So far away (in time), so close (in distance).

The ideal choice for an escape from the bustling city.

On the slopes of Mount Kithairon, where ancient tragic myths were woven and the Maenads danced their Bacchic dances, things are much calmer today. Among the green pine trees, the villages of Vilia peek out, and further down, on the blue-green water, lies Porto Germeno, well protected by the ancient castle of Aigosthena.

“The beginning of education is the study of names,” said the ancients, and this is where we will begin our journey. From etymology and linguistics. Why is Villia spelled with double ‘l’? Why do the inscriptions say Municipality of Eidyllia? Eidyllia was, therefore, the original name of the settlement, and from then on, corruption did its relentless work. Corruption of things, corruption of words: Eidyllia, Dyllia, Vilia. There are, of course, other versions, but my literary instinct was not convinced, except by the power of corruption.

In a pine-covered area on the slopes of Kithairon lies the idyllic village of Villia, a semi-mountainous village with well-kept houses, a beautiful square, taverns, and cafes, built amphitheatrically at an altitude of 500-600 meters. It is the seat of the municipality of Eidyllia, which includes the settlements of Porto Germeno, Psatha, and Alepochori. Vilia is only 54 kilometers from Athens, combining mountains and sea, which makes it popular for short getaways from the city, even for just a day. On October 28, after leaving the old national road on our right at the Kaza intersection, we arrived at the entrance to the village. We found Villia windswept, decorated with flags, and crowded due to the holiday. The first image we saw confirmed the village’s reputation. Indeed, it is an old urban resort, a true paradise for meat lovers. And with plenty of loukoumades to top it off.

Walking in Villia

The area is characterized by its many churches, monasteries, and even more numerous miniature chapels that pop up almost everywhere. Of course, the trademark of Villia is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior. A Byzantine-style church with a cross-shaped floor and dome. And yet something seems strange. It is a Byzantine church, but something reminds you of the West. Perhaps the impressive staircases on the right and left with white marble steps? You can imagine brides climbing them and having their photos taken. The clear Western influence in the design? It’s as if a Byzantine church has been dressed in European style. The Western-style turrets on the outer edges? The answer becomes clear when we learn that the church was built in 1893 based on designs by Ernst Ziller (1837-1923), the most important architect in Greece. He was the one who shaped the urban landscape of Greece in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as he played a leading role in the design and construction of hundreds of public and private buildings. After learning this, the Romanesque and Gothic features of the church became more apparent to us. However, we discovered Ziller elsewhere as well. It is also hidden behind the construction of the Villia Town Hall, while in the ancient fortress of Aigosthena we found a topographical plan of the fortress signed by the German architect in 1876. In the shadow of the large church of the Transfiguration of the Savior lies the small post-Byzantine chapel of the Holy Archangels, built in 1637, with its old frescoes and pebble floor. It is also worth our attention, even though it was not built by a famous architect.

In winter, there is a lot of snow in Villia, even though the altitude is only 600 meters. The road is often closed, and the landscape turns alpine. Perhaps this climate explains the frequent visits by members of the royal family, as the locals told us. Pavlos and Frederica came for the winter scenery. Sophia came to see Elli Lambeti, who was born in Villia. The house where the actress was born has been preserved, although today it is used for tourism. In her honor, the “Lambetia” festival is held during the first half of August.

Walking through the village streets, visitors should take note of the landmarks that reveal the history of the place and its little secrets. We stood with particular emotion—given the day—in front of the bust of aviator Ioannis Sakellariou, one of the first casualties of World War II. He is honored as a hero who fell on November 2, 1940, fighting in an air battle with numerous Italian planes in the area of Zitsa, Epirus. The site of his sacrifice is the village of Kotroulades, which was renamed Sakellariko in his honor. The voice of Vembo singing “Children of Greece, children,” which echoed from a neighboring house, made us shiver.

The inhabitants are mainly engaged in livestock farming and are famous for their dairy products. The cheese factory of Ploumbis, known for its feta, gruyere, and kefalotyri cheeses, welcomes visitors for tastings and purchases. Of course, the fate of a village is inextricably linked to the larger towns nearby. Here, too, the inhabitants go to Elefsina and Thebes for tutoring and doctors. Many are involved in resin cultivation and charcoal production. The bakery of Ismini, established in 1932, as stated on the sign, offers all kinds of pies. They are displayed in a showcase, making them all look very tempting.

History

The history of the village seems to begin around 1230, when residents of Attica, threatened by frequent pirate attacks, moved to the mountains and settled in a safe place, today’s Villia. Between 1352 and 1402, during the period when the Arvanites descended on central Greece, Arvanites settled here and thus Arvanitic became the dominant language. We see this in the ease with which the new inhabitants of Albanian origin adapted. We also see it in the linguistic phenomenon of tsitsakism observed in the so-called “fountain of Tsia.” Tsitsakism occurs when the closed consonants /k/ and /g/ are converted to /tš/, /ts/ and /dž/, /dz/ respectively, before the vowels /y/, /i/, /e/, in simple terms when the kappa becomes ts. Thus, Vasiliki becomes Vasilitsia and, in short, Tsia. There are many other Arvanitic words in place names that have not been Hellenized. “Goura” in Arvanitic means “stone, rocky place” and in Vlach it means “mouth, spout, spring.” . The spring of Goura is located at the top of Lestori, at an altitude of 800 meters, and was the most important source of water for the settlement. The water gushes out from under a rock and an underground cave and gives its name to the small church in Goura. This is also where the name Panagia of Goura comes from, which is celebrated during the nine days of the Assumption, on August 23, with a local festival, Arvanitic dances, and songs. The origin of the neighboring place name Kriekouki is similar, which in Arvanitika means “red head” – “Erythres” in Modern Greek.

During the Ottoman occupation, Villia was an important town with 2,500 inhabitants, the center of Megalo Derveni, as this area of Megarida was then called, which included Villia, Megara, Mandra, and Mazi. The old village, Paleochori, is 4 kilometers from Villia. It was destroyed in 1783 by a pirate raid, and the chapel of Agios Georgios, linked to the legend of the abduction of the inhabitants of Paleochori, remains as a reminder of this historical event. The chapel is built on the ruins of an early Christian basilica, which was itself built on the site of a classical temple. It is an architectural palimpsest that once again reminds us of the succession of people and eras. During the feast of Agios Georgios, revelers dressed in traditional costumes ride horses in honor of the saint. Villia played an active role in the Revolution of 1821, as emissaries of the Philiki Etaireia had already initiated several Villians during the preparatory phase. Shortly before the start of the Revolution, the Turks hanged Athanasios Ploumbis, the first victim from Villia. On March 15, the Dervenochoria rebelled, while with the outbreak of the Revolution, about 150 Villians, led by Anagnostis Stefos, rose up and took part in the siege of Acrocorinth, while another 200 reinforced the rebellious Boeotians. As punishment, Villia was burned down by Omer Vryonis in October 1821. By royal decree of June 27, 1836, the municipality of Eidyllia was established, which after Nafplio, the first capital of Greece, was the second municipality of the new Greek state.

Kithairon

Kithairon (or Cithaeron) is the mountain that divides the Boeotian and Attic lands with its stature, the mountain that inspired love and passion, Bacchanalian orgies and Dionysian rituals, the one that gave birth to legends identified with the wildest and most painful passions of the human soul. A place of worship for Dionysus, it was one of the mountains from whose summit the watchmen announced the fall of Troy. It is there that the plot of Euripides’ “The Bacchae” unfolds. It is there that the two shepherds meet and the tragedy of the baby with swollen feet, Oedipus, begins. It is there that Hercules performed his first feat by killing the lion of Cithaeron. The motif of neighboring mountains quarreling is well known in poetic tradition. We know of Olympus and Kissavos, which quarrel over which one will bring rain and which one will bring snow. Something similar happens here. According to mythical tradition, the king of Plataea, Cithaeron, killed his brother Helicon. So the gods gave these names to the two neighbouring mountains. Elikonas is the good mountain of the Muses, while Kithairon is the evil mountain of the Erinyes, the chthonic deities who pursued those who had committed crimes of a physical and moral nature. Kithairon is the mountain of tragedy. In contrast, the mountain on the western side of the valley, Helicon, is dedicated to the spirit of pastoral poetry.

However, we leave the charming mythology behind and attempt to climb the mountain. Leaving Villia, just one and a half kilometers outside the village, there is a sign pointing to Kithairon. Altitude: 1,409 meters. A narrow asphalt road climbs the slope, while a new settlement, Agios Nektarios of Villia, emerges on the left in the pine forest. There are two ways to reach the summit: either on foot or by car, following the narrow asphalt road. The trail starts at Vrysi of Tsia, a beautiful recreational area with a stone fountain. There are hiking signs on the concrete reservoir. The trail leads to the refuge in about two hours. Whichever way you choose, a panorama will unfold before your eyes. Just make sure there is no fog to obscure your view. To the south, you will see the Alcyonides Islands, named after the Alcyonides nymphs, the seven daughters of the giant Alcyoneus. When Hercules killed their father, the Alcyonides were so sad that they threw themselves into the sea. The sea goddess Amphitrite took pity on them and transformed them into halcyon birds. You will also see the coast of the Corinthian Gulf, the northern coast of the Peloponnese, and the mountains of Ziria, Chelmos, and even Panachaiko. To the north, you can see the mountains of Boeotia dotted with wind turbines, Mount Parnassus and Mount Helicon, and the plain of Thebes. To the east, the land of Attica-Boeotia stretches out lazily.

As we climb, we gradually notice the pine trees being replaced by fir trees. At Petalo, at an altitude of 1,100 meters, 9 kilometers from Villia, we come across the “Vangelis Tsakos” mountain refuge, managed by the Greek Mountaineering Association of Elefsina. It is located on the eastern ridge of the Three Peaks, next to the big bend in the road at the summit. The view from its paved terrace is endless, and you feel like an eagle with your eagle-eyed gaze. The well-marked national mountaineering trail 22 also passes through here. The trail is quite distinct, but in some places it is interrupted by forest roads. The natural landscape of the summit of Kithairon is disrupted by the concrete ruins of military installations of the Air Force, which were used by NATO in the past. No attempt has been made to restore or utilize the facilities, so the landscape looks like the set of a movie that was never made. Despite the windswept heights, the fog that obscured the signs, and the gusts of wind that shook the car, Anna insisted on hiking the route from the mountain refuge to the summit of Kithairona.

We waited for her in the car in a foggy landscape, among abandoned NATO barracks, like extras in a Theodoros Angelopoulos film. She covered a two-hour journey in an hour and a half, pushed by the wind, sometimes bending down to lower her height and increase her stability, sometimes with her eyes closed and her hair flying. An experience that others would find terrifying, as an unequal battle with nature, and others exciting, as a challenge and a way to push boundaries. Our Anna belongs to the second category.

The coast

Fires have threatened Kithairon throughout history. The most recent was this summer, although – ironically! – there is a branch of the Firefighting Academy in Villia. On the way to the coast, we saw the remains. Burnt trees, black stones, ash-covered ground, scorched rocks on the road to Psatha. Last year, the area was also burned by the fires in Euboea, and its villages were evacuated. The presence of fire—sometimes subtle, sometimes sadly noticeable—left behind gray ash and charred trees eager to shed their burnt remains and sprout new growth.

Porto Germeno

In the prologue to his book ‘Kastrologos’, Fotis Kontoglou writes: “In the inner corner of Korfo of Corinth, behind Pera Chora, there are many ruins from an ancient castle and Frankish and Byzantine towers. There is also the port of Villia, called Porto Germeno. An important port of the Franks. The castle has been demolished on the sea side. On the land side, there is a deep ravine, above which the square towers remain. Byzantine and Frankish walls are mixed with the ancient ones. A deserted place, where silence reigns supreme.”

This was the view before us as we looked down from above at the castle of Aigosthena, the best-preserved ancient castle, as we descended towards the cove of Porto Germeno. It is the port of Villia, a holiday resort, nestled among the pine-covered slopes of Mount Pateras on the left and Mount Kithairon on the right, which form the bay. The name of the settlement comes from the name of the monk Germenos. The word Porto was probably added by the Venetians. The village’s anarchic layout is reminiscent of Greece in previous decades. Old-fashioned fish taverns on the pedestrian walkway next to the waves, beautiful blue-green waters, pretty pebbles on the beaches, tamarisk trees, a wonderful combination of colors, the green of the pine trees and the blue of the sea. And all this under the protection of the ancient castle, 450 meters from the sea, and its walls that reach the sea. You swim and touch the past. The recent one, the Venetian, the Roman, the Hellenistic, the ancient, the prehistoric. You are standing on rock that has been touched by people from every period, as the area has been continuously inhabited. Moreover, the ancient name of the settlement, with Pelasgian roots, was Aigosthena. Aiges are the big waves that have great force in Aigosthena.

Alepochori

The village of Alepochori, at the foot of the Gerania Mountains, on the Corinthian Gulf, is the ancient Pegae or, in the Doric dialect, Pagai. At the entrance to the village, we found the remains of the acropolis. And once again, searching in Kontoglou, we confirmed his writings, because almost a hundred years later, nothing has changed. “Our land is full of castles and towers. Most of them have become one with the rock over time, and from a distance, the eye cannot distinguish that they were built by man. The work of man has become one with the work of God.”
This was exactly how we felt when we saw the ruins of ancient Pagai. Pagai experienced periods of great prosperity. It was the most important port of Megara in the Corinthian Gulf in ancient times, a starting point for commercial and military-political activities with other coastal cities and with the West. When Megara joined the Athenian Alliance in 461 BC, Pagai was fortified by the Athenians and became a strong military base and springboard for their attacks against Corinth. The city became independent when it joined the Achaean League in 192 BC, minted its own currency, and expanded its relations with the cities of the League. The name Pigae, or Pagai, probably comes from the springs that flowed between Ano and Kato Alepochori and supplied water to the ancient city. Today, only with a trained eye and good information can one perceive the former grandeur of the place. Looking for the purple archaeological signs, we came across parts of the wall on the low hill to the left of the current Megara-Alepochori asphalt road, just 250 meters from the beach. The cemetery of Pagai is located on Pyrgari Hill, which we encounter on the left coming from Megara, 350 meters before the acropolis.

On a wooded slope of Mount Pateras, in Ano Alepochori, stands the monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior. It is a miniature monastery, enclosed by a wall and well maintained. Its location was wisely chosen, as it remained unseen at a time when pirate raids were terrorising the inhabitants of western Attica. The 13th-century katholikon and the ruins of a complex of buildings (cells, abbot’s quarters, fountain, refectory) have been preserved. The great Alkyonides earthquake in the Gulf of Corinth in February 1981 caused damage that has been largely repaired. Today, Alepochori, 19 kilometers from Villia, combines greenery, clean beaches with small pebbles, and delicious fish.

Psatha

At the foot of Mount Pateras, from above we see a huge straight beach under the shadow of the rock. There are many straw umbrellas and beach mats for sunbathers, but not enough to give the area the name Psatha. According to the most prevalent version, Psatha got its name from a type of plant, the typhi or psathi or burlo, which grows abundantly there. It is a large, comfortable beach with beautiful pebbles and fish taverns, ideal for swimming, eating, and walking. In ancient times, the bay of Psatha was the port of Panormos. The marsh of Psatha and its geomorphology were then deterrent factors for organised settlement. However, today this is an advantage, as there is a climbing center on the rock of Psatha, called Zastano. And here the Arvanitic dialect makes a dynamic appearance, since in Arvanitic “zastano” means rocks/cliffs. The large reddish rock with frequent landslides is impressive, so crossing it is the responsibility of the drivers on the coastal front. The fiery sunsets in its shadow are also impressive, especially when accompanied by seafood delicacies. At the small seaside tavern Kavo Doro, we enjoyed the sunset and delicious dishes with large portions, right next to the waves. The decor is unique and eclectic, with a variety of objects and a tasteful kitsch aesthetic, as paradoxical as that may sound.

The trip to the area turned out to be a wonderful two days at the end of October, without the summer vacationers, without the rackets and sunscreen, with traditional pies instead of ice cream in hand. And yet, perhaps this is how you get to know a place better, when you visit it out of season, because then it reveals its special character and secrets, those that go unnoticed “in the hustle and bustle of the world, in the constant movement and chatter.” (Lyrics by Cavafy from the poem “As Much As You Can” / «Όσο μπορείς»)

Bibliography

-Kontoglou, Fotis, The Kastrologos, Estia Publishing, 1987
-Nezis, Nikos, The Mountains of Attica, Anavasi Publishing, 2002
-Wordsworth, Christopher, Greece, Ekati Publishing, 2001