Arcadian landscapes and ancient dialects

Only 200km away from Athens, Leonidio promises a journey to
Peloponnese's Doric legacy

BY LOUKIA RICHARDS

Houses of Leonidio

KAOUR ekamate - Welcome", reads a sign as you enter Leonidio, the capital of
Tsakonia in Arcadia, southeastern Peloponnese. Visitors are perplexed by the
familiar sound of the words which, however, make no sense in Modern Greek.

Phrases like "tses piu?" (how are you) or "ura ka" (goodbye) - still used
playfully among fellow villagers - are fragments of the ancient Doric
dialect of the region called Tsakonia.

The dialect was still spoken some 30 years ago, before an asphalt road
connected Tsakonia, officially named Kinouria, to Athens. As school became
compulsory for children, and television rivalled card-playing in the
kafeneio, the Tsakonika dialect steadily faded.

The impassable mountains of Tsakonia had protected the dialect from
intruders for centuries after the collapse of the ancient world. Tsakonia,
one of the ancient homelands of Dionysus, remained pagan until the end of
the first millennium, long after Greece converted to Christianity.

"My daughters understand the Tsakonika dialect, I taught them myself," says
Georgios Kyrios, a 60-year-old woodcutter in Kastanitsa, a village
surrounded by chestnut forest close to Leonidio. "But when the old folks
die, then there is no one left to speak a grussa namu - our language."

Kastanitsa, Agios Andreas, Pera Melana and Prastos - all in a range of 40km
around Leonidio - are the last remaining villages where the Tsakonika
dialect is still spoken. A municipal effort to revive the dialect through
teaching programmes for children was discontinued. Every similar effort
would have to confront the bitter reality that a language cannot be
worshipped as a relic of the past. Words are alive as long as they are
spoken, but are doomed to die when there is no more use for them.

During Easter, celebrated with huge pyres and phallic-shaped balloons,
villagers and visitors to Leonidio can hear again the sound of the
disappearing language as the priest reads the Gospels in the Tsakonika
dialect in the central square. What an irony. There once was a time when the
Bible would be translated into Tsakonika for the villagers who ignored
standard Greek.

After the blessing, the "saligaros" (snail) begins. The ancient dance comes
to life once more. The dancers, moving to the centre of the circle and
forming a labyrinth, draw a "map" with their footsteps to help the lost
souls of the dead find their way to paradise, according to some
ethnologists.

A long and winding road

Some 70km of meandering road separate Leonidio from the newly-built national
highway near Argos in the Argolis prefecture. But the visitor can witness
the austere beauty of Tsakonia on this snaky road. A rocky landscape with
touches of wild green and breathtaking cliffs turns into a series of elegant
fjords in the peaceful waters of the Argolic Gulf. Hidden pebble beaches
reward the adventurous.

The steep slopes of the Parnonas mountain range, rocks scattered along the
roadside and olive trees mixed with pine trees and stray flowers, remind us
of the work of an energetic but malcontent sculptor who throws himself into
the material only to leave it unfinished and unbalanced but oddly
attractive.

Leonidio, haven of rest

Leonidio is built in a fertile valley at the foot of a huge red cliff known
as Taramas (fish roe) which overlooks the town as if hanging from the sky.
It was Taramas that saved Leonidio from Ibrahim Pasha when his troops
torched the Peloponnese in 1826 following the Sultan's orders to crush the
War of Independence. "No Turk has ever conquered Leonidio," any local will
tell you.

However, Ibrahim Pasha conquered and destroyed Prastos, the former capital
of Tsakonia. The burning of Prastos was punishment for the rich Prastiote
merchants who earned fortunes in Istanbul (then Constantinople) and helped
finance the Greek Revolution.

"In Constantinople they make money and in Prastos they turn it into
warships," says a local folk song.

The refugees reached Leonidio through a secret, narrow mountain path and
settled in the former fisherman's village. Still shaken by the fear of
Ibrahim, they built homes with thick stone walls, strong wooden doors and
iron bars. The ruins of Prastos still stand inhabited by a handful of people
today.

The Prastiotes continued their activities from Leonidio, engaging in trade
with the major cities of the Greek diaspora, mainly Istabul and Alexandria.
Proof of their wealth is still visible today in the form of many old
mansions with their painted ceilings and delicately carved wooden door
frames. The motif of a rose blooming around a cross decorating the entrances
of many arhontika (mansions) is proof that their owners were once members of
secret fraternities abroad.

Old mansions and ghost stories

Fortunately, Leonidio did not enjoy "urban development" like much of Greece,
thus avoiding ugly cement apartments and office blocks so common elsewhere
in the country. Its traditional architectural character is protected by the
state.

The arhontika, with their large pebble yards and orange-tree groves look
like early 19th-century buildings on the Argosaronic islands. Their
similarities remind us of the strong trade and social ties between the
cities of Palaia Ellada (Old Greece).

The mansions, their sounds and shadows, inspired stories about nymphs,
ghosts, spirits and fairies. Thessaloniki writer and essayist Yorgos Ioannou
penned the frightening ghost stories of the region and made them known to a
wider public. Ioannou says in his narrations that he was often paralysed
with fear after hearing tales of ghosts and vampires told by the old men in
the village kafeneio after dusk. He even claimed to have envisioned some of
the imaginary ghouls lurking in the shadows, keeping a watchful eye on the
xeno (stranger) as he made his way home late at night.

* Where to stay:

Hotels: Kamaria (tel 07570-22757), Dionysos (tel 07570-22379), Neon (tel
07570-22383)

* Rent a car or bike:

Dimitris Moulatsiotis (tel 07570-29012 or 09440-180835)

* Where to eat:

In the fish taverns at the port of Plaka, 4km away from Leonidio. Try also
Manteio in Leonidio (tel 07570-23100). Ilias Pizzeria is another option in
this town (tel 07570-22068)

* Best time to visit:

Spring, and especially during Easter

* What to buy:

Glyko koutaliou melitzanaki (baby eggplant sweet in syrup) - a traditional
confection - natural dyed rugs and hand-woven textiles

* What to see:

* The 15th-century monastery of Panagia Elona in the mountains, 17km north
of Leonidio, with its icon of the Virgin with Child, said to be miraculous
and 'aheiropioitos' (not man-made)

* The Tsikaliotis Tower in Leonidio, dating back to late 17th-century, now
hosting cultural events

* The Byzantine monastery of Agios Nikolaos tis Sintzas built at the opening
of a vast chasm. It can only be reached on foot, but involves a one-hour
steep hike from Leonidio.



Maria Dernikou
Nea Tirintha
Nafplio 21100
Greece