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» Saving the Tree of Idleness |
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| Saving the Tree of Idleness |
The Tree of Idleness is dying. In Krini, it is an irritating obstacle to be negotiated on the road to Angelokastro. In Katavolos, the centuries-old holm oak gives shade to just a few walkers taking the Corfu Trail to Pantokrator. In Strinilas, the famous elm tree is a tourist attraction. In Bellapaix...
It was in Bellapaix, now in Northern Cyprus, that Lawrence Durrell in his book Bitter Lemons identified the Tree of Idleness. ‘Its shadow incapacitates one for serious work... if you intend to try and work, (do) not to sit under the Tree of Idleness,’ Durrell’s guide warned him.
All over the Greek world, village squares have two features in common - a kafenion and a tree for sitting under while slowly sipping the coffee or ouzo and passing the time. The Tree of Idleness provides a focus for the village as well as shade, and its roots are the roots of the people. It’s a state of mind rather than a particular location.
When Lawrence Durrell arrived in Corfu in April 1935, perhaps his first act after dropping off his luggage at the Pension Suisse was to head downstairs to the Liston Bar. Perhaps he had already singled out his table from an overlooking window. The one tucked in under the massive oak tree on the park side of the promenade. Here, he must quickly have understood the attraction of simply sitting and doing nothing.
This original Tree of Idleness still provokes sloth. Invariably, the table is taken by a usually solitary person enjoying a little cup of Greek coffee, a cigarette and a newspaper - those great partners of idleness.
Here in Corfu Town, the Tree is thriving, but in villages all over the island its role is diminishing as the villages themselves die. In Makrades, the tiny square which formed the centre of the ancient village is derelict, unvisited except as a result of an accidental wrong turn. Meanwhile, coachloads of visitors swarm around the plastic-tented souvenir shops selling Made-In-Taiwan souvenirs masquerading as traditional local products, while just steps off the main road an authentic village awaits exploration. Inside the old village, high, unwindowed walls give a fortified atmosphere, indicating the aeonian existence of the settlement. Grey-stone cottages seem to have grown haphazardly out of the rocks which provide their foundations so that the angles of the roof pitches and pantiles lead the eye into a confusion of perspectives. But the maze of alleyways leads into dilapidation, roofs sag as rotten timbers can no longer support their load of ochre tiles. Cracked lintels foretell further collapse. As the tourism industry gobbles drachmas hot from the exchange mechanisms, a piece of Corfu’s heritage is in decline.
In Rachtades, the Tree of Idleness shades an unchanged and unchanging scene. Three old folk sit on the stone bench, resting their bent backs against the lime-washed wall. They don’t talk. The odd car passes on its way to somewhere else, somewhere more modern. The kafenion hardly has a pretext to open. Rachtades, the village built on the ridge, is on the road to nowhere.
High on the flanks of Pantokrator mountain, close under the summit cone, Old Sinies is witness to the future. Within living memory a thriving community, the settlement was gradually abandoned and for three decades has stood empty. Located in a high valley guarded by a low ridge from a view of the sea, it protected its residents from the danger of pirate attack. But piracy died and tourism lured, and its population moved nearer the coast. Now all but a few roofs have fallen in and walls stand disjoined. Given a decade or two, this is Rachtades.
At the invitation of a local heritage organization, a delegation from UNESCO visited Corfu in August 2001 with the aim of looking into possible funding from the European Union for the conservation and economic revival of these lost villages.
‘Corfu fits in with the projects I’ve been working on,’ said UNESCO advisor David Michelmore. ‘The progammes concern eco-tourism as a means of economic regeneration. For example, the tourism industry in Armenia collapsed with the Soviet Union, since then the Russians have been going to Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus. Now the industry needs rebuilding from scratch, and we are looking at ways of converting traditional houses for tourist accommodation, thus creating jobs. As UNESCO, we are able to facilitate funding for this from the EU.’
Possible funding for the development of Rachtades will come from the second phase of a pilot programme called LIEN which links two locations in Europe with a third out of the EU. In this case, the non-EU link will be the village of Voskevaz in Armenia.
‘Armenia is very similar to Greece in many ways. It’s Orthodox Christian and very mountainous. In Corfu, Rachtades is ideal as it fits the guidelines for revival of an old village, and also because basically it’s an Armenian settlement.’
Like in most Corfiot villages, the population shares a single surname - Armenis. Harry Tsoukalas, founder of the Corfu Heritage Preservation Society and instigator of the UNESCO invitation, said that the village was settled by residents of the nearby village of Armenades. ‘Armenades was established by Armenian refugees in the 13th century. Some time later the Armenis clan fell out with the local overlords, the Chandrinos family, and they moved en masse to a new location on a ridge, called rachi in Greek, and their village took the name Rachtades. This is why most of the people in Armenades are called Chandrinos, while nearly everyone in Rachtades is named Armenis. There’s still a big rivalry between the villages even today. This historical accident makes a link with Armenia a very exciting proposition.’
David explained that UNESCO-generated pilot projects like LIEN require the participation of community-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Corfu Heritage Conservation Society, which would be a partner in the programme, like its counterpart in the other two villages.
‘The renovation of villages involves creating a pool of expertise and the sharing of experience in, for example, the rebuilding of old houses using traditional materials and techniques. One of our sidelines is a homeowners repair manual that we published for a village in the Philippines, which can be used as a basis for a similar one on this project. It’s a simple manual which shows how renovation should be done, without destroying the original appearance and features of the property. Some people use the wrong materials and techniques out of ignorance, for example roofing with red tiles instead of ochre ones. There are some very easy and inexpensive techniques which can be used even on a building that looks beyond repair - for example, stitching cracks, pinning broken lintels and underpinning foundations. These buildings have proved that they can stand hundreds of years, and we’ve only just cast aside the traditional techniques that were use to construct them in the last few decades, forgetting that old houses are healthy to live in as well as environmentally friendly.
‘Our inheritance from the past is very precious and very fragile. Destruction is very easy. In these projects, we use this inheritance as a vehicle for regeneration, and also show other regions that their past can bring them economic success.’
The delegation also visited Old Sinies where the local authority, the Municipality of Kassopi, has made a study aiming at the reconstruction of some of the ruined properties and their use as a showcase of local traditions and lifestyle. At a subsequent meeting with the mayor, Vasilis Katsaros and other leading council members, the UNESCO delegation proposed the establishment of an NGO for Old Sinies to qualify it for entry into the LIEN programme. The non-EU link which appears most promising, according to the delegation, is the region of Svaneti in the Great Caucasus mountains of Georgia, where Europe’s highest villages are located.
‘Successful projects are those which are sustainable, ones which are community based, and those which address the gender issue,’ emphasized David. ‘So Old Sinies would be ideal, for example, as a base for eco-tourism holidays, for special interest holidays such as cookery schools and for a venue where old skills, like feta cheese making and weaving, could be passed on to the next generation.’
In offering such advice, UNESCO can assist organizations to gain EU funding to conserve beautiful old villages and get people back living in them. And perhaps the Tree of Idleness, now standing lonely in the square, will flourish again.
Footnote: The UNESCO delegation failed to follow up the visit with any concrete proposition. It was therefore left to Harry’s Residential Tourism project to save the villages - and it is already succeeding in this, with several houses already renovated and occupied.
But the project’s biggest success has come in Rachtades, where a newly renovated village house was featured on the Channel Five TV show Property Moves. The house was chosen as one of three to be presented to the potential buyer, Jane Horner. Did Jane buy it? We’ll update you when the show is broadcast, in June. |
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