The Battle to Protect Sifnos’ Architectural Heritage

Nestled amidst vacation properties and vacationer lodging stands an architectural gem – a standard “themonia,” because the locals affectionately name it. This quaint farmhouse, crafted from whitewashed stone, stands in accordance with the supplies out there within the area. Its roof, supported by sturdy beams hewn from olive timber, boasts a porthole-like window that gazes out upon the Aegean Sea.

Rising from its picket door, Marianthi Chrysanthopoulou bears a tray adorned with 5 heads of Sifnos manouri cheese, destined to mature and take in the wealthy aromas of wine lees. Within the quiet of late February, devoid of the summer time crowds, the mild hum of bees fills the air.

“We’ve made no alterations to it. It’s as if we’ve inherited it from our great-grandfather,” says the 77-year-old resident of this well-preserved themonia, located close to the settlement of Faros on the island of Sifnos. This enclave, untouched by vacationer growth, is a coveted discover, usually wanted by Italians and French. But, regardless of tempting affords, the household stays resolute: “We received’t half with it.”

To get there, we handed by a hill with buildings that captured consideration with their various architectural kinds. Every construction offered a singular method. At a better elevation, stood a country summer time home crafted from unfinished stone. Additional down the slope, a extra modern dwelling emerged, distinguished by its expansive glass home windows, a departure from native design norms.

Persevering with alongside the winding highway, we encountered the doorway of a lodge, its partitions adorned in smooth beige hues as an alternative of the customary white. It’s off season on the island, many institutions lie dormant, their doorways and home windows secured save for the occasional sight of restore work in progress. But, amid the quietude, debates surrounding the longer term and identification of the island rage on.

In March 2023, Sifnos Mayor Maria Nadali penned a letter to the related authorities and ministries, urging them to intervene and forestall the additional degradation of the island’s panorama. She lamented the “unchecked growth” that threatened its distinctive character, citing licenses for swimming swimming pools, underground constructions, and buildings constructed from unfinished stone as contributing elements. Not too long ago, the Elliniki Etairia – Society for the Setting and Cultural Heritage proposed together with Sifnos, Serifos and Folegandros within the Europa Nostra endangered monuments program.

“It was not a spontaneous initiative,” Nadali says. She explains that her letter was the fruits of intensive discussions and consultations, together with the institution of an advisory architectural committee by the municipality. “Within the midst of an election 12 months, I felt compelled to set a daring tone, regardless of the appreciable dangers,” she displays. “Initially, the responses had been overwhelmingly unfavourable. Colleagues from neighboring islands warned me, ‘You’re sabotaging your individual probabilities; chances are you’ll not need to win the election.’”

Shortly after the publication of the letter, a wave of protests erupted, with scores of building professionals – contractors, carpenters, electricians and plumbers – demonstrating in opposition to the measure. We now discover ourselves within the very room the place the mayor obtained these protesters. Adorning one wall are black-and-white pictures of esteemed native figures from days previous – all males – whereas on the other facet cling landscapes painted by Kostas Kounadis, an artist enamored with the Sifnos terrain. Reflecting on her lineage, the mayor shares that her grandfather was a craftsman, and her father a carpenter. Throughout her encounter with the development employees, she invoked their reminiscence. “I reminded them that they possess the capability for each excellence and mediocrity. My grandfather crafted an impressive bridge, a real marvel, but proper beside it, he erected our household dwelling, one of many worst on the island,” she recounts.

She says that Sifnos has but to lose its distinctive character, however she herself harbors issues relating to the path and velocity of its growth. “We’re not advocating for a return to the previous, clinging to days when 5 cousins shared a single mattress,” she clarifies. “We welcome anybody wishing to construct right here. Nonetheless, we search a way of moderation, a conscientious method – we want constructions that harmonize with the pure panorama.”

This sentiment resonates with many on the island. Nikos Belios, headmaster of the highschool in Apollonia, the island’s capital, invokes a neighborhood saying: “Your property needs to be as massive as you possibly can fill it, and your land as huge as your imaginative and prescient.” “That’s how building was approached in days passed by,” he explains. “Folks didn’t search grandiose properties as a result of sustenance got here from the land. But, at present, we’re exceeding bounds, straying from the aesthetic and scale ingrained in our upbringing. Outsiders, unfamiliar with the essence of Sifnos, are erecting residential complexes that fail to align with our native requirements.”

Many residents interviewed by Kathimerini categorical concern over the development of buildings by people missing roots on or longstanding ties to the island, viewing it as a danger issue. Curiously, even among the new building pioneers are apprehensive. Not too long ago, a Dutchman reached out to a neighborhood, requesting pictures of the environment of his vacation dwelling to watch close by developments.

Constructing permits

Between 2018 and 2022, Sifnos noticed the issuance of 81 constructing permits for brand spanking new constructions and 40 for extensions, leading to a complete improve of 24,619 sq. meters in constructed space. In 2023 alone, 46 constructing permits had been granted for brand spanking new constructions, with 36 positioned exterior the settlements. Notably, final 12 months’s permits included authorization for 17 swimming swimming pools. Between January and early March of this 12 months, permits have been accepted for brand spanking new constructions anticipated to contribute a further 3,250 sq. meters to the island. Inside simply two months, the accepted space for this 12 months represents almost 43% of final 12 months’s permits. Noteworthy amongst this 12 months’s permits are seven vacationer lodging and a five-star lodge, slated to be located inside one of many settlements.

“In recent times, there was a major inflow of prosperous French patrons buying properties on the island,” explains Kostis Dimitriadis, an architect with many years of expertise on Sifnos. “Many are leaving Paros as a consequence of perceived problems with overdevelopment and air pollution, discovering Sifnos to supply a superior high quality of life.”

Dimitriadis acknowledges the looming menace to Sifnos’ allure however questions why there’s a steady stream of individuals in search of “themonia, slightly home,” if the island is actually in peril. “It’s as a result of they acknowledge the island’s aesthetic attract and its dedication to sustaining a sure customary,” he provides.

He notes a sample the place curiosity in acquiring constructing permits spikes earlier than anticipated legislative adjustments, pushed by issues of impending restrictions or bans. “Folks need to act swiftly out of apprehension,” he observes.

In contrast to bigger municipalities, Sifnos lacks a devoted building division, with inspections dealt with by the understaffed workplace on Milos island. Thodoris Polenakis, president of Sifnos’ Affiliation of Professionals and Merchants, highlights challenges with inspections and the dearth of coordination between providers. He factors out the proliferation of underground constructions, which disrupt the enduring dry stone partitions generally known as “xerolithies.”

“Villas and multi-dwelling items are encroaching on areas as soon as reserved for agriculture,” Polenakis laments. He references the insights of German architect and honorary citizen of Sifnos, Friedrich Christoph Wagner, who extensively studied the island’s constructing traditions. “Wagner noticed that prior to now, folks wished to reside subsequent to at least one one other; they wished to speak. Now, a unique life-style is being imposed, straying from the moderation and conventional Cycladic structure,” Polenakis concludes.

Archaeologist Katerina Kalantzopoulou, stationed on the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades in Athens since 2019, has noticed vital shifts on Sifnos since her earlier work on the island within the Nineteen Nineties. “Over the previous 5 years, I’ve seen a considerable transformation. There’s been a surge in building exercise that’s essentially reshaping Sifnos’ distinctive character,” she observes. She factors to “the emergence of villa complexes with swimming swimming pools, diverse architectural kinds, and non-traditional configurations in outlying areas.”

“Utterly alien”

Kalantzopoulou clarifies that the archaeological service holds jurisdiction over areas adjoining to archaeological websites or monuments. Nonetheless, its affect in different circumstances is much less definitive. She highlights the paradox of swimming swimming pools, that are “utterly alien” to the arid island panorama.

Mayor Nadali’s letter referred to as for a number of measures, together with a ban on personal swimming swimming pools, citing the acute water shortages skilled in the course of the summer time months. Moreover, she proposed rules stipulating that buildings in outlying areas be restricted to ground-floor building, capped at a most top of 4.5 meters, with whitewashed masonry. Nadali additionally singled out the Poulati space, dwelling to the namesake church, a delegated monument. Expressing dismay over the encroachment upon this web site, the municipal authority demanded entry to all constructing allow information for ongoing constructions within the neighborhood. “It feels as if the island postcard has been marred,” she laments. “I’m unsure if any future developments can rectify the irreversible harm we’ve witnessed; at finest, it might be considerably mitigated.”

Because the solar begins its descent, weary employees collect to unwind with a beer after one other demanding day. Amongst them is Nikos Gerontopoulos, proprietor of an earthworks and constructing supplies yard, who joined the household enterprise straight out of faculty. Adorning his workplace partitions, alongside photographs of excavators, are pictures of his father, who launched the island’s first taxi service in 1962. Reflecting on his business’s resilience amidst financial fluctuations, Gerontopoulos however voices a deep-seated concern.

“Regardless of making a livelihood from this business, I’m troubled by the development of main gamers buying huge tracts of land,” he says. “They buy parcels, together with these unsuitable for building or cultivation, surrounding their major plot.” He fears the eventual emergence of accommodations on these lands, reworking Sifnos into one other Mykonos. “Whereas I depend on this enterprise, I advocate for delicate growth. It pains me to witness permits granted by the Architectural Council on Syros for constructions that deviate from our native architectural identification.”

The peril

Andreas Kalogiros, a civil engineer who has been engaged on Sifnos for the previous three many years, emphasizes that the island “just isn’t an appropriate canvas for architectural experimentation.” “Although it might seem restrictive to innovation and creativity, adhering to imitation or standardization is a prudent method,” he asserts. “We should set up clear pointers on what building ought to proceed and the way, or danger irreversible harm to the environment.”

Kalogiros underscores the pivotal function professionals within the sector play in shaping the island’s growth. He emphasizes the significance of their choices and the boundaries they set for his or her shoppers. Recalling an incident the place a consumer insisted on putting in swimming pools throughout a constructing renovation in Pano Petali, he recounts, “We strongly opposed the concept to the extent of contemplating strolling away. Swimming pools are undeniably profitable for contractors and engineers. Ultimately, the consumer was satisfied and gave up on the concept. Nonetheless, one other proprietor might need sought out a unique colleague who may agree.”

The serene ambiance of Sifnos in the course of the off season could be deceptive. The bustling congestion typical of summer time is absent, and the infrastructure just isn’t put to the identical rigorous check. In line with knowledge compiled by Ioannis Spilanis, a professor on the College of the Aegean and head of the Native and Island Growth Laboratory (ETNA), the inhabitants of Sifnos elevated by 6 % between 2011 and 2022, whereas the variety of residences surged by 13.6 %.

Mayor Nadali recounts final summer time’s strenuous efforts to produce reservoirs within the settlement of Katavati with water by way of a water truck to avert shortages. This 12 months, she anticipates a decision to this difficulty as a result of completion of associated infrastructure initiatives. In the standard settlement of Artemonas, Giorgos Atsonios’ tsipouradiko (a restaurant providing tsipouro alongside small appetizers) stays closed. Returning to the island in 2005, Atsonios has witnessed a surge in new outlets and a rising curiosity in skilled areas over time. Nonetheless, he expresses a choice for a much less crowded summer time season or an extension of the vacationer season. “Due to the success of my store, some recommend increasing with extra tables. But, I chorus as a consequence of limitations in my kitchen’s capability. The island is caught up in the same conundrum. We have to prioritize infrastructure, akin to water and sewage programs. Each summer time we’re confronted with the identical problem,” he explains.

A pottery workshop in Vathy resists

Dimitris Kouzelis has been visiting Sifnos since 1992, and 15 years in the past, he purchased and renovated a home in Katavati.

“Its infrastructure lacked and nonetheless lacks,” he says, referring to the water provide. He believes that aside from the final two years, the island had been experiencing average development and will soak up adjustments. “I see my native mates saying, ‘I inherited the land from my grandfather, however I’m not going to domesticate it; I’d reasonably promote it to make some cash, to teach my baby.’ So, there’s an inclination to promote, and there are patrons for the whole lot,” he says.

In Vathy, 67-year-old Antonis Atsonios has stored the pottery workshop as his grandfather set it up in the course of the years when his career was one of many primary actions on the island. After we meet him, he’s making pottery, making ready for his summer time shoppers. From a nook of the workshop, his white rabbit, Stifados, silently watches him. “It’s soothing; if you get your arms soiled, the whole lot goes away,” says the potter as he touches the clay.

We ask him why he didn’t promote his property, which is in a privileged location. “Nobody formally got here to ask for it as a result of we intimidate them too. The seashore right here is tempting, however we didn’t let anybody hope they might see it as a vacationer funding,” he says. Tourism can be a supply of revenue for him. His son says that after the coronavirus pandemic, American guests who arrive right here spend more cash on ceramics. “We held on with tourism; we survived,” Atsonios factors out.

He displays on how a lot the island has modified over time. “I really feel like I’ve stored one thing for Sifnos, a practice, an area because it was,” he says, then provides after a brief pause, “However I don’t really feel like I’ve made cash, like I’ve helped my youngsters, my household.”

This text was beforehand revealed in Greek at kathimerini.gr