Church of Agios Ioannis Theologos (St John the Divine) in Stylos
Watermill of Kalogeroi in Stylos
Watermill in Kalyves
Folklore Museum of Gavalochori
Wells of the Venetian period in Gavalochori
Wells of the Venetian period in Palailoni
Monastery of Agios Georgios (St George) in Karydi
Venetian-Turkish farmhouse in Nio Chorio
Nazi Tunnels at Kokkino Chorio
The Route of Sustainability
In capitalist societies in the modern era there arose the idea of man the creator, a concept opposed to the millennia-old prevailing philosophy of man the steward. In pre-modern Western societies, God was the creator and the role of man was limited to maintaining the cosmic order. The concept of man as a steward is in line with the daily struggle against decay found in every aspect of human life, from preparing food to dusting the furniture. The prevailing perception of the replaceability of all material things, which is reflected even in modern approaches to the body, clashes with the principles of sustainability, which allow for the harmonious coexistence of man and his environment.
The present era is termed the Anthropocene, due to the fact that human activity is the main driver of climate change. The term is widely accepted despite criticisms and opposing views. The main counter-argument is that human activity has always caused environmental disasters on a larger or smaller scale. However, the rapid changes in lifestyle and human interaction with the environment in modern society are now affecting the geology and ecosystems of the planet in ways never before seen.
This route explores past practices that highlight principles of sustainable coexistence of humans and the environment, based on the perception of man as a steward rather than a creator.
In Apokoronas, a region with a varied terrain, rich in water resources and fertile soil and enjoying favourable climatic conditions, human activity flourished from an early date, leaving behind material evidence of man’s coexistence with his environment.
An important aspect of sustainability is the management of resources and practices by the community (tools to the people). People living in an area were able to manage their environment in the context of the community. Communalism played an important role in the management of natural resources in the region in the pre-industrial period. For example, the problem of limited water resources in part of Apokoronas was consistently addressed using collective solutions. The wells of Gavalochori and Palailoni were constructed in order to provide those communities with drinking water for people and their flocks. Dug in locations where rainwater could be collected, they were gathering places where members of the community could obtain water both for themselves and for their animals. Village fountains had a similar function, with people visiting them daily to draw water for their everyday needs.
Communities were also bearers of knowledge on the management of the built environment. Thus local building practices were developed, based on the use of building materials available in the area. In the Apokoronas region, in villages such as Kefalas, there was an important tradition of stone masons in early modern times. Characteristic architectural types evolved in Crete. Still seen in villages today, they draw on elements of the Venetian and Ottoman past, the expertise of local craftsmen, the possibilities and limitations of the local building materials, and the different needs that arose over time. Ottoman mosques, the churches of the Ottoman period, the arch-houses and industrial buildings all have common elements, shaped by the environment of the island. It is interesting, for example, to compare the surviving olive mills of Gavalochori and St George in Karydi, where the system of wide arches for supporting the roof and dividing the space into “rooms” can be seen. The same arrangement is found in the arch-house of the Folklore Museum of Gavalochori, where a wide arch divides the house into separate areas for different activities.
Sustainability in the Folklore Museum of Gavalochori
The architecture of the traditional Cretan house reveals another principle of sustainability: the principle of sufficiency. The layout was designed to meet the family’s daily living needs while providing for the artisanal activities intended to make the household self-sufficient, such as weaving and winemaking, as well as storage.
Food was seasonal, meaning that each house required considerable storage space to preserve food that was abundant at one time of year but scarce at another. The architectural design also provided for the preservation of agricultural produce, as each house had to have cool, dry spaces for storing goods.
The few windows and the balconies only allowed limited sunlight to enter, ensuring that such spaces were available. This design also served to reduce energy waste as much as possible. The few openings and the small residential space meant that relatively little heating was necessary to keep the house warm during the winter months.
The tendency to transform and reintegrate practices and needs reflects another basic principle of sustainability, the longevity of the life cycle of materials, objects and technologies. This principle is clearly expressed in the widespread reuse of materials, sites and architectural typologies in the practices of the past. In the church of St John the Divine in Stylos, successive churches are visible in the foundations.
Sustainability in the Church of Agios Ioannis Theologos in Stylos
They are all of the same architectural type, the simple single-nave church, while each is probably constructed from the stones of the previous one. The practice of reuse is clearly discernible in the wall in front of the main entrance, which contains spolia (reused building material) from an earlier building.
However, sustainable practices do not concern only the relationship between humans and built space. On the contrary, they extend to human relations with unbuilt space and caring for all kinds of life. Thus, in the archaeological landscape of Apokoronas, the distinction between inhabited and unbuilt space in the past is clear. An interesting example is seen in the village of Litsarda, whose historic nucleus is clearly visible. The residential nucleus is surrounded by the nearby farmland. In what is now the forest of Roupakias, which grew when cultivation was abandoned in modern times, the layout of the properties is visible: they are separated by drystone walls that leave narrow paths free for people and animals. Village farmland was succeeded by common land, the forests. Until the modern era, village communities were responsible for managing and protecting these areas. They managed water resources (lakes, rivers and springs) from at least the Venetian period onwards, and indeed probably from Byzantine times. The strict separation of built, cultivated unbuilt, and wild areas allowed wild flora and fauna to survive. It is no coincidence that of the approximately 1,800 plant species on the island, most the 159 endemic plants are found in the White Mountains. Crete is also home to numerous endemic animals, many of them now threatened with extinction.
The preservation of wild flora and fauna was also based on the appropriation of the natural space. There were no title deeds in the Madares mountains of Apokoronas. However, the shepherd families living in the foothills of the White Mountains divided the land into pastures. Due to the limited land available and to avoid conflicts over access, the local inhabitants used cheese as currency. Thus a shepherd could gain access to the mountain pastures by exchanging cheese for pasturage rights. The shepherds of the White Mountains were also the guardians of the region.
Energy management was an important issue in pre-modern times, too. The Venetians were zealous in carrying out infrastructure projects, as the state ensured food staple sufficiency for the population, while the organisation of agricultural production for trade was important to Venice.
Thus watermills were constructed from the 15th century onwards, with a significant number in the Apokoronas region. The choice of location was based on optimal use of natural resources. The watermills were built next to sites with sufficient water, in the areas of production of the goods they were intended to process, ensuring maximum energy efficiency while meeting the needs of each region. The relationship between the buildings and the available resources is clear in the watermill of Kalogeroi in Stylos and the Kalyves watermill, both of which are built right next to rivers.
Sustainability in the Watermill of Kalogeroi in Stylos
Olive mill construction follows a similar rationale. The mills are found in important olive cultivation areas, such as the Monastery of St George in Karydi, which has two mills, the Venetian-Turkish farmhouse in Nio Chorio, where the complex was expanded to meet increased needs, and Gavalochori. These mills had long lifespans and successive building phases, keeping up with technological developments. The modern olive mills of Apokoronas succeeded the pre-industrial structures, operating in accordance with new practices. However, they too are small units serving local needs.
Finally, interesting information is provided by the military works in the region. In contrast to the fortress of Nio Chorio, constructed of natural materials on the surface of the ground, the Nazi tunnels at Kokkino Chorio reflect the new concepts of war. Although war has always been intended to deconstruct – first the human body, then armour and ultimately walls – the aim of warfare since World War I has been to destabilise the whole human habitat. So while the battles at the fortress of Nio Chorio were fought on the earth’s surface, with weapons wielded by one body against another, the tunnels were designed to ensure the soldiers’ survival in conditions otherwise unsuited to life.
Author: Maria Andrianaki
Fun fact
In the villages of the “roots”, namely the villages of Apokoronas at the foot of the White Mountains, there was a peculiar unit of measurement for land and a means of exchange: kilograms of cheese. The mountainous area of each village (madara) was divided into plots of land that corresponded to specific kilos of cheese. Families who did not have herds rented grazing land to shepherds, who paid “rent” in cheese. This practice formed the basis for determining ownership in modern land registry declarations.
Source: Maria Vatsaki, president of the Pemonia Cultural Association
