{"id":32836,"date":"2023-11-08T11:19:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T09:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klqewmpxo.cyon.link\/?p=32836"},"modified":"2024-09-12T12:14:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T09:14:12","slug":"naxos-mitatoi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azalas.de\/el\/naxos-mitatoi\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitatoi - the simple old stone houses"},"content":{"rendered":"

E<\/big>verywhere in the cultivated regions and in the areas used for grazing sheep or goats, the wanderer on Naxos will come across old small stone houses, the mit\u00e1ti<\/em> (singular mit\u00e1tos<\/em>). Farmers lived in the mitati<\/em> when they stayed e.g. for the harvest on their land away from the village, and sometimes a family spent there even the majority of the year or lived there permanently. The shepherds also had a mit\u00e1tos<\/em> at each mazom\u00f3s<\/em>, i.e. at the shepherds’ places where the animals were milked and the cheese was produced; the cheese was stored in the mit\u00e1tos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I<\/big>n contrast to the real houses in the villages, the mit\u00e1ti<\/em> were built entirely of stone without the use of wood. The roof consisted of large stone slabs that extended from wall to wall. For this reason, the mit\u00e1ti<\/em> could only be fairly narrow; the interior space could be enlarged somewhat by widening the walls inwards at the top so that the distance to be bridged became narrower. The door of the mit\u00e1tos<\/em> was small and often framed by large upright marble stones. The mit\u00e1ti<\/em> usually had no windows. The roof was covered with earth above the stone slabs, which was rolled with a marble cylinder to seal it before the autumn rains. The mit\u00e1ti<\/em> faced towards the usual wind direction with the narrow side; they were usually built in a N-S direction, with the entrance in the centre of the east side. Farmers’ or shepherds’ houses where a family lived permanently, often consisted of two mit\u00e1ti<\/em>, one of which served as a stable. The two mit\u00e1ti<\/em> were often built at an angle so that the entrance to the house was better protected from the north wind. In addition to the mit\u00e1ti<\/em> used to live in, the shepherds sometimes also built small shelters in far away areas where they could weather a heavy rain or storm, but that were not meant to live in.<\/p>\n

\"old
\nSmall stone-built houses, the mit\u00e1ti<\/em>, can be found scattered all over the island.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nSome of these stone houses are tiny.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nHere you see the roof made of stone slabs.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThese tiny huts were not real mit\u00e1ti<\/em>, but only served as shelters during heavy rains and storms.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe shepherds built them where there was no suitable house or natural shelter nearby.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nA mit\u00e1tos<\/em> was a narrow building, usually built in N-S direction, without windows and with the entrance in the centre of the long side (usually facing east).<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe entrance was low and often framed by upright marble stones.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nWhile the building is rectangular on the outside, the inside space gets narrower towards the roof, which is achieved by the walls becoming thicker towards the top.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nIn this way, the space between the walls is reduced so that it can be covered by large stone slabs.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nAnother typical mit\u00e1tos<\/em> (in \u00c1gios Dim\u00edtris)<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe mit\u00e1ti<\/em> had very little furniture. Sometimes thery had built-in niches that served as shelves.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe view in the other direction with another niche and a shelf consisting of a stone slab built into the corner.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe stone roof was covered with a layer of earth.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nIn autumn, before the first rains, the earth roof was rolled with a marble cylinder to seal it.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nIn spring, the earthen roofs of the unused houses are often covered with flowers.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nHere a larger stone house, also built like a mit\u00e1tos<\/em>, but with a stable next to it. Larger houses of this kind were often inhabited permanently by a family.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe entrance is well protected from the north wind, as the stable is built at an angle to the house.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\na little mit\u00e1tos<\/em> on our hill<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nThe entrance is so small that one can barely crawl through it.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"old
\nHere a door seems to be built right into a terrace wall: It leads to a hidden room in which the farmers hid their crops or other possessions from pirates. Originally, the entrance was concealed by a bush, for example, so that the hiding place was almost impossible to discover. There are quite a few of such hiding places in terrace walls, although most are smaller than this one.<\/small><\/p>\n

M<\/big>any mit\u00e1ti<\/em> belonged to shepherds and served as their home and as cheese dairy during the cheese-making season in spring. Here large a mit\u00e1tos<\/em> on the hills above \u00c1gios Dim\u00edtris.<\/p>\n

\"mitatos<\/p>\n

\"Eingang
\nthe usual low entrance<\/small><\/p>\n

\"L\u00f6ffel
\nIn the house we found this aluminium cup and a spoon carved from horn. The shepherds used these spoons to eat the miz\u00edthra (fresh cheese).<\/small><\/p>\n

B<\/big>elow follow some pictures of unusual mit\u00e1ti<\/em>.<\/p>\n

W<\/big>hile the vast majority of mit\u00e1ti<\/em> are rectangular, near P\u00e1normos exist two remarkable round buildings.<\/p>\n

\"round<\/p>\n

\"round
\nThis, as far as I know, ist the only round mit\u00e1tos<\/em> on Naxos.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"elliptical
\nan elliptical stone house, also near P\u00e1normos<\/small><\/p>\n

O<\/big>n M\u00e1vro Vo\u00fani near K\u00f3ronos, the second highest mountain on Naxos, lies another remarkable stone house – it is inexplicably high.<\/p>\n

\"stone
\nThis stone house is part of a shepherd’s settlement. The house and surrounding walls are built from local stone.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"stone<\/p>\n

\"stone<\/p>\n

\"stone
\nThe walls approach each other very much towards the top, perhaps because the local stones do not allow for larger slabs.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"stone
\nNevertheless, the house is built inexplicably high; it is the tallest stone house I know.<\/small><\/p>\n

L<\/big>astly, a collection of more pictures of mit\u00e1ti<\/em> on Naxos.<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

\"old<\/p>\n

see also:<\/p>\n