During this period, Poros...
...is even more picturesque and cherished.
The enormous shady pine trees spread out up
to the coast of the sandy beaches. In the
mountainous regions the inhabitants cultivate
the olive trees and all sorts of crops whereas
on the flatland of "Foussas" there
are vineyards, wheat and vetches. The threshing
floors of Poros are quite famous. Locust,
fig and almond trees are planted on the hillsides.
Many
residents breed cattle. At "Lemonodassos" (the
Lemon Forest) they produce their famous lemon
and orange juice. But most natives occupied
themselves with fishing and resin collection.
By cutting the pine trees, the resign (a sticky
flammable organic substance exuded) gathered
is initially put in buckets and eventually
transferred to large basins. When summer ends,
it is carried on horses and mules to Askeli
and finally transported by small boats to
Peiraia.
The fishermen, as sea experts, did
their job according to the equipment and skills
which were passed on from their ancestors.
Preparing nets, fishing lines, lamps on the
shore, slow paddling, grabbing a harpoon and
placing the fishing
net and twine on the side to have everything
handy. Sometimes, when there was no Coast
Guard patrol in sight, they would throw some
small explosives in order to get a live catch.
They
used boats to transport their products, even
in dangerous weather conditions. Gradually,
the citizens of Poros started to get involved
in tourism. Next to the traditional cafés,
the first tourist shops appear selling souvenirs
based on folk art.
Many
homes transform into guesthouses offering
rooms to rent. A vivid image of the homeowners
along with the porters waiting for the ship
to dock in order to offer hospitality to the
island’s visitors, guiding them through the
whitewashed alleys smothered in jasmine and
bougainvillea.
Also,
many natives of Poros staffed the island’s
ships, which gradually begin to increase,
while others become boatmen to transfer tourists
to the attractive beaches and to go across
to Galata. Some of them use their boats even
to transport cars from Galata to Poros.
The
residents as well as the tourists spent their
time at the small cafés and taverns enjoying
ouzo and some octopus. Strolling all along
the beach was inevitable. They also thought
that watching black and white Greek films
on the roof terrace of the movie theatre
“Diana”,
engulfed in jasmine, was quite a treat.
There
is much interest shown for the festival of
the monastery of Zoodochos Pygi on April 19th,
the celebrations of the Virgin Mary at the
beautiful church in Vrysoula right above Synikismos
on July 2nd, Profiti Elia on July 20th, Agia
Paraskevi in Foussa on July 26th along with
many other festivities honouring different
saints.
Finally,
we should mention the unique trails through
beautifully shaded paths you can enjoy by
hiking, riding horses or mules in order to
get to the Temple of
Poseidon.
In
the 50’s, people could see various figures
roaming the alleyways of Poros such as the
door-to-door milkmen who were, actually,
two
women dressed in black carrying a tin container
of milk and selling it around the neighbourhoods.
The
street grocers, accompanied by their mules,
were selling their products in the alleys.
Many peddlers have disappeared today and are
greatly missed.
We would like to thank Mr. Costas Moraitis for
all these beautiful photographs.