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SpotlightPortrait of Village Life: Pikris
In June the Bugle editorial team were fortunate enough to visit Pikris, a beautiful village located in the Arkadi gorge, South East of Rethymnon. Many thanks to Margaret and Andrew Hellens - firstly for their marvellous hospitality and secondly for introducing us to Costas and Dina Birikakis, the proprietors of Taverna ‘Pateat Bonis’ in Pikris. We are extremely grateful to Costas for the time he spent talking to us and for the diverse perspectives he provided on this fascinating place. A Little Bit of History
Pikris had its heyday during the Venetian era, and you will still see several fine examples of Venetian architecture in the village. After Crete fell to the Turks in the 17th Century, Pikris experienced a similar period of hardship and decline common to other villages and towns in the region. During the 19th Century, Pikris regained prominence as a centre of activism against the Turkish occupation. During the siege of Arkadi many of the villagers sought refuge in the Monastery, and local heroes such as Adam Papadakis and Andreas Birikakis (one of Costas’ ancestors) are commemorated at a monument at the upper entrance to the village. Migration, Regeneration and Diaspora
Perhaps one of the most interesting perspectives on ‘Cretan life’ that we received from Costas was that relating to the Cretan Diaspora. Leaving the impact of wars and foreign occupation aside, guidebook writers and historians tend to portray the unspoilt Cretan village as being hermetically sealed from the outside world until the influx of mass tourism in
In a piece such as this we can only provide a little snapshot that doesn’t do justice to the richness and diversity of Cretan village life. We hope to be revisiting Pikris and other villages in the area very soon, and to bring you more impressions in future editions. In the meantime, many thanks once again to Costas and Dina Birikakis for great food and a highly enjoyable and informative afternoon. |
One of the many plus points of living here on Crete – rather than being a visitor - is having the opportunity to learn about those aspects of history and culture that somehow haven’t made it into the mainstream guidebooks. By participating in local events and listening to local people, one can often find out more about the real Crete in just a few hours than from any number of learned texts. And here in the Rethymnon region, each village has several stories to tell!
Pikris first appears in the historical records during the Second Byzantine era around 960 / 961 - shortly after Nikiforou Fokas and his army liberated Crete from the Saracens. It was around this time that the earliest documented official censuses were carried out. However, it is almost certainly the case that as a settlement, Pikris was established thousands of years earlier—nearby archaeological finds would seem to indicate that people were already living in the area during Minoan times. Local legend has it that the village initially came into being when children were evacuated there in order to try and save them from disease. It is said that a plague had broken out in a neighbouring village, and that this was a very early attempt to try and protect the young from the risk of contagion.
This then might account for how the village originally got its name - ’πίκρα’ means ‘bitterness’ in Greek, perhaps representing the bitterness experienced by families that had been torn apart.
Costas Birikakis left Pikris to work in Belgium and Holland during the 1950s, when life for people on Crete was extremely difficult. The Second World War and subsequent Greek Civil War left many scars. It is not a time that is remembered with affection - poverty, hardship and suffering being the norm. For many, the only viable option was to leave Crete and to try and make a living elsewhere in the world. Mass exodus from the village started in the late 1950’s with the completion of the road connecting Pikris to the Old National Road - up until then, Pikris had remained relatively isolated. In the ensuing years the population of the village decreased rapidly - in 1950 there were 300 permanent residents in the village, today there are just 50. At one point the fear was that Pikris would gradually fade away to be left as a collection of abandoned ruins. Happily, though, in recent years, Pikris has been experiencing something of a revival. Many Greeks who left in the 1950s - including Costas - have now returned, and as Costas explained, foreign visitors and residents help to keep the village alive, too. Costas has himself been instrumental in the regeneration of Pikris - after his return to Crete he became actively involved in regional journalism and politics and was Mayor of the village for a while. During his tenure he worked very hard to try and improve the local infrastructure and to develop new educational and social facilities for the community.
the 1980s. However, there has been considerable two-way traffic over the years in terms of intercultural interaction that is unrelated to tourism. Cretans who left the island formed expatriate organisations in their adopted countries of residence, thus forging links with the international community. Returnees to the island brought with them foreign influences to the villages, and over the years, Costas has welcomed many friends from his time in Holland and Belgium to Pikris…
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