Piles

Piles is situated on the west side of the island after the village of Othos at a distance of 17kl (10.6mi.) from Pigadia. It has amongst the smallest populations of the Karpathian villages.

The main churches of the village are the church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, which is celebrated on August 15^th and the church of the Exaltation of the Holly Cross (view below), which is celebrated on September the 14^th.

The monastery of Agios Phanourios (view below) is located on the main road to Mesochori 3 kl from Piles and is celebrated on August 27^th.

Piles has a breathtaking view of the sunset (view below) and a panoramic view of the neighboring island of Kasos and on a clear day, even the mountains of Crete. It has many fields with fruit trees and vegetables mainly for local consumption.

Piles was first colonized in the 17th century from refugees that left from the coastal areas of the island, where they initially lived, trying to avoid the pirates. People from Crete and Kasos also colonized the village during the 1800’s. The village followed the fate of the rest of Karpathos (Turkish, German, and Italian occupation). Its inhabitants resisted bravely against the conquerors, took part in the liberation struggles and were amongst the first to get liberated from its conquerors in 1944 and then unite with Mother Greece in 1947! Konstantinos Psillis a Sergeant in the Greek Army was killed by a mine during World War II operations, in the area of Proni. He was buried in the cemetery of the village and later a memorial was built and dedicated in his honor in the presence of his relatives from the island of Chios.

The people of Piles were scattered in the four corners of the world. Persevering, as they were, they've succeeded and flourished, wherever they went. However, they did not lose their passion for their village and visit every available opportunity. They contribute in all beneficial to the public projects and always strive to improve their native village.

Many various explanations exist, about the naming of the village. Some believe that there were gates (Piles) around or that the village itself was a gate (passage, entry) which linked the northern villages with those at the south side of the island. Others believe that the name was given because of the clay (pilos) or that there were caves around (spilies) and the word survived as Piles.

Piles was mostly known for its many skillful teachers and thus was given the nickname ‘the village of the teachers’. In 1908 the school building was purchased by the Church Parish Council. The building was damaged from an earthquake and had to be rebuild in 1994. A new school building was built in 1985 on public land at the edge of the village. It is now an updated educational center, well equipped with all of the modern electronic educational devises. Many new educational programs such as ‘Logomatheia’ and the ‘Networking of Greek Schools’ was actually initiated in the school in 1993 and 1995 respectively. The school is the only school on the island that participates in the global environmental program ‘Globe-Alexandros’ since 1997. It also participates in a program for the protection of the local seal population.

A new and unique agricultural museum has recently opened in the village of Piles. The museum is unique not only to Karpathos but to most of the Greek islands. A visitor to the museum can experience the natural and very ecologically friendly way of living in the Karpathian countryside of the not so distant past.

Amongst the exhibitions of the museum are:

• A typical Karpathian farm cottage called ‘stavlos,’ with cheese making area, grapes pressing pool and an exhibition of many farm tools used by the Karpathian farmers to carry out their everyday chores.

• Two areas specifically used to separating the wheat from the stalk called, ‘alones’ with a live demonstration using a team of donkeys

• A live bee hives area

• A herding area for farm animals called ‘mandri’

• A functional windmill with a viewable interior

• A functional brick oven for baking with a demonstration of the baking

• An olive grove with the tools used to gather olives

• An actual vineyard with grape vines

• A wheat field

Entrance to this exceptional museum is FREE!

Finally, by going through the village it is possible to reach Mesochori by using the old dirt road. This mountainous road goes through the stunning pine forest of the area to reach the main paved road right before the beach Adia.

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