Dimitrios P
You'll have a pleasant time...
Continuing our tour, we reach Pyles (Πυλές) and on one of the first buildings near the entrance of the village we read a "Mantinada" couplet welcoming us:
"When you come to Pyles you'll have a pleasant time,
you will never forget the customs of our place."
Mantinades are songs played in the "panigyri", traditional celebrations. The small town is built high at the southwestern foot of Mount Meloura, to the west coast of the island, at a distance of 13 km northwest of Pigadia. The area has several orchards, olive groves, and a distant view of Kasos and the mountains of Sitia in Crete. According to local tradition, the first inhabitants of the village (17th century) were refugees who moved from the shores of the island to avoid pirates*, while later, during the Revolution of 1821, young people from neighboring Crete and Kasos settled.
Pyles, Karpathos island, Greece.
*An old local story about pirates - it's in Greek, so use G -translate: www.rodiaki.gr/article/446009/to-xexasmeno-fantasma-stis-...
You'll have a pleasant time...
Continuing our tour, we reach Pyles (Πυλές) and on one of the first buildings near the entrance of the village we read a "Mantinada" couplet welcoming us:
"When you come to Pyles you'll have a pleasant time,
you will never forget the customs of our place."
Mantinades are songs played in the "panigyri", traditional celebrations. The small town is built high at the southwestern foot of Mount Meloura, to the west coast of the island, at a distance of 13 km northwest of Pigadia. The area has several orchards, olive groves, and a distant view of Kasos and the mountains of Sitia in Crete. According to local tradition, the first inhabitants of the village (17th century) were refugees who moved from the shores of the island to avoid pirates*, while later, during the Revolution of 1821, young people from neighboring Crete and Kasos settled.
Pyles, Karpathos island, Greece.
*An old local story about pirates - it's in Greek, so use G -translate: www.rodiaki.gr/article/446009/to-xexasmeno-fantasma-stis-...