster. The many parts of the relief which have broken away from the wall have frequently left traces of outlines which indicate the form of the missing parts.

One of the most interesting interpretations of the Mykonos pithos is offered by Susanne Ebbinghaus in her article “Protector of the city, or the art of storage in Early Greece”, published in 2005 in the Journal of Hellenic Studies.

Ebbinghaus argues that relief pithoi like the Mykonos Vase was a form of “conspicuous storage”. She sees the Mykonos vase as having offered a kind of guide to how aristocrats in the seventh century BC should behave. Because of their wealth, power, and status, the members of a community’s elite were obliged to protect the city from harm.

If these leaders failed to defend their city, the Mykonos Vase, in a manner completely consistent with ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad, gives an idea of what would happen: men would be killed, including male children, while the women and girls would, for the most part, be raped and enslaved.

The Mykonos pithos is one of the masterpieces of the Tenian-Boiotian group, surpassing most of the other pithoi in the beauty of its composition and subtlety of its modelling. It is a splendid addition to our knowledge of archaic Greek art, that we have so fine a work from the hand of one of the most accomplished of the seventh century artists, and it is to be hoped that future excavation and research will turn up

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THE COUNTLESS ASPECTS OF BEAUTY

The new exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum brings an unusual display of the different representations of beauty in ancient Greece, inviting visitors to indulge in its scent.

By Panagiotis Panagopoulos

View of the exhibition «The countless aspects of beauty» - Unit «Focusing on the body » (photographer: Stelios Skourlis) 102

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If today the fashion insists on thin women, once upon a time it was plump women who represented beauty. In Neolithic times for example marble female statuettes featured strongly curved breasts and hips.“Full” women were a symbol of “prosperity” at a time when humans’ main activity was the quest for food. At the height of early Cycladic culture, the female form is depicted standing with hands folded below the breasts, the head tilted slightly backwards and the soles of the feet giving the impression that the figure is on tip toe. All this, as well as many secrets on beauty, is revealed in the new exhibition entitled “Countless aspects of beauty in ancient art” being prepared by the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

How many aspects does Beauty have? Countless, as many as the different facets of aesthetics in human history. The new temporary exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum, titled “The Countless Aspects of Beauty“, presents this constant search and aesthetic depiction of the beautiful in manmade creations.

It is the last part of the exhibition trilogy that was designed to honour the 150th anniversary of the National Archaeological Museum, since the foundation of its emblematic building.

The trilogy was inaugurated in 2015 with the opening of the exhibition «”A dream among splendid ruins…”. Strolling through the Athens of Travelers, 17th-19th century»and continued with the «Odysseys». The concept of the Beautiful, which is the focal point of this exhibition, is an ideal epilogue, since the cultivation of love for the arts was essential among the founding purposes of the National Archaeological Museum.

Focusing on the most intellectual and highest moment of human cre-

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View of the exhibition «The countless aspects of beauty» - Units «Eternal Aesthetics» and «The beautiful and the desirable» (photographer: Stelios Skourlis)

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ation, the exhibition encourages aesthetic contemplation, inviting at the same time the visitors to explore the spiritual basis of aesthetic choices.

The exhibition presents 340 ancient works from the museum’s collections, dating from the Neolithic period to the late antiquity. “The museological narrative develops in four parts that gradually reveal the beautiful as a constantly evolving reality: as an artistic expression, erotic inspiration, position and opposition, and even as a mental or individual struggle towards freedom and self-awareness”, said the National Archaeological Museum Director, Maria Lagogianni.

The first section titled “Eternal aesthetics,” presents selected objects of everyday life that record the constant alternations and the different expressions of aesthetics in human diachronicity.

Amongst them, objects of everyday life from various regions of Greek prehistory, that have the

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quality of a work of art, like the beautiful embossed female bust from Milos (mid-5th century BC).

The exhibition’s second section, titled “The Beautiful and the Desirable“, attempts an essential approach to the aesthetic preferences of the ancient societies on the basis of what the ancient Greek myths reveal about beauty and the archaeological finds that relate to clothing, hairstyles and beautification.

The third section titled “Focusing on the Body” illustrates the expression of beauty in the visual rendering of the human body from the Neolithic period to historic times. The final section “The endless quest” aims at the aesthetic contemplation on the significance of the beautiful and its value for humans.

The exhibition was inaugurated on 25 May 2018 by the President of the Republic and will run through the end of 2019.

GALLERY SKOUFA Skoufa Gallery was founded in 1981, strategically located at the commercial center of Athens, in the historical district, “Kolonaki”. Ever since, it has been dealing successfully modern and contemporary Art, building a valuable brand name in the Greek Art Market.

In 2014 Skoufa Gallery expanded its activities in the heart of Mykonos town, with a broader international artistic outlook, focusing on the best upcoming and established Greek and International Artists.

Skoufa Gallery Mykonos aims to create multicultural artistic dialogues by promoting Greek and international contemporary art-

ists to a diverse and polyphonic audience, and become a unifying meeting point of artistic expression from around the world.

Skoufa Gallery Mykonos showcases high profile artworks, from painting and sculpture, to new media and design, representing the most current trends.

The gallery is divided in two exhibition spaces, one dedicated to curated periodical exhibitions, and the other to the display of selected works from the gallery’s rich collection. With its 37 experience in the Art market, passion, loyalty and expertise, Skoufa Gallery Mykonos is the top reference point for the informed Collector and the passionate Art Lover!

12 Delou Street, 84 600, Chora Mykonos, Greece Τ +30 22890 28560 M +30 693 7097599 www.mykonos.skoufagallery.gr

As the wind leads us to one of the most beautiful alleys of Mykonos, ITY GALLERY’s exquisitely organized collection of Contemporary at Kalogera Street, a temple of art with a high architectural aesArt, you can see innovative and avant garde artifacts of worldthetics, the Rarity Gallery can be seen at 20-22 Kalogera street. wide known artists, extremely aesthetically positioned in the new The two unique marble pillars of Deloss at the entrance open the extremely elegant place of RARITY GALLERY. gates for a journey to the International Contemporary Art. The most important and significant artists of Contemporary For more than twenty-five years, RARITY GALLERY is located Art, Julian Opie, Anlem Reyle, Hunt Slonem, Stephan Balkenin the center of Mykonos and addresses not only to the lovers of hol, Carole Feuerman, Daniel Firman, Marck, Roberto Bernardi, Conteporary Art but also to anyone who wants to live an unforHanneke Beaumont, Patrick Hughes, are displaying , from 1st gettable experience enjoying exhibits that could only be seen in of May and until the end of September, paintings, sculptures, important International Museums of Contemporary Art. The owners photography and video art projects, which consist the landmarks and of course the eemployees of the gallery of Contemporary Art. 20 - 22 Kalogera Str. will be pleased to give you an informative and THE RARITY GALLERY exceeds the exMykonos 846 00 - Greece pleasant guidance. pectations of visitors, displaying the high level tel. +3022890 25761 This summer and for the first time in RARof contemporary art in every dimension of it. info@raritygallery.com

Art is Everywhere

WHEN ART MEET SUMMER

By Afroditi Theodorou

It is no coincidence that nearly all the pioneers of modernism utilise a natural technique. It is also not a coincidence too, that they paint outdoors, in the open. Where else would they be able to observe with such accuracy the nuances of light, which they find so fascinating and which encourage them to take risks with techniques that would shake the newly established middle class to its core? We have selected some classic paintings from the first heartbeats of modernism. Because of the season and the desire to cool our readers down, the images are summery and fresh, with the sea and pine trees…

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David Hockney “Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool”, 1966, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Hockney hit his stride after he moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1960s. The white border and square format of the painting are reminiscent of the Polaroid prints Hockney used as studies for the composition.

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Paul Cézanne, «Les Grandes Baigneuses», 1890- 92, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

The “Bathers” series is one of a few that were painted in a studio based on sketches. Cézanne was obsessed with painting “in the open air,” but in this painting he wanted to examine how he could preserve the simplicity of nature in a composition so complex that it had to be executed in a studio.

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Paul Gauguin “And the Gold of Their Bodies”, 1901, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Gauguin’s adventures in the South Pacific are well documented. He loved the unusual landscapes, unlike any in Europe, and the Tahitians, with their glossy, dark skin, whom he admired for being able to wander around naked with no shame.

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Mary Cassatt “Children Playing on the Beach”, 1884, The National Gallery of Art, Washington

The sweetness with which Cassatt depicts children is very touching. Cassatt, whose art combined persistence with a modern treatment of colour and light, is one of the most underrated modernists.

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14 Mitropoleos st, Mykonos Chora T: +30 22890 77949

CAVO PARADISO 25 YEARS

CAVO PARADISO is regarded by music in-

dustry publications, artists and clubbers, as one of the most impressive venues globally.

It is regularly voted in the top club annual lists.

The architectural design was developed through various stages with total respect of the natural surroundings thus you get the feeling of being within nature and you appreciate the wild beauty that Mykonos island and the Aegean archipelago has to offer.

Whats so majestic about Cavo Paradiso is how it manages to incorporate the island’s natural beauty into its design.

Being able to dance in the natural elements is always a treat.

The magic of partying late enough to be able to see the sunrise from the horizon - a common occurrence at the club - is so incredibly unique that it simply must be experienced by anyone who can make the journey.

The first years Cavo Paradiso existed as an after hours party venue and first line-ups included the DEF MIX crew (Morales, Knuckles & Tomiie), Louie Vega plus many others from the US house scene. Word was spread over quickly within the dance music industry and Cavo was on its way on becoming the club it is today and become more diversed of dance music genres.

Today Cavo Paradiso is characterized by probably the most intense summer schedule on the planet with back to back live events, involving the biggest international djs on the scene. The club’s main aspiration for the future is to continue the tradition of being a venue striving for quality, diversity and the need to satisfy the thousands of clubbers that visit the club every year.

Paradise beach - Left side on the hill, Mykonos 84600 GR Club hours: 23:30 - 07:00 Table Reservations M: (hrs. 14:30-...) +30 6948504989 email: info@cavoparadiso.gr

MYKONOS

AN ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECE

“If you haven’t seen the houses of Mykonos, you can’t pretend to be an architect.

Whatever architecture has to say, it is said here.” Le Corbusier

By Thodoris Zouboulakis

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The cosmopolitan history of Mykonos began in the 60s, when Princess Soraya’s yacht broke down off the coast of the island. The local fishermen rushed to assist and entertain the princess, who was charmed by the wild beauty of the island and the quaint harbor. After some time, the Princess attended a party, where she was purportedly accompanied

by Aristotle Onassis, and spoke glowingly about the rocky Cycladic island to the international jet set, who in turn, soon visited the island.

Such circumstances, combined with the unique energy of the island, ensured that Mykonos soon became one of the most cosmopolitan and popular destinations in the world. These details are, in most part, common knowledge… However, we don’t often discuss the extraordinary architecture of the island. Nonetheless, the architecture of Mykonos has inspired, been praised and analyzed by important personages, and continues – throughout the passage of time – to be a subject of study and esteem. Many even believe that the unparalleled configuration and morphology of the buildings in Chora is the reason that affability, freedom and happiness have thrived on the island.

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From the 18th century to… the present day The unusual beauty of Mykonos is due, in large part, to its architecture, which dates from the 18th century, with the illustrious and historic homes of Mikri Venetia (Little Venice) that were originally owned by the captains and rich merchants of the time. After the sieges of World War II, the island recovered in the 50s, and tourism began to flourish, culminating in the 60s and 70s, when Mykonos became world-renowned.

The urban landscape also changed over the decades, with the first homes integrated into the natural unevenness of the ground, while the plasticity of mass and consistency of color were common aspects in all buildings. The homogenous elements depicted in Cycladic architecture, such as the white color, little openings, small spaces enclosed by thick walls, were employed by the locals to adapt and protect themselves from the weather conditions of the island: hot sun in summer and strong winds year round.

The quaint alleyways of Chroa, which continue to fascinate visitors to this very day, were not constructed randomly. Acting as an extension

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of the homes and their surroundings, the alleyways owe their charm, in part, to the facades of the buildings, most of which have two levels and are lined up side-by-side, sharing common architectural elements such as stairs, terraces and chimneys.

Beyond Chora, the main village, the wild and rocky landscape also celebrates Mykonian architecture. The plasticity of mass, which is expressed even more distinctly by the churches and wood-fire ovens dotted throughout the island, harmoniously coexists with the sculpted granite rocks, which seemingly act as a natural extension of some buildings or courtyards and their surroundings.

This architectural “lexicon” was simple, unique, spontaneous and free.

It proves that it was created by the people who lived on the rocky island, while exuding a freedom that became, perhaps, the most characteristic symbol of Mykonos – for the local residents and visitors to the island.

Even today, when modern materials and techniques are employed, traditional architecture is ever-present, and the urban character of the island remains unchanged, preserving its historical spirit.

From the Aegean to… the rest of the world Over the years, archeologists and intellectuals passing through Mykonos en route to Delos were mesmerized by the island, where the bright white masses seemed to melt under the hot sun, emerging unexpectedly in the wild landscape. Artists came for the architecture, poets extolled its brilliant light, and locals won over all visitors with their simplicity, immediacy and generosity. One of the greatest architects of our time, Le Corbusier, who was often inspired by the architecture of the Greek

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islands, said in admiration, “In Mykonos I discovered the quintessence of architecture: beauty, simplicity and functionality.”

In addition to Le Corbusier, countless men of letters and art, both Greek and foreign, were impressed and inspired by Mykonos, including George Seferis, Nikos Eggonopoulos, Yiannis Tsarouhis, Odysseus Elytis, Albert Camus, Roland Barthes and Lawrence Durrell.

“Mykonos is a miracle. Miracle… Jerusalem, Mykonos and Moscow!

These three cities surprised me,” said Nikos Kazantzakis in admiration. Architect Aris Konstantinidis is more specific, “Because the good truth is that on this island, Mykonos, whether a house or church and chapel, or windmills or dovecotes, or dividing walls and terraces and cobblestone gardens or narrow or wider alleyways, its bright and vibrant quality and well-designed contours are always and ever present, like an eloquent speech.”

One could observe that the masses that externally express their function and are intertwined with one another - the multilevel roofs, the unembellished constructions, are characteristics that first appeared in the cubism trend of the early 20th century. The main representatives of the movement, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, attempted to analyze the forms with multi-level geometric shapes, focusing on structure and substance. After all, Cycladic civilization was one of the inspirations of the pre-cubist period.

Modern Mykonian architecture – and Cycladic architecture in general – influenced and continue to inspire classic and modern artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, Henri Moore, to name but a few.

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COSSET

THE ART OF LIVING Minimalist luxury, unique details and customized design: this is the world of Theodore Zacharis and Marios Sergidis, the creative duo who breathe life into every home they design.

By Katerina Papapostolou

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“The key to create design is capturing the spirit of a person and the essence of his space.”

“In the course of our twelve-year career in art & design, we have always been attentive to the needs of the people we design for and have striven to create spaces of exceptional aesthetic appeal. To us, each space is unique but also subject to a number of set values. Exaggeration and overstatement are inconsistent with our design philosophy. Our goal has always been to create spaces that blend in with their surroundings and enhance the natural splendour of the landscape,” say Theodore Zacharis and Marios Sergidis, founders of Cosset; and this is instantly visible when one takes a look at their work.

The first Cosset store opened in Mykonos in 2006 and immediately brought a radical change on the island’s creative design scene. Objects and furniture of top quality and high aesthetic value, unique materials from every corner of the globe and excellent works of art make up the inspired world of Cosset. In the hands of this company’s creators, furniture and objects become statements, breathing life into every individual space and telling stories about the people who live in it.

The two stores in Mykonos –one in the center of Mykonos Town, on Goumenio Square, and another on the ring road in Argyrena– are tangible proof that Zacharis and Sergidis’ creative approach is gaining more and more followers amongst the people from all over the world visiting the island of the winds.

After nine glorious years in Mykonos, Cosset sailed to the mainland and in 2015 opened a new store in Athens to introduce to the Athenians

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and to all visitors of the city the very art of living. The world of Cosset is made up of countless images accumulated over the years on the dozens of trips its owners have taken round the globe. Yet there is one little spot on the map that will always be a part of them, a place they hold dear and a constant trigger to their creative flair.

The plain lines of Cycladic architecture, organic forms and natural materials are all characteristic elements of the island’s landscape that ultimately highlight the objects they handpick from all over the world.

“Mykonos is a cosmopolitan place, friendly to all cultures, all colours and all beliefs. This is reflected in our creations and characterizes our work as interior designers. The island itself, the people who live here, but also those who choose Mykonos for their holidays are the biggest source of inspiration for us. They are open-minded people, without taboos, always ready to follow new paths and accept new design ideas – which makes our work even more fascinating,” say Cosset’s owners, who transform every contact or acquaintance with the island’s visitors to inspirational ideas which then turn into signature-design homes.

The arts are food for thought but design is the driving force in everyday life. This is the concept that guides Theodore Zacharis and Marios Sergidis forward and prompts them to set only one goal: to unfailingly pursue their course, sustaining their passion for the creation of spaces that radiate minimal luxury and warmth, and to never compromise innovative and inspiring ideas for the sake of ephemeral trends.

All About Jewels

HARRY MESTROS

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS HARRY JWLS… Jewellery designer Harry Mestros tells us about his ‘own’ Mykonos, the energy and inspiration he draws from the precious stones and noble metals he uses with artistic mastery to transform them into avant garde design pieces.

By Giorgos L. Papachatzis

He may have been born in Australia and raised in Lesbos but life had its own plans for Harry and soon steered him to this ‘blessed land’, as he calls the island of Mykonos. On entering Agiou Gerasimou Street, a narrow and bustling alley in Chora, one can hardly miss Harry’s bearded iconic figure and will inevitably scrutinize his impressive shop window with the fine display of his ultra-chic jewellery.

For this summer’s collection, pieces made with turquoise, lava stones, aquamarine, topaz and jasper will be taking the lead, with references to ancient Greek mythology and the Olympian gods. There is also a sensational selection of jewels seemingly made of melted metal and an array of unique, inspired pieces that stand out.

Harry’s clientele includes some very impressive personalities: members of royal families from the Arab countries, always on the lookout for something unique and different, an Indian prince, famous DJ Chris Clouse, basketball champion Jan Vesely, actress Elçin Sangu, Lebanese star Wadih Abi Raad… Is it any wonder? Far from it! Harry Jwls are more like miniature sculptures than mainstream jewellery.

All his creations carry his signature style, which is neither romantic nor purely rock, it is not minimal but not classic either and it is not only glam. The designer himself provides a perfectly apt definition: “I would say it’s Harry Jwls style. A design identity which incorporates

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all the above but which is instantly distinguishable.

I don’t keep up with trends, I just follow my instincts. I create jewels that convey meaning and they usually have a story behind them. I am also fascinated by fairy tales because they have no limits. Imagination and fairy tales really have no boundaries. When you tell a story, you can always create your own version and give it a romantic, dark or jolly twist.” And let us not forget how important interacting with the very people of Mykonos can be. “The people who choose Mykonos for their holidays –the so called ‘jet-setters’– have more austere criteria, as they have been exposed to many visual stimuli, images and experiences on their visits to the most important fashion spots in the world. When these people appreciate your work and wear your jewels, it means a lot.”

There is one more place that spurs his creativity. “Delos is magical and so is its energy. This place alone is a vast source of inspiration and constantly prompts me to introspect. Not only do I believe in it but I often let go completely, allowing it to lure me into the maze of its rocky paths,” the designer says.

When you need to decompress and be on your own, where do you go?

“To Faros (Lighthouse) Armenistis,” he replies without a second thought. That is where our stroll takes us and that is where I leave him, to breathe in the energy of his beloved Delos.

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Holy Spirit

APOCALYPSE NOW The Mykonos Icon Painter or ‘the man with the luxuriant beard’ –as he is often called– is one of the island’s most emblematic fi gures and an a well known artist.

By Giorgos L. Papachatzis A glow of childlike innocence. This is what the gaze and tranquillity of the 64-year-old icon painter Merkourios Dimopoulos exude. In a quiet alley in Chora, next to the chapel of Saint Vlasis, Merkourios Dimopoulos’ workshop is simply an ‘Apocalypse’. Tall and thin, with a beard no longer as flowing as it was until recently, when passers-by and photographers could not resist immortalizing his iconic physiognomy, he is imposing through his serene power. You can find him at his workshop from morning till noon and from the afternoon till the evening, painting Byzantine icons of major and minor saints or creating unique mosaics. That is where I met him one afternoon and he shared with me his journey through rebellious youth, the art that won his heart and shed light on his way, the smaller and bigger moments in his life, and his relationship with people, icon painting and his patron saint!

Try this for coincidence: until 1987, his only connection with the Island of the Winds was a little house that had belonged to his grandmother. So, one day he caught a ferry to the island, looked for his property and found nothing! But this did not stop him from abandoning his life in Athens and the icon and folk-art shop in Plaka to start his own workshop in Mykonos.

He takes childlike pleasure in mixing the fresh egg yolk he has brought from home with the natural pigments and 24-karat gold flakes. So, was it a deeper internal need –a communication with the Lord, the Virgin Mary and our Saints– that led him to take up the art of icon painting? He will confess to me, with disarming sincerity, that, like most of his contemporaries, he had a ‘wild’ youth and that, apart from the guitar, he loved painting. But why icon painting in particular? “I was born and raised in Athens, in the area of Kalamaki. I remember myself as a child painting everywhere, everything; landscapes, my mother, a coffee cup, flowers, cats – until, when I was 17, there awoke in me a need for classical painting, the desire to pursue a difficult path. And at that time, icon painting was an uncharted art. Those of us with artistic angst wanted to decode the secrets of its techniques. I was trained in its medieval and earlier forms. I wanted to learn on my own how to apply putty and gold leaf and how to make tempera.” I feel fortunate just to be watching him: taking short breaks every now and again to pray, he paints an icon of Saint Nikolaos, using techniques taught by the Cretan school of the 15th century.

Above his desk, an icon of Saint John the Theologian is a ‘vigilant guardian’ whose protection Merkourios feels constantly in life. The walls are hung with icons of the Madonna and Child, well-known saints and other saints who had never been depicted before and whom Merkourios was commissioned to paint –such as Saint Neomartys (New Martyr) Emmanuel the Cretan– creating an atmosphere of piety. Because, yes, this side of Mykonos does exist, too! The attributes that make his icons so sought after are the simplicity, high quality and gentleness they exude. And, of course, the joyful colours. How else could it be, given the abundance of light and humility in his soul?

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Mykonos Abroad

BEING AN ISLANDER Communicative and with a strong personality, Aphrodite Dellaporta is a Mykonian woman from Kefalonia who knows well how to promote the values of this land.

By Cathrine Papapostolou, Photo: Kosmas Koumianos

«We have the blessing and peculiarity of living in a fertile, glorified, peaceful and beautiful land. I believe that the only profession that the Greeks can do with ease and pleasure is to host.» This statement of Aphrodite Dellaporta, a Kefalonian who fell in love with Mykonos and moved forever to the Wind Island, suffices to perceive her love for tourism and her conviction that this is the future of Greece.

With studies in Medical Sciences and an innate trend in communication, Aphrodite Dellaporta really quickly jumps to the Public Relations sector and delineates an important route in the field of Communication, especially with regard to promoting Mykonos abroad.

A longtime associate of “Life Think”, a communication company of Kefalonia, the company that first created the travel guide for smart phones, a member of the Mykonos Tourism Committee, partner of the South Aegean Region and a lover of gourmet Greek gastronomy, organises and carries out major projects that travel Greece to every corner of the planet.

Her major work in the last three years was the organization of gastronomic events at the well-known James Beard Foundation in New York with the participation of famous chefs of Mykonos and not only, in order to promote Greek cuisine abroad.

Her goal is always the diversified presentation of each island abroad.

“Being an islander, I love every island of Greece and I am trying to show their peculiarities in a different way each time so that each one gets the attention it deserves.

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Mykonos, for example, is an island that could not be promoted as a religious tourist destination even if it has many churches and deeply religious people. On the other hand, it can not be presented as the island of wealth, immorality and showing of, “she said, adding that even herself when she first visited Mykonos for the sake of love, she held a negative attitude towards the island.

“Those who succeed and consort with Mykonos quickly realize that this is not an island associated with exaggeration, but a place with incredible energy that pushes you to the discovery of a deep spirituality,” she said, adding that the kindness and well-being of the island’s inhabitants is also associated with the unique light of Delos.

Today, Aphrodite Dellaporta continues to work in the field of Public Relations and Communication and prepares two major productions that focus on Mykonos and will travel to various parts of the globe.

This year’s agenda is once again the promotion of Greek gastronomy and a project on the implementation and use of modern social media tools for promotion and extroversion.

«I want to believe that in a few years the islands of Greece will have gained tremendous value and will overflow with tourism. I hope for the new generations and I believe that due to the recent crisis of values ​​that we have experienced from the economic instability, we will use everything that this place gave birth to, we will keep our simplicity and we will go forward without exaggeration and acts of impression.

Greece is by herself impressive. “

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Luxury Boutique Hotel Delight means pleasure, satisfaction, joy and many other things that bring you closer to happiness.

Agios Ioannis, Mykonos, Greece 84600 | +30 22890 78038 info@delightmykonos.com

www.delightmykonos.com

Sacred Island

DELOS

UNDER THE SUN AND INTO THE HISTORY It was the most sacred and famous of islands in antiquity, its rocky mass having hosted the birth of two major gods of the Greek pantheon, Apollo and Artemis, and with them the two mainstays of Greek civilization: light and measure. This is Delos, at a distance of just 1.5 nautical mile from the cosmopolitan Mykonos.

By Mary Adamopoulou, photo: Archives of the French School at Athens

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The group of French scholars who brought the great excavation to a successful end, photographed on Delos at the beginning of the 20th century.

The poet Callimachus calls this islet, already inhabited since the 3rd millennium BCE, the ‘hearth of islands’. The other Aegean islands seem to be dancing in a circle around it, hence their name, Cyclades.

Delos is one of the smallest islands in the Aegean Sea, with an area of just 6.85 square kilometres, yet it is the largest archaeological site in Greece and a place that could have sunk under the weight of myths and history as well as the wealth of monuments it has been carrying through the centuries.

And if today its rich history unfolds over the marble of its monuments that shine under the Aegean sun, the view that awaited the first French archaeologists who landed there in 1847 to embark on the excavations was quite different. “Nothing stood, not a single ruin, every stone having fallen down and shattered”, they wrote. Those moments were ‘frozen’ in time and were recorded in 140 black-andwhite photos, many of them unpublished. The snapshots reveal not only the island’s state before the excavations that uncovered the Aegean’s most important religious and financial centre but also the

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A Mykonian laborers poses with the important Roman (1st c. BC) statue of “Diadoumenos”, shortly after their discovery in 1894s.

daily life for the hundreds of archaeologists, architects and workers who toiled on this tiny island from 1873 to 1913, those productive four decades during which most of the site came to light.

These stills, among the oldest to have been shot at an excavation in Greece, form the backbone of the trilingual album Delos 1873-1913 (Greek, French, English) by Melissa Publications and the French School at Athens. “Οι εικόνες αυτές δεν συνιστούν τόσο μια κληρονομιά που αποκαλύπτεται σήμερα για πρώτη φορά με την παρούσα έκδοση, όσο το απάνθισμα μιας πολύ πλούσιας συλλογής φωτογραφιών και σχεδίων, που πριν από έναν και πλέον αιώνα παρουσιάστηκαν ευρέως και έγιναν αντικείμενο σχολιασμού και θαυμασμού”, notes the author JeanCharles Moretti, Director of Research at the CNRS and head of the French excavations on Delos.

Covered with a woven blanket, Aphrodite is hitting a naughty Pan with her sandal shortly after their discovery; the marble pillars, just out into the bright Aegean light again, are counted by the workers

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The facade of the House of Cleopatra, with the statues of Cleopatra herself and her husband Dioskourides.

in the house of Cleopatra and Dioscurides; the sturdy stone lions, a votive offering of Naxos which became the island’s trademark, are photographed as they leave behind centuries of darkness to resume their place as guards to the sanctuary, with the aid of the poor workers from Mykonos who had come over in their torn clothes to earn some money at the excavations…

These are only some of the pictures that reveal the backdrop to the excavations by the French School, next to others in which the ancient treasures cede the leading role to the workers and archaeologists at more carefree moments, cooking their food or showing off their catch of fish.

A careful look at the photographs shows that the only weapons in the struggle to wrestle the finds out of the earth were ropes, baskets, picks and shovels, along with a grant of 1,000 francs from the French Ministry of Education for the first excavation attempts of 1873, provided that they produced ‘useful results’. Luckily, it was not long before the first traces came to light of the three temples of Apollo, a major part of Artemision and part of the Agora of the Delians. Along with those came the first Archaic korai, at a time when the famous ones of the Athenian Acropolis had yet to be found, as well as over 250 inscriptions. In the meantime, eager to reach down to the original

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level, the archaeologists destroyed everything that looked Roman or Byzantine; in 1903 alone, 31,000 cubic metres of earth carried in 60,990 wagons were thrown into the sea.

Yet all these adversities did not seem to prevent the Delos excavation from becoming a pioneer in the area of photography. The first pictures from the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, published in 1879, had been shot and developed by the archaeologists themselves and their associates, as the French School at Athens did not employ a professional photographer until a later time.

An interesting touch in the publication is the inclusion of rare drawings which suggest that the small community on Delos, made up mostly of young men working on the island, had more than strictly academic interests. The caricatures of 1905 show members of the French School on the island being obsessed with sex or with ‘eating a priest [manger du curé]’, a French expression about speaking ill of the Church.

INFO

Jean-Charles Moretti, 1873-1913 Delos, Melissa–French School at Athens; pp. 160, €33

Delos from Mount Cynthus, 1910

French scholars in Delos

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The Handmade Island

THE WILD AND RAW GREEK ISLAND OF YOUR DREAMS More than forty picturesque villages bearing a long history dating back to antiquity up to the modern years, Venetian fortifications, several museums and a typical Mediterranean cuisine, all standing on the same tall rock fallen into the middle of the Aegean Sea in the island of Tinos!

By Kosmas Vidos, Photo: Giorgos Aronis

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Charecteristic architecture of Tinos. Dovecout

Built on solid marble rock resisting the strong wind gusts flowing down Tsiknias, its highest mountain - legend has it that it was once inhabited

by Aiolos - remains “anchored” in the deep blue Aegean sea between Andros and Mykonos, a few minutes far from Syros by boat, waiting for its visitors to discover it. Also known as the sacred island of Virgin Mary (Meghalochari in Greek), has so much more to offer than reverence to faithful Christians. For here miracle goes far beyond religious artwork reaching the highest peak of human creativity that managed to miraculously render this small rocky island to a place to remember.

Once there, you get to understand why the philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis used to call it the handmade island.

Tinos Island, home to the marble crafts, is now included in the UNESCO’s Tangible Cultural Heritage List. Chalepas, Gysis, Lytras and Philippotes, just to mention but a few of the most important Greek artists, were born in Tinos. From its lintels with the Venetian coat of arms and the more than 600 (!) and unlike to any other island’s dovecotes to the Poseidon (Neptune) & Amphitrite Sanctuary, the Exomburgo Venetian fortress, the Ursuline Monastery and the Jesuit Monastery and Museum and the mountainous scenery of Vulacus village or the wuthering outer side of the island (Exo Meria in Greek), with the fertile gardens of the local Catholic community, Tinos has so many different experiences to offer, provided that you are ready to spend some time behind the wheel.

The misunderstood main village For many years, the main village of the island (Chora in Greek) had been the “obstacle” that impeded visitors from discovering the many

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different villages of Tinos. The Church dedicated to the Dormition of Virgin Mary (Panaghia Evangelistria in Greek) dominates Chora being its tallest and most frequently visited edifice. Tourist development in Tinos started with religious tourism, which was not the best thing to happen to the island, when thinking of the crowds of pilgrims arriving in thousands, the tens of souvenir shops and fast food restaurants and some really ugly buildings surrounding the island’s port. Fortunately, this image now belongs to the past, allowing visitors to have a walk in the narrow streets of the main village, behind the grandiose Church and to enjoy its pretty peaceful and picturesque neighborhoods with many old churches of architectural and historic interest and the mustsee Cultural Foundation of Tinos hosting the permanent collection of Chalepas’ pieces of art and many temporary exhibitions.

Pyrghos village, home to marble The most impressive out of more than forty villages in the island of Tinos is also one of the most beautiful villages all over Greece. Pyrghos is the birthplace of Yannoulis Chalepas and Nikiforos Lytras, located 30Km to the north from Chora, at Exo Meria, the rocky outer side of Tinos. It is about a total white settlement built in the natural cavities of rocks in order to hide from pirates and invaders. Pyrghos looks more like an open air monument of folk art and traditional architecture, where marble has been more than generously used almost everywhere: Marble-paved streets, marble fountains, marble altarpieces in churches, and marble door and window frames and lintels. Even the bus stop is engraved in marble! The perennial plane tree in the middle of the central square surrounded by picturesque coffee shops form an amazing movie set. Once in Pyrghos, do not forget to visit the house of

Tinos, Chora

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TIPS

* Exoburgo or Xomburgo, as locals call it, also known as Aghia Eleni Fortress, once the most powerful fortress of the Cycladic island complex, is definitely a must-see. It is a location with a panoramic view of the island. Also, once been there, do not forget to visit the Greek Catholic Convent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. * Take a walk picking any of the usually marble-paved paths that connect villages with one another or lead to the beach. You won’t regret it. * Taste the famous Tinian artichoke and luza (salted and spiced dried pork fillet having rested in red wine for some days) and the excellent kinds of local cheese. * In Chora (main village), the top seller of pastry shops and bakeries is lychnarakia, a local tiny dessert resembling a lot to the Cretan caltsounia, sweet cheese pies, yet with a slight difference in taste, as lychnarakia are made of cheese blended with orange and mastic oils. * Buy thyme or heather honey of excellent quality. * Take a drive on the difficult route connecting Marla village with the seaside settlement of Mali (close to Andros – Tinos strait) and pass through the wonderfully wild scenery created by the marble extractions.

Chalepas, the Museum of Tinian Artists and the Piraeus Bank Cultural Foundation, Museum of Marble Crafts. The old cemetery of the village is a true open air sculpture museum. If you want to go for swimming or if you like fresh fish and seafood, prefer the Rochari, Aghia Thalassa or Cavaroulco beaches in Panormos, the Pyrghos’ haven, Close to Pyrghos, Marla, Mamados, Vernerdados and Plattia villages are also worth visiting.

A stunning Aegean sea view from Cardiani and Isternia Too close to Pyrghos, there are two other villages, Cardiani and Isternia, privileged with a stunning sea view and traditional old houses built in a typical Cycladic architectural style of total white small houses climbing up the hill, built one next to the other with shared terraces and narrow paths among them. Dazzling white marble is the predominant building material in these settlements too. A sandy beach adorns Isternia Bay. This is where Thalassaki, the most famous restaurant of Tinos, is located. Just below Cardiani, there are other two wonderful sandy beaches, Calyvia and Yannakis, with crystal clear waters that are so typical of Greece.

Vulacus’ lunar landscape The most surprising attraction of Tinos is a plateau hidden far from the sea, in the heart of the mountainous area of the island. This is Volakas or Vulacus (in Latin), a unique lunar landscape, full of huge and mainly round rocks and moon (granite) stones that scientists have not yet decided whether this unique place derived from a fallen meteorite, a volcanic eruption or granite erosion, with the latter being the most prevailing theory up to now. Volakas village stands right on the top of these rocks. This beautiful settlement is inhabited by traditional wicker basketware makers using round reed and osiers in an old craft way passing down from one generation to the other.

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And the list goes on with more villages and beaches…

The Kechrovouni Monastery, also known as the Monastery of Aghia Pelaghia, named after the nun who used to live there, since the day that the famous artwork of Virgin Mary (Panaghia Evangelistria) appeared to her in a vision indicating the location to be found, forms a whole village with white houses and colorful gardens. Leaving Kechrovouni behind, visitors reach Arnados and Triantaros, two villages with panoramic sea view. Tripotamos village is another hidden treasure almost next to Chora. If found in Kticado, have a lunch either at “Drosia” or “Agnanti” tavern. And if in Falatado, try “Lefkes” tavern. Xynara and Crocos are two small settlements definitely worth seeing. When found in Loutra, do not miss a guided tour in the Ursuline Monastery and the Jesuit Museum; it would wonderfully take you back in time! Then, there is Campus, where the Costas Tsoklis’ Museum is located always hosting interesting exhibitions. This year, the main exhibition’s title is “The sea as I recall it…” A few kilometers away from Tarampado, have a stop in the Dovecote Valley. Following the central road passing through dark tunnels, under the houses, you will meet Smardakitto, Aetofolia, Callonie, Comie and Aghapi, in a row. These are small traditional settlements of high architectural interest. On the mountainous Sclavochori village, you will get to see the house where painter Nicolas Gysis was born. To take a swim, try Colybithres, the sandy beach with crystal clear waters; it is ideal provided that no north wind blows. Another option is the Pachia Ammos beach. In Greek, pachia ammos means thick sand; so you will know you are there, when you see it! Again provided that no wind from north blows, the pebble beach of Leivadha is worth driving through the long dirt road leading there. In case of a north wind day, there are alternative options of well protected beaches on the west side of the island facing Syros. Finally, if you want to take a swim close to Chora, visit Kionia, Aghios Romanos, Aghios Fokas or Aghios Sostis.

In the village of Volax, many crumbling homes have been handpainted with poems.

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NATURAL BEAUTY AND BLISSFUL HIDEAWAYS Put on your bathing suit, skip the island’s cosmopolitan beaches, take a few deep breaths and set out to discover five of the island’s more secluded beaches, which the locals have for years kept a closely guarded secret!

By Giorgos L. Papachatzis, Photo: Giorgos Aronis

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The wind on Mykonos’ beaches –which locals say are more than 37– brings us not just salty sea breezes, premium beach life concepts, cosmopolitan ambience and party-all-the-time beats, but also unique ecstaseas, even if you’re looking for non-organized beaches for total relaxation away from prying eyes or if you just want to finally discover the comfort zone you have always been dreaming of. Because the Island of the Winds will never let you down!

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Myrsini

For those seeking complete privacy, the compass points to Myrsini (or Mersini) beach. The anti-star of Mykonos beach life holds a special place in the hearts of locals and ‘sophisticated’ visitors. You’ll find Myrsini just 500 metres from the equally tranquil Fokos beach and you’ll fall in love with it the moment you first dive into its crystal-clear emerald waters. Spread your towel on its rich sand, switch off your mobile phone and take off your watch. You’ll never want to leave!

Fokos

If you want a break from the Cycladic landscape, you need to get to the northern part of the island, where you’ll discover Fokos. With its own extraordinary, unique and unspoilt beauty, and a cove ‘sprinkled’ with rich sand and well-hidden behind rocks, Fokos welcomes nudists and non-nudists alike, tempting you to take the rocky road that leads to its embrace.

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Kapari

In a prime location, right across from the island of Delos on the western side of Mykonos (after Agios Stefanos and just 4 km from Chora), it promises unforgettable bathing and a truly magical sunset! Although Kapari is no longer one of Mykonos’ ‘secret’ beaches, rest assured that the few, discerning people you share this beach with will be after exactly the same thing as you: tranquillity away

from show-off posing and flashy celebrities, a unique locale that’s ‘protected’ by imposing rocks, endless dips in crystalline waters, non-stop relaxation on a sandy beach, romance and Instagram-worthy postings that capture something of the magenta veil the setting sun casts over Delos. So the rugged path there is worth the effort…

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Fragia

If you’re after idyllic sea-scented sunsets, that skinny-dip sense of freedom, and long dives not just into turquoise waters but also into your very self, Fragia is your dream come true! Charmingly secluded, big, sandy, cooled by crystal-clear waters and right next to Tsagari beach (after the popular Lia beach), it’s alluring to ‘hermits’ and families alike.

Tigani

Just a breath away from the most remote of Mykonos’ organized beaches –gay-friendly Lia (14 km from Chora)–, Tigani welcomes you to a miniature paradise of semolina-like sand with a view of Dragonisi. Your only company is the ‘big blue’, the wind and the chapel on the rocky promontory. The ideal place to fully recharge your batteries with a good book at hand or with your companion.

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32 Matogianni st Chora, Mykonos | +3- 22890 22217 | info@matogianni.gr

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Unique Handcrafts

MYKONIAN TEXTILES

Weaving, warp and weft, three words that left an indelible mark on the history and the economy of the island. The instantly recognizable Mykonian textiles, featuring bright colors, characteristic border weaves and alternating stripes in a variety of widths and hues that work together beautifully, have travelled far and wide, from palatial mansions to the house of Dior.

By Zoe Dimitriou, Photo: Mykonos Muse by Lizy Manola 155

MYKONIAN TEXTILES TODAY • “Mykonian textile in the 20th Century” is a volume compiled of 12 years of research by Dimitra Sikiniotou-Nazou and Panayiotis I. Hatzidakis on the production of Mykonian textiles in the 20th Century.

Their writing is complemented by first-person accounts from local weavers and abundant photographic material that thoroughly cover the subject. You can order the book online from the Cultural Folklore Society of Women at http://mykonoswomenculture.gr

ECLECTIC SELECTIONS

• You can find out more about the history of weaving at the Mykonos Folklore Museum, located in Castro, near the renowned Paraportiani.

The Museum is housed in an old, two-storey captain’s home and it’s open April to October, 4:30-8:30pm, except Sundays (tel.: 22890 22591, 22890 22748).

• “Lena’s House” is a division of the Mykonos Folklore Museum, a typical middle-class ground floor residence from the previous century.

It houses an interesting collection of European and local 19th Century furniture in its original layout, as well as household items, both functional and decorative (embroidery, mirrors, engravings etc.). It owes its name to the house’s last owner, Lena Skrivanou, and it is centrally located at Tria Pigadia, next to the Maritime Museum.

Nowadays, there are only a handful of weavers on the island of Mykonos that still practice their trade. This once popular handicraft is all but extinct, yet the past tells a different story. From the 17th to the 19th Century, textile was a powerful currency that played a decisive role in the economy and the prosperity of the island. Mykonian women wove magnificent fabrics in silk, linen and cottons but after the 1980s their textiles saw a sharp decline in popularity. The looms ceased to function, were thrown away or even used as firewood. The few weavers still working today can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

History lesson Today, hand-woven textiles are a luxury. Gone are the days when it was the only means to keep islanders clothed (and fed). Mykonian weaving furnished household needs and kept the entire family warm.

It provided blankets for the kids’ beds and curtains to keep the August sun at bay. This integral need slowly evolved into an art form.

Between WWI and WWII, weaving on the island was a competitive and lucrative profession. Newspapers cite Mykonian textiles winning Parisian trade shows and hand-woven textiles were all the rage in the 1930s. Refugees from Asia Minor, forced to settle on the island after the 1923 population exchange, infused local weaving with new elements.

Mykonian weavers no longer limited themselves to covering their own household needs, and started selling their wares to travellers visiting the archaeological site of Delos. Mario Karakani- Zouganeli was established as a skilled weaver, while Vgenoula Kousathana (also known as Bebena) was making headway in textile production, introducing innovative woven goods and new ways to utilize textiles. Pants were already in production for the “modern women” of the time. In 1937, the textiles of two Mykonian merchants, Taro Kodiza and Thodoros Harakopoulos, won the silver and bronze medals at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et des Techniques in Paris.

Tourist development and Harakopoulos’ entrepreneurial spirit played an important part in popularizing weaving. Thanks to his ingenious promotional campaign, hand-woven textiles went from a household

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item and a poor man’s wardrobe staple to a fashion must-have. Harakopoulos’ first commercial textiles, the “Mykonian border weave”, the woven skirt craze and the innovative colorways produced by Vgenoula Kousathana and her son Panayiotis were characteristic examples.

The art of weaving even permeated haute couture and Giannis Galatis’ creations became especially popular, both in Greece and abroad.

Magazine and newspaper ads offered an additional boost. Mykonian textiles became a prized commodity and production went up. There were more than 500 looms (locally known as “delaro”) in Chora alone.

Weaving was having its heyday, while lasted for over 20 years. In the 1950s, most of the raw material was largely provided by local cattle herding and every textile was unique. Vassilis Kyriazopoulos, the owner of the Mykonos Folklore Museum, managed to collect and record more than 500 textile designs in the 1970s.

Mykonian textiles enter Tatoi Mykonians were in the habit of sailing to the small port of Delos and laying out their colorful textiles on mats. They sold their handicrafts to the tourists pouring out of the cruise liners and then moved on to benches at Gialos, in downtown Mykonos. In the summer, basements and ground floor apartments would serve as makeshift shops. During their glory days, Mykonian hand-woven textiles found their way into upper-crust homes, decorated stores and furnished hotels. They even gained access to the Tatoi Palace.

Dior and the weavers In the early ‘50s, Christian Dior - a Mykonos regular - incorporated weaving into his designs and later on produced an entire collection made of Mykonian textiles. Givenchy arrived on the island to dress his models in collaboration with tailor Josef Salachas (1909-1977), nicknamed “Le Roi du Pantalon” by Christian Dior. Joseph’s shop at Gialos was doing brisk business. Fashion up-and-comers Lefteris Galounis (also known as Loizos), Anna Fouski and Giannis Galatis also had shops on that same street.

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THE ASSIMOMITIS FAMILY Established in 1978, Assimomitis car rental agency is one of the oldest on the island of Mykonos. The reliability and the professionalism made the Assimomitis Rent A Car one of the best choices for car rental for your holidays on the cosmopolitan island of Mykonos. The Assimomitis family started by offering horse-drawn carriage and donkey rentals which were the means of transportation back in these first days of Mykonos tourist development.

ASSIMOMITIS CAR RENTAL OFFER

THE RELIABLE CAR RENTAL AGENCY IN MYKONOS

FEEL SECURED AND ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS IN MYKONOS

Nowadays, the third generation of Assimomitis family, always having the same passion and dedication, offers a range of car choices for rental along with exquisite services and friendly customer service in value prices. Discover the island of Mykonos, the beaches, the sights, the villages with the car of your choice from the Assimomitis car rental agency.

Assimomitis Rent a Car in Mykonos offers all the latest car models, fully serviced and preserved in an excellent condition. Every customer is approached with personalized care for the needs and desires concerning their transportation in Mykonos. Our people are always at your disposal for everything you might need prior and during your stay in Mykonos.

Assimomitis car rental with its professional and long established presence in the car rental industry will release your from any stress regarding your car rental needs in Mykonos.

Do not hesitate to contact us even for simple questions or to help you find the ideal car for your holidays in Mykonos.

Assimomitis Mykonos Rent A Car Mykonos, Cyclades, Phone : +30 2289022113 Fax : +30 2289022276 Email : mykonoscars@gmail.com Site : https://www.mykonosrentacar.gr

Rides Along the Beach

THE HORSE WHISPERER Savage beauty, total seclusion, golden sand and azure waters bring this magical location one step closer to heaven. Horseland, an equine farm offering romantic sunset rides along the beach, provides the final touch.

By Zoe Dimitriou, Photo: Vangelis Kyris 158

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A memorable and safe riding experience on one of the most beautiful Islands in the Cyclades.

The Kardashian sisters loved their Horseland tour so much, they got an entire TV crew out to the beach to capture the experience. This ride, shot over four years ago, was aired on the popular “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” reality show, prompting American tourists to seek out Fanis Rouvas’ services, who organizes sunset beach rides on one of his 17 specially trained horses. Rouvas is a professional horse-riding instructor, winner of a PanHellenic Riding Championship in 2004, and has been a horse breeder for the best part of 25 years. Nowadays, he’s proud to call himself a permanent Mykonos resident, offering people from all over the world a unique experience that helps them truly connect with the natural beauty of the island.

“We always adapt the experience to our customers’ needs, whether they’re seasoned riders or reluctant beginners. We offer romantic tours especially designed for couples, fun family experiences and adventurous hangouts for friends looking for something different. There are four tour options. Some people prefer a quick ride on the beach, just enough for a quirky Instagram shot, while families enjoy longer rides with a long swimming break. Our professional photography service is a very popular option. Customers spend an hour with a certified photographer in the setting of their choice and get almost 700 shots on their own USB stick in return. We also offer a romantic sunset option with a beach picnic, complete with blankets and candles. If you’re feeling creative, you can even set the stage for your own custom experience.

The sky is the limit! Horseland offers an unexpected way to enjoy your natural surroundings, the coastline and the trails that goes above and beyond the average beach experience. Our horses are trained to offer an idyllic ride along some of the most clandestine beaches on the island.

Absolute safety is guaranteed,” says Rouvas.

For more info, please visit: www.mykonoshorse.com

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Last Page

RUDOLF NUREYEV 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

He male dancing on the international map: he was a name known to people who never saw him; and he was so sexually, so sensually attractive to men and to women that a collective sigh arose

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at his each first appearance on stage. His passion for dance and for adventure in movement carried him into every style, every country, to every choreographer, and more performances in more companies, great and small, than any dancer before. There is no doubt that he was a virtuoso dancer, but, in addition to his outstanding technique acquired from relentless practice, he also knew how to act his dancing roles, giving his ballet a dramatic reality equal to that of the theatre or the cinema. Rufolf Nureyev after his last performance in Greece during summer of 1985, visit Mykonos for last time.