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The old stone houses at Karkos

Walking from Apíranthos to the fortified monastery Fotodótis near Danakós, one passes a picturesque valley called Karkós, with a grove of magnificent old Vallonean oaks. Two old stone houses bear witness to the former use of this area. The valley was once cultivated with vinyards, though today it is only used for grazing sheep. Right next to the grove on the slope of Mount Korakiá lies the small church Panagía Chrysopigí, originally a Mycenaean tomb.

valley of Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
view over the valley of Karkós towards Apíranthos

valley of Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
On the northern slope of the valley grow magnificent Vallonean oaks.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Next to the fields lie two old stone houses where the farmers lived when they were working on the land.

old fields in the valley of Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
The fields were originally mainly cultivated with vines, for which they are particularly well suited.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Here the stone house on the southern edge of the valley with a basin for the treading of the grapes next to it (gr. linoú).

old basin for making wine in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
In the linoú, the grapes were crushed with the feet. The juice ran into the small, deeper basin, which can be seen at the front right. In the linoú, two round stone slabs can be seen leaning against the rocks, which were used for the pressing of the piled-up mash overnight.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
The house consists of three carefully built rooms.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Shelves are built into the brickwork in the corner.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Here one can see the typical local style of the masonry: stacks of small stone slabs are inserted between the larger stones. This technique was also used in the Hellenistic tower of Chimárrou.

While the traditional stone-built houses in the villages had roofs supported by wooden beams and real windows, the old stone shepherds’ houses in the countryside (Greek mitatos, pl. mitati) usually had roofs made of stone slabs without wood, which is why the mitati could only be quite narrow. There was usually only a low entrance and no windows. These houses in Karkós are midway between a village stone house and a mitato: They are carefully built and have small windows, but are covered with a roof of stone slabs without wooden beams.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
The other stone house is still very well preserved.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
The entrance is surrounded by upright marble posts. The window is an unusual luxury for a simple country house; people obviously stayed here often enough to justify the additional effort.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Inside the house looking to the right towards the wide fireplace, which was also used for cooking. The roof is built without the use of wood and the interior of the room is narrowed upwards by widening the walls until the space in between them can be bridged by large stone slats.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
View towards the other side with a small window to the west. The walls are carefully plastered.

old stone houses in Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Above the stone slabs of the roof lay a thick layer of earth, which was pressed with a cylindrical rock “column” every autumn to make it as waterproof as possible. Here the earthen layer on the roof is well visible in a small mitáto that lies nearby.

Panagia Chrysopigi at Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Just above Karkós lies the tiny church of Panagía Chrysopigí, originally a Mycenaean tomb.

old marble quarry at Karkos, Apiranthos, Naxos
Next to the church excellent marble was quarried for the construction of houses from Mycenaean until modern times. Accordingly, this place is called marmarokopió (roughly “marble quarry”).

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