It was with great pleasure that we received the invitation of the Association “Friends of Traditional Architecture - Blossoming Stones” to participate in one of the two evening events organised in the context of the 7th Workshop in Traditional Stonemasonry in Langadia, Arcadia (Greece), from 27 July to 3 August 2025.
The first evening symposium was realised on 29 July 2025, at the Elementary School of Langadia, with the topic “Stonemasonry schools today – Origins and continuities from the past to the future”. The evening was dedicated to the late master mason Kostas Tarnanas from Pentalofos, Kozani. The event included lectures by Platon Petridis, Professor at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Jerome Andre, PhD Researcher at the Universities of Lyon and Lausanne, Thierry Gregor, Expert in stone cutting and researcher at ERC-Graph East, Poitiers (France), and Vassilis Ganiatsas, Professor at the National Technical University of Athens. The lectures focused on aspects of stonemasonry in the past, the relevant scientific research, but also the training framework in France, as well as the current steps towards this goal in Greece.
On the evening of 30 July 2025, the second evening symposium was realised, with the topic “Dry Stone and training”. The lectures were presented by Antonia Theodosiou, Architect and Environmental Engineer, Commissioner for the Environment and Animal Welfare of the Republic of Cyprus and Vice-president of the International Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Dry Stone (SPS), Ioannis Michail, Architect, Konstantina Papageorgiou, Archaeologist, member of the Association Ambassada and Ioannis Tsiaoussis, President of the Association “Blossoming Stones”. In the context of the event, the Mitato of Amorgos member Semeli Drymoniti presented the lecture “Dry stone workshops in Amorgos: goals, results and following projects”. During the lecture, the three dry stone workshops “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” were presented, as well as the current project “Allaximaria: Design and implementation of a standardised dry stone workshop”, as the next step towards a more complete dry stone training scheme, particularly on the Greek islands.
Alongside the evening lectures, we had the opportunity to attend the works taking place on the two sites of the 7th Workshop in Traditional Stonemasonry, as well to be guided through the settlement of Langadia, with its rich stonemasonry tradition. Among other participants, the teachers and students of the 2nd Vocational High School of Agia Paraskevi (Athens) were present, honouring Amorgos in their own way, through their artistic creations brought to be exhibited.
Upon departure, we realised a stop at the neighbouring town of Dimitsana, in order to attend a part of the 6th Summer School for the Cultural Heritage of Rural Areas, organised by the Directorate of Modern Cultural and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Minsitry of Culture, in collaboration with the Region of the Peloponnese, the Municipality of Gortynia, , the Piraeus Cultural Foundation, the the Social Cooperative Menalon and other local partners.
We would like to warmly thank the organisers of the Workshop for the invitation and excellent hospitality, as well as the opportunity they gave us to integrate our thoughts and projects in the wider framework of initiatives regarding the training and certification of dry stone in Greece.
Cancellation of the 3rd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship”
The Mitato of Amorgos greatly regrets to announce the cancellation of the 3rd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” which was due to be held on the island of Amorgos from 16 to 20 October 2023.
Unfortunately, despite our timely actions, we had to face a new situation from part of the local community at the last minute, and therefore any readjustment of the organization of the event was impossible...
3rd Dry Stone Workshop "The Amorgian Craftsmanship" 16-20 October 2023
The Mitato of Amorgos is pleased to announce the 3rd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship”, taking place from 16 to 20 October 2023.
The project is the continuation of the 1st and 2nd Dry Stone Workshops “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” which were successfully realised in October 2021 and 2022 respectively, under the auspices of the Municipality of Amorgos and financed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports...
Participation in conference dedicated to the rural monuments of Tinos island (22-23 April 2023)
It was with great pleasure that we accepted the invitation of the newly formed association “Ambassada” in Tinos and we travelled to the “handmade island”, as Cornelius Castoriades has called it, on 22 and 23 April 2023, on the occasion of the conference “Rural Monuments of Tinos: humble buildings, jewels of the landscape”. The association “Ambassada” aims at raising awareness among the residents and visitors of Tinos island towards ...
read moreEnding 2022 with the completion of "The History of Water"
In December 2022, a beautiful project undertaken by the Mitato of Amorgos, in collaboration with “Nissos Amorgos” – Association for the Environment and Culture, was completed. “The History of Water” involved the restoration of the water tank in the area “Chorio”, outside the village of Langada on Amorgos Island. The works gave the organisers the opportunity to address water management issues through ...
read moreThe Mitato of Amorgos participates in the 4th islander's forum (PAROS ISLAND, 28-30/10/2022)
The Mitato of Amorgos participated in the 4th Islanders’ Forum which was successfully organised by the Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) on the island of Paros, from 28 to 30 October 2022.
The Forum was attended by 45 participants, representing 30 organisations from 17 islands, from the Cyclades and beyond.
The presentations realised during the first two days aimed at introducing the people and organisations ...
Another succesful completion of the Dry Stone Workshop "The Amorgian Craftmanship" for the second consecutive year
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.
read more2nd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship” 10-14 october 2022
The Mitato of Amorgos is extremely pleased to announce the 2nd Dry Stone Workshop “The Amorgian Craftsmanship”, taking place from 10 to 14 October 2022 on Amorgos.
Following the great success of the 1nd Dry Stone Workshop in October 2021, which was realised under the auspices of ...
“The history of water” wins first prize at the celebrate islands 2022 contest
It was with great pleasure and pride pride that we attended the online award ceremony held on 18 May 2022, for the video contest “My project in 120 seconds” which forms part of the event Celebrate Islands , once more organised by ...
read moreCompletion 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 ...
Participation in the 17th International Congress on Dry Stone Walling, Kovanle, Croatia 2021
The International Scientific Society for Dry Stone Interdisciplinary Study (SPS) organized the 17th International Congress on Dry Stone Walling in Kovanle, Croatia, from 1 to 3 October 2021. The event was realized in continuation to...
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