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The traditional watermill near Komiaki

The significance of the cereals in traditional village life

Until the 50s and 60s of the last century, most of the population of Naxos grew their own grain. The harvest had to last for the whole year, as only a few families had enough money to buy additional grain or flour. The grain was stored in large earthenware pots. Every Saturday, the housewives baked bread for the whole week. The grain was taken to one of the village mills a day or two in advance and ground there; the miller received a tenth of the flour as payment.

On Naxos existed both windmills and watermills. The latter could only be operated on rivers that had water during most of the year. There were a number of watermills near the villages of Kinídaros and Komiakí, and others in Potamiá, Míli (“mills”), Mélanes, Engarés and Kóronos. The people preferred the watermills to the windmills because they maintained a constant speed while grinding, whereas the windmills could heat up the grain when the wind was too strong and “burn” the flour.

Like the oil mills, the grain mills on Naxos were not owned by a single person, but by several partners who took turns running the mill. My father-in-law owned a share in a watermill and worked as a miller at times during his eventful life; he described the working of the mill to me in detail.

The watermill near Komiaki

A number of watermills have been restored on Naxos, such as the one described here near Komiakí; however, you can only visit the inside of this mill if you get the key in the village.

The remains of old watermills can still be found in many places along the rivers of Naxos. A watermill consisted of the actual mill building and a high structure above it, through which the water was led from the cistern a few metres higher up to the mill. The grinding stones etc. were located in the main room of the mill building; the water-driven paddle wheel was located in a low “cellar” below. The water flowed through an open channel from the nearby cistern to the “mill tower”, where it fell several metres downwards; it then shot under high pressure into the cellar of the mill building, where it drove the paddle wheel. In many watermills the building itself is still standing, but the wooden mechanisms have mostly fallen into disrepair.

the valley of Komiaki, Naxos
There were about 15 water mills along the river from Komiakí to Apóllonas; in the centre of the picture you can see the restored mill that we visited and at which the photos were taken.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Above the mill lies a large cistern that was filled with water from the river; when it was full, the miller could operate the mill. The water was led to the “mill tower” via the canal visible in the back, from where it fell into the actual mill building further down.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
view across the mill canal to the river valley, with the village of Komiakí in the background

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
A “sieve” made of reed in the mill channel was used to hold back leaves etc.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Where the water from the cistern reached the canal on the mill building, it had to flow through this hole carved into a thick stone slab. The hole could be closed with a large wooden plug so that the cistern would fill up; the plug was removed by the miller when he came to operate the mill.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The water was led from the cistern to the front end of the “mill tower” via the canal; there it fell many metres downwards within the “mill tower” to the lower floor, where it shot under great pressure through a small hole into cellar of the mill building, hitting and driving the wooden paddle wheel. To walk to the front of the narrow, high structure, you’d better be not get giddy!

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
view from the front edge of the “mill tower” to the roof of the actual mill, many metres below

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
From the cistern and the mill canal, we walk down this path to the actual mill building.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
looking from the entrance of the mill building up to the “mill tower”

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
the upper room of the mill

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The mill building is supported by several arches covered with stone slabs.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Looking upwards, you can see the stone slabs that cover the space between the arches in local building style.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Here grinding stones on the upper floor of the mill: the lower, immovable stone and the upper movable stone, which is attached to the axis with a metal clasp (this stone has a metal ring at the top and bottom). A metal or wooden guard runs around the stones to retain the flour flying out between the stones (here raised).

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The flour accumulated in this carefully plastered hollow, from where the miller filled it into sacks.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The millstones were imported from the island of Milos; they were made of a porous, volcanic rock that wore very little. The millstones were made up of many pie-shaped pieces and held in place with metal rings. They had to be roughened regularly.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Above the upper millstone was a large wooden hopper into which the miller emptied the sacks of grain. Below it was a smaller hopper with a flap that opened a little each time a small stud of wood attached to it came to a groove in the wooden attachment on the turning upper millstone, thus allowing the grain to move slowly and evenly from the hopper into a hole in the centre of the upper stone.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
To the right of the millstones stands the large wooden plug that was used to close the cistern towards the mill so that it could fill up (see the hole shown above).

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
By means of this lever, the axis and thus the upper millstone could be raised or lowered through a device located in the cellar, thus determining the fineness of the flour.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The remains of the old grain hopper and the wooden ring that surrounded the stones still lie in front of the mill.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
view of the lower storey with the paddle wheel and the device for lifting the upper millstone in the foreground

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Through the small hole in the back left corner, the water shot under high pressure out of the “mill tower” and thus drove the paddle wheel attached to the axis.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
The paddles of the wheel had indentations that were hit by the water jet, which drove the wheel.

watermill near Komiaki, Naxos
Here the mill lies hidden behind the plane tree; to the right the river course

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