Kalamata: Something old ~ Somethings New

Kalamata. The city, that is. It wasn't love at first sight; I can assure you. 

Our first introduction to this sprawling port town, now nearly a decade ago, was driving through it enroute to Athens after a road trip through the Peloponnese that led us to a village an hour to its south. A village that would ultimately become our expat home.

Kalamata capital of the Messinian region of the Peloponnese

Back then I wasn't taken with this sprawling commercial and shipping hub wrapped around the tip of the Messinian Bay.  In fact, when I realized that as expats living just 'down the road', it would be our 'go to' city -- the place we would buy retail goods, groceries, gasoline and other of life's necessities -- it gave me a bit of a shudder. It felt somewhat like a ghost town.

Kalamata a decade ago had a ghost-town feel 

In fairness though, back then all of Greece was still staggering from the sucker punch dealt it by its 2008 economic free-fall. Kalamata with a cityscape of ubiquitous concrete buildings was no exception. And with a close look many of those bland buildings housed empty storefronts and were decorated with graffiti. Really, it wasn't very different from other metropolitan areas in Greece back then. It certainly didn't inspire one to spend much time in it. 

But that was then, and a decade later the economic pulse of both Greece and Kalamata have changed for the better. We've had the pleasure of experiencing this evolution and we don't hesitate to sing their praises. 

Kalamata's waterfront a draw for locals and tourists

Business expansion and renovations in recent years have made this town of some 72,000 residents one of Greece's debutant tourist destinations.  Its vibrancy is so strong you can feel it. Even our most routine shopping trips are more like a delightful getaway than drudgery. The waterfront for a coffee or lunch is a must no matter the reason for the trip to town.

Downtown charmer in Kalamata

Truth be told, I am so caught in the city's charms that I often tell The Scout if I ever returned to the States to live it would be on the condition that I'd make regular trips back here. Yet, I suspect many of you've never really even heard of the city that got its name from. . .

Kalamata - What's in a Name?

Not named for the Kalamata olive

Well, it wasn't from the olive if that's what you thought.  I did, until I did some research a few months ago for a magazine article about the city and was surprised to learn that Kalamata is not named for that famous olive of the same name. And on that point, locals agree.  

What they don't agree on is for what the city is named. One school of thought is that it is named for the kala matia, 'good eyes' on an icon of the city's patron saint. The other is that it was named for the reeds that once grew in the area, kalamia.  

Kalamata - Something Old

Entry to the castle grounds - Kalamata

Like the rest of Greece, Kalamata's history is so deeply rooted that it is difficult to fathom. In the 13th Century Kalamata castle was built on what was earlier the Acropolis of Pharae.  The site now is popular with tourists as it provides a great overview of the town and also with locals as it is often the site of cultural performances.

An icon on the castle wall - Kalamata

The ancient Pharae was mentioned by Homer as Firai. (One of our favorite wines is produced by a Kalamata winery named Fare in honor of those ancient beginnings. And one of our favorite seafront hotels is called the Pharae Palace.)

Metropolitan Church of Ypapanti tou Sotiros in old town Kalamata

The old town is where the towering white and yellow cathedral, built in 1839, the Metropolitan Church of Ypapanti tou Sotiros (Presentation of the Savior) is located. This stunning edifice is home to the icon of the city's protectress, Panagia Ypapanti, Mother of Jesus.

Kalograion Monastery - silk weaving looms stand silent these days

Just a few blocks away we found one of our now-favorite - and least known attractions - the Kalograion Monastery, 'The Monastery of the Nuns' that dates back to 1797 once played a key role in the city's silk industry as the nuns operated a silkworm farm and produced scarves and other items on the large looms that now sit idle in the complex.  

The silk scarf I purchased at the Nun's Monastery Kalamata

There is no charge to visit the complex and walk through the rooms housing the looms. (You can still find silk scarves for sale there, but they aren't made by the nuns who are still in residence.)

Where the 1821 War of Independence began - Kalamata

A few blocks away, the small Church of the Apostles, now surrounded by retail stores, holds the distinction in modern Greek history as being the place where on March 23,1821 the Greeks first issued their declaration of independence from the Ottomans; an act that started the decade-long War of Independence. 

Tributes to history in Kalamata

History is proudly displayed at the city's Archaeological Museum of Messenia, the Historical and Folk Art Museum, The Military Museum of Kalamata and the Victoria Karelias Collection of Greek Traditional Costumes. It is also displayed on memorials and statues throughout the town.

Kalamata - Something New

This building looked like many found in the city's core - (Photo credits) 

A stroll through the downtown is like a treasure hunt when it comes to architectural gems.  While much of the downtown was destroyed by the 1986 earthquake that also killed 20 and injured another 330, a number of neo-classical gems are still standing.  Many have been restored and more restorations are underway. One of the most recent projects is pictured above and below. 

The building above 2022 look (Photo credits) 

Another major renovation turned the aging and empty 1929 building -- the long-ago home of the Hotel American on the waterfront -- into a posh, 5-star accommodation, The Grand Hotel of Kalamata. The building had been unoccupied for years. However, the new hotel with just a few rooms and suites, opened its doors this spring with a Michelin chef at the helm of the restaurant. With a soon-to-be-open spa and a rooftop bar we suspect this place will be popular. And we can hardly wait to try it out.  

5-star Hotel Grand just opened on Kalamata's waterfront

The waterfront area where the new hotel is located has also undergone a recently completed major facelift. Renovations have transformed a several-block area into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly place. Narrow sidewalks have been replaced by wide patios on which sit tables and chairs from cafes and bars fronting them. The two-lane road was narrowed to a single direction traffic lane making the area far more pleasant.

Downtown Kalamata - bike path to the left, storefronts to the right

Meanwhile in the downtown core area, retail stores representing high end brands from countries throughout Europe have been opening their doors, one of the most recent being London's Marks and Spencer. It joins Zara, H&M and other clothing, shoe and handbag retailers from Italy, Spain and England.

Getting here:

The tiny Kalamata International Airport might be the easiest International Airport to transit in Europe. It opened in 1959. Charter flights began arriving in 1986 and the terminal was rebuilt in 1991.  I laugh every time we stand in baggage claim and the belt begins snaking the luggage past a sign that reads, "Baggage Claim 1' . . .as if there were a line of a dozen such luggage belts operating. . .there aren't.  

The most aircraft we've ever seen there at one time were four jets.  That does mean we might have a line at passport control simply because there isn't room for us all inside.

You'll cross the Corinth Canal driving from Athens to Kalamata

A four-lane divided freeway links Kalamata and Athens and the trip will take under three hours depending on weather and traffic conditions.  Taking KTEL buses between the two cities is a popular option used by many of us who live here as well as tourists.

That's it for this week.  As always, we thank you for the time you spend with us at TravelnWrite. Welcome to our new subscribers!  We had a glitch with our last post not being delivered to subscribers until nearly a week after it should have been. It appears my Wonder Woman tech guru back in the Pacific Northwest has worked some magic and perhaps this will get sent for your weekend reading.  If you get a chance to let me know you've received this, I'd appreciate it!

Safe travels to you and yours ~

Life In the Peloponnese ~ Our Story

Marti, my friend from Kirkland, Washington in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and I regularly meet for morning coffee in the village, Agios Nikolaos in The Mani. It's the place the two of us and our husbands call home these days.

I walk into town for these get-togethers from our Stone House on the Hill. My route leads through the olive groves and along the sea. Seldom am I passed by more than two or three cars or motorcyclists, maybe a fellow walker or someone on a bicycle.

Prior to one of our get-togethers I varied my route following the backroad (there's only one) through the town, meeting up with the village's main road (also only one) along the harbor as I made my way to our appointed meeting place: Hades Taverna.

My circuitous route was so that I could take photos to illustrate an article I was writing for an on line magazine about our life here. Along the way I waved to Freda who, with her son Gregg, run the café that also serves as our post office. I then paused near the harbor at the kafenion where a group of village gents were gathered -- most likely just as village gents had been that first day The Scout and I happened upon this place, now more than six years ago.  I'd almost bet some of them were seated in the same chair they've sat in for years.

I chuckled as they bantered with the fellow selling the day's fresh catch. It was Saturday morning - a gloriously beautiful day. Summer's heat hadn't yet ratcheted up into high gear as it has now. I moved on and passed Sofia who runs the village's only clothing store - which is only open in the summer. We hugged and kissed a greeting as one does routinely in European countries and discussed the weather and fashion before proceeding on our ways.

Once settled in with our double cappuccino's (which are served in ceramic cups here with cookies on the saucer)  Marti and I began our debrief of the week's activities and absurdities. My neighbors drove past and waved and called out greeting.  Adam, the plumber from two villages away, stopped in for a coffee and chatted for a bit. We called out greetings and waved to others we knew. We watched the passenger bus that comes through twice a day make the tight corner turn, speculating on whether this would be the day it didn't work.

The editor for whom I was writing the article and taking the pictures had asked me to tell her readers what had brought The Scout and I here and what life in rural Greece was like.  This Saturday was a good example of both what brought us here and what keeps us here:  It was an ordinary Saturday morning in this part of Greece.  Yet, it was extraordinary. 

My article was published this week.  I posted it on FB so many of you have already read it, but I know a number of you are not FB fans so I am sharing it on the blog as well.  The publication, Travel with a Challenge, is published in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and is now in its 19th year. With an annual world-wide readership of 1.24 million, its articles are written for mature travelers and profile a number of alternative travel experiences. You travel enthusiasts out there might want to check it out!

In the meantime, hope you enjoy my article, which can be read by clicking on the link below: 
Moving to the Stone House on the Hill

All the photos used in this post and in the article were taken in our village.

Until next week, safe travels to you and yours ~ and thanks to those who've written on Messenger and sent emails this week about this article and the last blog post.  As always, it means a lot to hear from you. To those who've shared my writings, my deepest thanks! And to all who've reached this point in this post - thanks for the time you spent with us today!

Linking this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday

Patrick Leigh Fermor: Visiting 'Paddy's' Place

For years we've been waiting to visit 'that' house
 Paddy's House, . . .it's just up the road in Kalamitsi. 

We'd heard and read so much about him

And, after all. . .he's the one who got us here.

Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor's home near Kardamyli July 2018

Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, war hero and adventurer, considered by some to be the most notable travel writer of the 20th century, is known simply as Paddy or Michalis around here.  The Englishman and his wife, Joan, were early-on expats, having lived for decades in the home they designed and built in the early 1960's just outside the village of Kardamyli. 

Sir Patrick was Knighted in 2004 for his services to literature and to Greek-British relationships. In 2007 the Greek government named him a Knight of the Order of the Phoenix, its highest honor. Around here the titles don't matter; Paddy is remembered for being Paddy.

We think of him as the guy who introduced us to The Mani. . .

The 'highway' we first traveled into the Inner Mani 

The Back Story. . .

Paddy and Joan's lives have been chronicled by many a writer and the two are immensely well-known on this side of the Atlantic. Perhaps our favorite tales were written in, News from the Village, Aegean friends, a memoir by American poet David Mason, who for a time in the 1980's lived next-door to the Fermor's compound. His book brought to life the area's villages while recounting his life-long friendship with the couple.

Stoupa as it was when Fermor arrived in the 1950's and as it looks today.

It was a well more than a half dozen years ago that we read David's book and subsequently Paddy's, Mani, Travels in the Southern Peloponnese, (published in 1958). Paddy's book chronicles his first trip to the Mani, back when it was a decidedly undeveloped and remote place (just check that 1955 photo of our present-day tourist magnet, Stoupa). He came to the Mani on foot, having climbed up and over the Taygetos Mountain range to get here. 

The two books were all it took to convince us that we needed to visit this still unspoiled and rugged place on the Greek Peloponnese ourselves.

Patio at the Fermor house

Our first visit  to the Mani - Kardamyli, Stoupa, Agios Nikolaos -- in 2012 was a year after Paddy's death in England at the age of 96. Joan had predeceased him in 2003 at age 91. The two had met in wartime Cairo in the 1950's, then traveled together, and finally made their home in a picturesque seaside setting in an area called Kalamitsi, just outside Kardamyli. 

Our slice of The Mani-- The mountains Fermor crossed

Back when we first visited The Mani the idea to live in Greece wasn't a serious consideration of ours. But we were soon caught up in the area's spell. We just kept coming back. And, the fact that we ended up living so close to where they both lived, is one of those goosepimple-kind-of-coincidences that life randomly tosses at you.

Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor Center

Hallway at the Fermor house.

The Fermor's bequeathed their home to the Benaki Museum in Athens with a stipulation that it be used as a retreat center for scholars and intellectuals, (loosely defined as writers, researchers, artists, poets, etc.).  

A place to curl up with a good book off the house's great room

When it opens this fall it will  be known as the Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor Center. Although I suspect with so many in the village who still remember the unassuming couple, that around here it will continue to be thought of as 'the place Paddy and Joan lived'.

Garden restoration underway

The Center will serve as a retreat, be the site of events and also welcome the public in set tours. In order to generate funds for on-going maintenance and upkeep, the museum will rent the house for three months each year. A partnership with Aria Hotels will make that happen.

Main floor bedroom lit with morning sun

Beginning June 1, 2020 the three-bedroom house with a separate studio (once Paddy's writing studio) and another one-bedroom cottage (once occupied by his housekeeper, Lela, and her family) will be available for rent. Guests can rent the entire complex or just a room.

I did a quick check for a one-night stay for two persons next summer and found prices were 280-, 400- and 480- euro for a room, depending on the date selected. I didn't find the cost of renting the entire complex. (Several weeks are already booked.)

Visiting Paddy's House

Entryway at the Fermor house

I've been monitoring the process of turning the house into a retreat center for at least two years. Each time I'd think I could visit some rehabilitation project was slated and the house closed up again.

It appeared earlier this year that the house would be finished and open for tours in mid-June. Again that official opening has been delayed but is far enough along that the Museum is honoring requests for public tours. (Limited times and days because it is still under construction and empty.) 

Entry way and art work

Admittedly from the stories we've heard about their hospitality, it would have been far more fun to have been a dinner or lunch guest of Paddy and Joan's but visiting Paddy's house last week was a pretty special experience.  I had goosepimples walking through the massive entry.

Workers completing The Great Room renovations

While a backhoe clattered away in the lower gardens, a woman mopped the kitchen floor and workers concentrated on completing the living room - the small group of about a dozen of us were set loose to explore the house.

Gardens filled with herbs, oleander, cypress (kiparrisi) and fir trees

It was a perfect time to imagine how it must have been back in the day that these two opened their doors and welcomed guests.  One account reported that this twosome would plan their discussion topics for the evening in advance, so that there would never be a lull in the conversation.

Can you imagine sitting around this table with Paddy and Joan?

Writer Artemis Cooper, a frequent guest, and author of the 2012 book, Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure, recalled her first visit as being on a calm night with a million stars and six people at the table:

'What did we discuss that night?' she says. 

'I don't remember anything but the velvet night, the sound of the sea, the faces 

in the candlelight, the laughter and the voices - 

and the thought that nothing could be better than that moment.'

.

One of many patio seating areas at Paddy's house

And in Fermor also wrote of those gatherings that stretched long into the night:

'These summer nights are short,' he  wrote.

 'Going to bed before midnight is unthinkable and talk, wine, moonlight and the warm air 

are often in league to defer it one, two or three hours more.'

Open corridor between rooms had garden and sea views

The Fermor's L-shaped  main house is built on two-levels. Bedrooms, a kitchen and the grand room all open off an open stone corridor. Another bedroom is on the lower level. I could imagine houseguests waking  to morning sunlight streaming through the windows, later sipping coffee in the patio, perhaps taking a dip in the water just a stairway away.

Fermor's stairway to the sea

Many of those guests recall with amazement the many books in the home. One writer who toured the home estimated some 5,000 books were tucked away on built in book shelves.

'. . .dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, special editions, Oxford companions, anthologies based on birds, beasts, fishes and stars in the immense libraries -- 

even the bathrooms had bookshelves. . .' he wrote.  

Cartons of books waiting to be re-shelved 

So, even though the bookshelves were bare when we toured, the mountains of boxes stacked in each room led us to speculate the books would soon be back on the shelves.  

Paddy's writing studio 

We followed our tour guide -- a woman who had worked for the Fermor's -- through the sprawling gardens and to his writing studio. It was here he wrote several of his books. His desk  to the right of the group in the photo above, seemed a shrine to the great man. The guide asked that no photos be taken of it (although all of us had photographed the room with it in it). 

The writing studio 

Our tour ended at Lela's House, at the back of the main house. Lela was a long-time housekeeper and cook.  We did have the good fortune to see her before she passed away. She opened Lela's Restaurant on the waterfront in Kardamyli after leaving the Fermor house. Even when she became too old to work in it, she sat 'guard-like' outside her eatery keeping an eye on all preparations and the comings and goings of customers.

Kalamitsi, lower right, and Kardamyli, upper right

After our tour we joined our friends for coffee in Kardamyli, I couldn't help but think of a passage Fermor wrote about the village in his Mani book:

'The Guide Bleu only spares it a half a line, 

mentioning little beyond the existence of its four hundred and ninety inhabitants.  

It is better so. It is too inaccessible and there is too little to do there, fortunately, 

for it ever to be endangered by tourism.'

The village was packed with people that morning, we had to search for parking.  Tourist season has begun.  And I chuckled wondering if Paddy ever imagined as he left his home to the Museum that his place would one day bring even more tourists to the village.

For those coming this way and who want to take part in a tour,contact:  leighfermorhouse@benaki.gr

If you want to book a hotel stay there: 

Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor House

Thanks for joining us on a trip just down the road and back in time today. As always, we appreciate the time you spend with us.  Wishing safe travels to you and yours until we are together again next week.  A special thanks to those of you who've been sharing our posts with friends ~ it is the best compliment a writer can get!

Sorry about the type size changes throughout the text. Google Blogger is about to drive me to drink. . .or find a new blog platform. . .changes are coming!

Linking this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday