Under Construction: Subtopics
25/10/2007
Carnival and pig slaughter in Laconia
Carnival, apokria (or apokries) in Greek, starts three weeks before Clean Monday, i.e. from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, and ends on Cheese Sunday. The custom ....
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25/10/2007
Loom
The loom is a very old Greek item of machinery that has been in use since the prehistoric era. It was handed down from generation to generation, survived and played a ....
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25/10/2007
Basic foodstuffs and their preservation
In the katoi [the ground floor of the house, that is] were stored the family’s basic foodstuffs, as well as that of the animals. Barrels of wine, buckets of wheat, barley and ....
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25/10/2007
Olive and Olive Oil Festival at Sellasia, Municipality of Oinountas
The Olive and Olive Oil Festival takes place each August at Sellasia, and is organised by Municipality residents with the aim of promoting their exceptional produce. In addition to ....
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25/10/2007
Celebration of the Dormition of the Virgin at Sykea village
The Dormition of the Virgin is celebrated with much brilliance and piety all over Laconia, with the great participation of the faithful. On the eve of the festival, vespers ....
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25/10/2007
The anniversary of 25 March in the village Sykea [photograph 1930]
The 25th of March is a great Orthodox festival and a major event in Greek history. On this day, Hellenism celebrates the Evangelism of the Virgin and honours the anniversary of ....
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25/10/2007
Birth
Birth, the wedding and death are the great landmarks of life, vibrantly coloured by the customs, traditions, superstitions and beliefs of our folk culture. The main purpose of ....
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25/10/2007
The anniversary of 28 October 1940
The anniversary of 28 October 1940 is for the Laconians, as for all the Greeks, one of the most important and glorious moments of their modern history. Just as Leonidas did not ....
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25/10/2007
Watermill at Talanta, Municipality of Monemvasia
Located in a beautiful landscape known as Ballis’ ravine in the picturesque little village of Talanta in the Municipality of Monemvasia. In the past there stood ....
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25/10/2007
The traditional windmill
In all the villages of Laconia, in particular in the south, we still encounter stone towers, the ....
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25/10/2007
The donkey, the most user-friendly transport means before the 1950s
The donkey was always a valuable transport means for man: patient, obedient, and willing to undertake any chore that his master requested. It was the most ....
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25/10/2007
Harvesting and threshing
Under Construction
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25/10/2007
The traditional wedding in Laconia
The traditional wedding in Laconia was undoubtedly an important event, a watershed in the lives of two people who may not have known each other or even laid eyes on ....
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25/10/2007
The village blacksmith
One of the professions that have now disappeared from the villages is that of the blacksmith, who would put horseshoes onto the animals’ hooves. The work of the ....
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25/10/2007
Grape Harvest
“Harvest, grape gathering, war,” they used to say, and truly, as in the case of harvesting and threshing, so in the case of the grape harvest work must be done at ....
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25/10/2007
The household oven
In the yard of almost every house in the villages of Laconia, just as in all the villages of Greece, stood the traditional oven. The baker of each family was the ....
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25/10/2007
The hand-mill
The hand-mill was comprised of two cylindrical stones, the size of a large baking tray, which were placed one on top of the other. In the centre of the lower stone they ....
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25/10/2007
The muleteers
Due to the terrain of Laconia (Hekatompolis) there were, and still are, many mountain and coastal villages that are isolated from the two main arterial roads of ....
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25/10/2007
The saddlers
Until the 1930s, land transportation of goods and people was done exclusively with animals. The road network was rudimentary, and the mountainous terrain made ....
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25/10/2007
Communal wells for the village water supply
Drinking water and clean water for the needs of the household was always a great problem for most villages, especially those of southern Laconia, until the 1950s. Running ....
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25/10/2007
Agricultural tools
Agricultural tools were stored in the katoi [the ground floor, that is] of the peasant house. Pickaxes, hoes, mattocks and picks for digging the earth. Scythes for ....
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25/10/2007
The fairs
The fair was, and still is, a festive event, with its roots in Christian tradition. It usually took place at some outlying chapel dedicated to the Saint being ....
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25/10/2007
The plough
The farmer’s most basic tool was the plough, and, as can be seen in ancient portrayals, exactly the same wooden plough was used from the time of Homer until the ....
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25/10/2007
The horse, the fastest means of transport in the countryside until the mid-20th century.
The horse in Laconia was the fastest means of transport in the countryside until the mid-20th century. It is an animal blessed by nature. It has instinct, memory and ....
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25/10/2007
Needlework
Needlework was always a traditional activity for the women of Laconia, as in the rest of Greece. It was a major component of household handicrafts. From a small girl, she ....
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25/10/2007
The Olive Press [liotriveio, or liontriveio]
The liotriveio, the olive press, was the workstation where the olives were crushed and the oil ran out. The process for producing the oil was as follows: from November to ....
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25/10/2007
Ploughing
With ploughing, the land is more compact and, as such, more productive. Ploughing of farmland was usually done by a pair of strong animals (oxen, horses, mules and, rarely ....
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25/10/2007
Bronze household utensils
In every house, in addition to clay crocks, they also had the necessary bronze utensils for preparing food or heating liquids (water, milk, etc.). Such vessels were the ....
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25/10/2007
Trade fairs of Laconia
Just as in all of Greece, so Laconia had established trade fairs that took place at specific times and locations, to facilitate commerce in the broader region. The best-known trade fairs in Laconia were...
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25/10/2007
Housing in Laconia
The architecture of housing is almost the same throughout the whole of Laconia. Most houses in every village had two levels, i.e. with an upper level (anoi) and a lower level (katoi), which was the ground floor. At the front was the...
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25/10/2007
FOLKLORE OF LACONIA
Folklore is the science that investigates, records and classifies those things which a people traditionally says, does and creates, and in general those things handed down from generation to generation...
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25/10/2007
Household utensils and tools
The house was equipped with all the utensils of cooking, such as the wooden skafidi (trough) for kneading. The plastis (something like a wooden spoon) for opening out the fyllo pastry leaves for pies, hylopitta pasta, and desserts (diples, samousades, rafiola, etc.). The sofras...
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Prefecture of Lakonia>Culture 
01 June 2020
