Another succesful completion of the Dry Stone Workshop "The Amorgian Craftmanship" for the second consecutive year

Following a week of team work and with the assistance of the mild weather, the works of the 2^th Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” have been successfully completed. The Workshop was organised by the Non-Profit Partnership “The Mitato of Amorgos” in the village of Langada, on Amorgos Island.

The project was the continuation of the 1^th st Dry Stone Workshop that had been realised in October 2021, during which 25 metres of sustaining walls had been restored and constructed and 40 metres of cobblestone path had been created.

This year, from 10 to 14 October 2022, three local masons, with the assistance of 35 participants that attended the works on site, have created 14 new cobblestone “kadenes” (steps), with a total length of 33 metres, and restored 10 parts of sustaining dry stone walls, with a total length of 39.30 metres.The works were completed following the dates of the Workshop, with the completion of the “kadenes” and clearing of the site by the masons, workers and members of the Mitato of Amorgos that remained on the island.

During the Workshop, masons and apprentices had the opportunity to get to know each other, to discuss and share thoughts on dry stone, its techniques and difficulties, the materials involved and tradition.With the course of time, working teams were spontaneously created, in a spirited and creative manner. Students of architecture, young professionals in the field of construction, as well as participants that simply love the Greek islands and their tradition, from Greece and abroad, joined forces resulting in a highly dynamic group.

The completed, unified work, a product of the two Workshops, now dominates the exit of Stroumbos village, on the marked path no 4 of the trail network of Amorgos, facilitating access but also offering a glimpse of what the Amorgian countryside looked like in the past. The comparison of the previous situation with the new is truly impressive and serves as a reward to the collective effort of everyone involved.

In the context of the Workshop, lectures were presented to the high school students of Amorgos, who had the opportunity to learn about the solidarity and team work that used to be the norm in the past. Lectures open to the public were also held on the evening of 12 October 2022. Specifically, Mr Ilias Gianniris, ex Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture of the Technical University of Crete, presented a brief but complete account of the history, technology and philosophy of stone; Mr Grigoris Koutropoulos, architect, showcased the approach of the Itinerant Workshop for the Traditional Building Techniques “Boulouki”, focusing on projects related to water management, in the Cyclades and elsewhere; ethnologists Ms Jelena Kulušić and Mr Duje Mikelić presented the initiatives for the preservation and promotion of dry stone walling in Croatia led by the group “4 Grada Dragodid”.

The 2nd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” was realized under the auspices of the Municipality of Amorgos, with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Secretariat-General of the Aegean and Island Policy, Blue Star Ferries, and the support of Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF).

The lectures presented are available here.