The anarchy Ikaria

Where: Ikaria,Greece

Who: Walden Viaggi

AAGRTMemberper testo piccolo GRT Member because environmental guides pay attention to local territory and traditions

Dancing in three thousand under the tree Ikaria, is a spirit of "independence", the only island where the girls "command the dances": they are the first in line and always ready to propose new steps. It has always been an anarchist island, intolerant to any regime poor to hunger, yet self-declared "free state of Ikaria". It is beautiful and out of the chorus: it is famous above all for the sumptuous pagan parties called "panighiria", where you can have fun in the traditional dances, accompanied by the "ikariotika" music, with violins and refrains playing splendid melodies.

You can visit on foot, savoring the small streets lined with houses and the very few harbors derived from rocky headlands, up to the white Greek beaches: the best are near the resorts of Armenistis, Seychelles, Gialiskari, or on the pirate islands of Fourni, where you can taste the best fish in Greece.
"Ikaria is female because she is visceral, pagan, heretical, passionate about her matriarchal society in which women mark time and dance in a spiral. It is an example of a sober but lively, supportive and creative community", says Francesca Benassai, a naturalist guide of Walden on foot, "Walking here is special for the variety of experiences and for the many proud Greeks who tell us about their land. Like Iannis, with his stone refuge on top of the mountain, Eugenia, Lefteris a young guide who decided to return to the land of his ancestors".
But there are many other places to visit such as Agios Dimitrios, where you can be carried away by the scents and mysteries of herbs in Irini’s workshop. From here it will be impossible to go out without a soap, a candle or an essence that will bring us the memory of the island at home. A town to remember is Christos Rachon: in the square there is a fine pastry, sweet work of a group of seven enterprising women. Here you will be offered not only jams, preserves and everything you can do with fruits and herbs, but also fabrics, wooden objects and artistic tickets.
Overlooking the woods there is the farm of Marion Arakara who, as she told us, dreams of working in his land close to the sky and with pure waters, welcoming travelers: scheduled walks in the garden, up to the typical "houses anti-piracy", cooking and dining listening to music. But it is not over yet, because protected by the mountains, there is the Byzantine village of Langhada where every year the whole population goes to work to prepare the great pagan festival, with ancestral dramas, theater and the expected panighiri, in the shade of the majestic trees of the square. This is the indomitable Ikaria, waiting for you to open the dance!

INFO:

Walden Viaggi a piedi