Our company had the pleasure and honor to participate in the Open Village – “For Nature and Cultural Heritage”, held in Saint Lavrentios in Pelion in two phases: July 13-14 and 5-7 September 8, 2019. We attended the second phase which referred to, on Cultural Heritage. This initiative was launched in 2017 by Patra Theologidou and has been implemented to date with the co-operation of residents, local agencies and friends of Saint Lavrentios.
The purpose of the event is to contribute to local development, utilizing local cultural and natural resources. The “Open Village” includes guided tours of public and private buildings of the village, which are carried out by both residents and volunteers. As stated on the website www.openvillage.gr, the event is supported by other events such as: exhibitions, videos, lectures, workshops, educational programs on the natural environment and cultural heritage, traditional music, gastronomy and more. The event, held this year in two phases, the first in July concerned the Medicinal Herbs, while the second in September, as already mentioned, concerned the Cultural Heritage. The “Open Village” with a view to Cultural Heritage aims to present traditional architecture through the perspective of a simple folk house or a rich mansion, a church, an industrial establishment but also, of course, the public space and the natural environment.
Our company, Dalkafouki Oikos, supports the organization every year as a sponsor and also provides the traditional building materials for the rehabilitation workshop. This year, in the framework of the workshop on “Experimental demonstration of construction and reinforcement of traditional constructions”, we supplied mortars such as clay, hydrocarbons, pozzolan and more which were used as coatings on brick walls. Coordinator of the workshop was Prof. Ioanna Papagiannis, Professor of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, who collaborated with the Laboratory of Building Materials of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (information and video of the workshop can be found at http://www.openvillage.gr/ergastirio2019.html).
Ms. Dalkafouki Maria from our company participated in the workshop, and also attended all the speeches and events of the two-day conference on “Integrated protection and development of traditional mountain settlements” held in the Quarter of Saint Lavrentis, co-organized with the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Culture, the Architectural Heritage Council (AHC). On the first day of the two-day seminar, the talks focused on the developmental dimension of the traditional mountainous settlements and on the second day mainly on the restoration of traditional constructions. The main feature of the two-day seminar was the high level of knowledge of all the speakers, most of whom are university professors and of course the extremely interesting and crucial topics that have been developed. At the conclusion of the event, His Eminence Metropolitan Dimitriados and Almyros Ignatios also honored the event with his presence.
Of course, it’s worth noting that Open Village was not only a highly organized event, which was crowned with great success, but also a soul statement by Mrs. Patra Theologidou from the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Culture. Without her presence and contribution, none of the above would be possible. So, we feel tremendous gratitude and joy that we were there! We look forward to the next Open Village actions!
With information from: www.openvillage.gr
