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Experience the authentic GREEK life

It's NOT about the   journey,  it's about the person you become  along the way .    Become GREEK !

Archontia – the insider’s trail on history, culture, cooking, and agro/natural walkabouts in Kyparissi, Lakonia

The guests will acquire a deep understanding of greek history and folklore culture, learn the secrets of bread baking, visit local olive oil mills and traditional livestock units, and take a walk along designated Natura paths.

 WHAT you will LEARN: 

  1. Understanding of greek customs, traditions, music, and celebrations

  2. Extraction and production of olive oil at local olive oil mills

  3. The way traditional livestock units and farms operate

  4. The intricacies of the local landscape along designated Natura paths

  5. A hands-on experience on the essentials of bread-making

€100, 6 hrs, 10 persons
Place

Kyparissi, Lakonia - Where the Experience will take place

What greecetravel.com says

Kyparissi is the kind of holiday place that if you know about it, you only tell your closest friends because you are afraid of spoiling it. It has been written up in many Greek magazines, and featured in the book The Most Beautiful Villages of Greece.

 

Kyparissi was an ancient sanctuary of Asclepius and used to be known as Kyfanta. At some point in its history the people of this lush valley of olive trees, pine and carob left the coast and moved to a highpoint where the village was hidden from the sea and the pirates who raided the coast. This did not help them when some very determined pirates climbed the mountain and slaughtered most of the villagers and threw their bodies in a well. Many of the survivors went to Sfakia, Crete which was one of the few unconquerable places left in Greece. The people who inhabit the region now are the descendants of those who stayed and the Mavromichalis clan.

 

Kyparissi is actually three villages. Vrissi is the first village you come to, the highest of the three on the slopes of the mountain range that surrounds the valley. It is rich in water with a spring running through the town. Everyone has beautiful gardens, orchards and olive trees. The road then goes downhill in relatively extreme fashion, before reaching the town of Parilea. There are several small hotels here and a couple of good restaurants. There is a small beach to the right of the dock and a larger one to the left of town that stretches perhaps a quarter of a mile and separates Parilea from the third of the three villages, called Metropolis.

 

Beyond Metropolis the road winds through olive groves before emerging at the beach and small harbor of Agios Nicholaos. When the sea is rough this is the best place to swim and when the sea is not rough it is the best place to get away from the few people who are on the beaches in town.

 

But most people who come to Kyparissi find that using it as a base for daytrips to the rest of the Peloponessos requires a little more driving than they like to do on holiday and instead explore the area on foot, swim, eat long lunches while drinking local wine and then taking a nice siesta in the afternoon. There are numerous trails that lead to small churches, hidden springs, remote beaches, caves, forests and of course the abandoned village of Kapsala.

Description

Archontia Hantzi is your Hostess for the whole experience

Archontia is a Language & Philosophy teacher, with post-graduate education in Greek language teaching. Having written extensively on the greek language and culture, she is a real connoisseur on those topics and loves conveying her experience to her guests, together with her insider’s knowledge of the Kyparissi town regarding the locals’ traditions and way of living.

  • Place of ORIGIN: Kyparissi, Lakonia

  • LIVES in: Athens

  • SPEAKS: English

  • LOVES: reading, travelling, gardening, spending time with foreign people

  • Has TRAVELLED to: Greece (especially Crete & Corfu), USA, England, Italy, Cyprus, France

  • Personal TRAITS: loves communicating, and is also very hospitable and mild-mannered

Here's how we'll spend the day and what we'll do together

 WHAT you will LEARN: 

  1. Understanding of greek customs, traditions, music, and celebrations

  2. Extraction and production of olive oil at local olive oil mills

  3. The way traditional livestock units and farms operate

  4. The intricacies of the local landscape along designated Natura paths

  5. A hands-on experience on the essentials of bread-making

BOOK it !

Here are the details for Booking this Greek experience

  • Place:  Kyparissi, Lakonia

  • Meeting Point: local pier

  • Duration: 6 hours

  • Timetable: 9.00-15.00

  • Availability:  1 June - 30 October

  • Group size: 10 persons max

  • Price:  100 euros per person

  • What’s SPECIAL about this experience: acquiring a thorough understanding of traditional local culture and agricultural products, within the natural surroundings of the area and away from the intoxicating hustle and bustle of modern city life.

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