#tristomo

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Karpathos. Tristomo

Photo by  George Spanos

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A Footpath to Tristomo

A hike in the north of Karpathos. By Jen Barclay in An Octopus in my Ouzo

Anna, the proprietress of the taverna at Avlona, is wearing what looks like a flowery nightgown over her dress and bulky frame, and tells me to take off my glasses as she didn’t recognise me with them on. ‘How long have you been here? How long are you staying?’

Having lived in the north of Karpathos for a year and a half, I know people and it’s one good reason to go back. But the other reason this time was to walk from Diafani to Tristomo, in the very north of the island, then back via Avlona to Diafani. We’re carrying backpacks as I’d planned to camp, though it didn’t quite work out like that. We met some of Anna’s cousins instead. They almost made us bring a goat with us this morning, all five hundred metres up to Avlona. It was already hard enough. Greetings complete, we sit down to order drinks and food. I feel a huge sense of satisfaction after the walk.

Tristomo is a natural harbour, a long protected inlet almost cut off from the open sea (with three mouths, hence the name: treis-stoma), and was therefore always an important place when people got around mostly by boat. The area has been virtually deserted for decades, only reached by private boat or on foot, though threatened recently by the possibility of a road. I knew it would be safer not to go alone, and luckily Ian – who hadn’t been to Karpathos for years – was keen to join me and Lisa.

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A “Sunbeam” of alternative tourism illuminates the port of Tristomo at Karpathos Island

Tristomo is a tiny natural port. It is one of those areas which pirates used to choose for hiding places. Placed at the north side of Karpathos, Tristomo is the natural port of Vroukounta. As the traveler passes through this well hidden place, with the two huge stones and the three big passages, standing out there, he earns the opportunity to arrive into a small paradise. Tristomo is the place where time has been stopped somehow at the past. The atmosphere of the  past, is everywhere. It looks like somebody abandoned suddenly this place, but one day will be back, and this well hidden tiny port waits for this return.

Mr Manolis Fountis has return to Tristomo after thirty years of  absence, and feels that this unique place is his homeland. Manolis’ occupation is to make structures by stones and woods (houses, stables, wood ovens e.t.c.). He had lived in Tristomo until the age of three years old. He doesn’t have any memories about that period of his life. His parents’ occupations had been related to farming, agriculture, fishing. The habitants of Tristomo in the 70’s (1972 – 1975) were not more than fifteen people. “I have not have any memories since then, when I was living at Tristomo. I have been informed by my parents that we were seven members of the family living all together in the same house at Tristomo; our grandmother Magoufala and three more children, my three elder brothers.” Manolis Fountis said.          

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Tristomo, Karpathos

Video by Mike Balaskas