Completion of the dry stone workshop “The Amorgian craftsmanship”

The first Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” was successfully completed on Friday 15 October 2021. The Workshop was organized in the area of Langada by the Mitato of Amorgos, a group whose goal is the preservation of the natural and cultural environment of Amorgos and the Cyclades in general.

During the Workshop, four local craftsmen, masons Antonis Vlavianos, Michalis Theologitis, Antonis Synodinos and Dimosthenis Theologitis, led more than 20 apprentices and participants in the construction of dry stone sustaining walls and cobblestone path.More local craftsmen, shepards and other peasants, were present at the workshop, applying the art of dry stone as they have learnt it from their forefathers and as they continue to use it in their fields.

The result of this collective effort is a beautiful dry stone complex, organically integrated in its surrounding natural environment, which the organizers, masons and participants hope will serve as an example for similar interventions in the Amorgian landscape in the future.

Within the context of the Workshop, lectures were presented in the evening hours, where several issues related to dry stone were discussed, as well as topics related to the role of dry stone structures, such as terraces, in the environment, tradition and culture. Lectures were presented by Mr Rigas Zafeiriou from the Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (Med-INA), Mr Grigoris Koutropoulos and Mr Panagiotios Kostoulas from the itinerant workshop on traditional building techniques Boulouki, Dr Theodora Petanidou from the University of the Aegean, architects Mrs Eleni Pangratiou-Alexaki, Dr Ioulia Papaeftychiou and Dr Vivianna Metallinou, Mr Andreas Maniatis, representing the Blossoming Stones from Langadia, Arkadia, and Mr Ioannis Lagos, president of the Panhellenic Confederation of Social Economy Unions. The Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” concluded with a beautiful farewell ceremony on the evening of 15^th October 2021, where a first report of the project was presented and certificates and souvenirs were awarded to participants. The feedback received by all participants was excellent, acknowledging the role of the Workshop in raising awareness on the importance of the art of dry stone and its cultural, aesthetic and social value.

The 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 and Blue Star Ferries, and the support of Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) and Part of the Solution..

The lectures presented are available here.

• Rigas Zafeiriou, coordinator of the programmes on Kythera Island (Kythera Trails, Terra Kytheria), Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (MedINA).The wisdom of tradition: The environmental value of dry stone complexes in the Mediterranean ecosystems.
• P. Kostoulas, G. Koutropoulos, architects, “Boulouki” itinerant workshop. ‘“In place - On the road”: The itinerant workshop approach for the traditional building techniques.
• Dr T. Petanidou, Professor, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean. The project LIFE TERRACESCAPE: too ambitious to succeed?
• Dr I. Papaeftychiou, Dr architect. International dry stone practices. Dry stone structures in Greece.
• Andreas S. Maniatis, Member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit association "Blossoming Stones". The Blossoming Stones and the masonry of Langadians: An example of reviving an empirical craft related to sustainable local development.
• Dr V. Metallinou, Dr architect. The elegy of stone on the highlands of Aegiali, Amorgos.