From the blog

My life in Molyvos

I was born and raised in Molyvos. I consciously chose to spend my life here in my birthplace, forever charmed by wood, stone and colour. Here, building always meant merging structures with the land and the landscape in a collaborative manner. An evolving landscape shaped by history from 6.000 BC to today. Each and every cell of my physical existence carries within it parts of everyone who’ve ever lived their own adventure here. A lover of beauty and its truth who struggles to balance the weight of the great responsibility towards her birthplace and its future generations. Every time I return to Lesvos and my birthplace, the feeling of becoming human again surges through the archipelago, the Other Aegean of the North. Once more it’s like I’m on a pilgrimage to man’s roots: the aroma of olive and pin;, the heady smells of ouzo, of freshly baked bread, of sardines and octopus on charcoal sprinkled with crispy salt next to the beach. The violent burst of springtime and the fruitful autumns of the Aeolian land. The brightness of daylight, the copper coloured skies of Homer’s sunsets and the drawn-out rose-scented nights. When the starry night descends on Molyvos it’s an invitation to a conscious participation in immortality. Here in my blessed homeland everything is made with wisdom and skill. It reminds me that when we step away from our daily routines, when we avoid unnecessary miseries, it’s a service to our virtue to remember the real troubles of this world: death, betrayal, old age, incurable illness, unrequited love, all the unhappiness brought to us by the divine natural order. In the maze-like alleys of my home town, the human miracle still works. It commands me to look generously at human truth straight in the eyes and to take responsibility for preserving the beauty of this world.

 

Mrs. Rallou Kralli-Kostantelli studied journalism and worked in Public Relations and also in various positions within the Local Municipality sector. She edits publications and occasionally writes for the Local Press.