EUBOEA and SPORADES

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Former mosque Emir Zade of the 15th century at Chalkis, the only one stillstanding out of the eleven which the town had during the Ottoman Empire. Euboea’s «capital» still harbours quite substantial Jewish and Muslim communities.

The old woman of Euboea

Monastery Aghiou Ghéorgiou Ilion, north of Euboea.

That day I was visiting the north of Euboea (Evia in Greek), this large peninsular almost glued to the mainland to the north of Athens, and where the narrow strait of Euripe is buffeted by alternating currents, so puzzling for the Ancients that Aristotle, it seems, committed suicide in despair.

I was looking for a monastery and stopped in a village to ask for directions from an old women sitting in front of her door. She approached the vehicle to hear me better, and when I asked her about signposts, she said, lifting her eyes to the heavens, that she no longer leaves the house. She looked into the car and realized, with astonishment, that there was nobody else. No doubt to console me for being alone, she stroked my shoulder whilst giving me her explanations.

Forgive me, you Swiss internet users, for the comparison, but when I have travelled in your beautiful country, I have tried several times, as a true Mediterranean, to strike up a conversation with strangers : I have been looked at as if mad. As for touching, don’t even mention it ! Obviously one cannot be clean, self-disciplined and at the same time warm-hearted.

The Island of Papadiamantis

Le site de Kastro, au nord de l’île de Skiathos ( Sporades )

Skiathos, close to the peninsular of Pelion, to the south-east of Volos, has become very touristic thanks to its sandy beaches, fairly rare among the Greek isles, which often have only pebbles or gravel. A paradise for luxury yachts in its beginning, it has gradually become more democratic and crammed with resorts.

Contrary to Skyros and Skopelos, it has lost its authenticity but has some interesting monasteries and beautiful landscapes : especially the site of Kastro, this impressive eagle’s nest overhanging the sea. In the 14th century the inhabitants took refuge there to flee the incessant pirate raids, and lived there in fear and poverty.

But Skiathos, in my eyes, is above all the isle of Alexandre Papadiamantis. One can visit his birthplace where he lived, in a spartan and solitary manner, divided between his two passions : hymns and literature. No doubt the greatest Greek prose writer of the 19th century, he is largely unknown in France. It’s a shame because I owe him one of my greatest literary surprises: the first work of contemporary Greek which I read was his novel « The murderess » the heroin of which finds a radical solution to the problem of the dowry.

I was struck by the strangeness and violence of the story, written in a style both rough and lyrical. While visiting the Kastro site, I thought again of the breathless pursuit in the final scene: the aged Frangoyannou woman running desperately from rocks to bushes towards a hermitage perched on a peninsular where she hopes to find refuge. But she is trapped by her destiny « midway between God’s justice and man’s ».

The truly unique charm of Skopelos resides in its roofs with four spans of tiling or stone, its wooden balconies and Balkan loggias.