The
history of Pine Valley Cottages
At the top of the gorge which leads up from Aspros Potamos is the beautiful traditional village of
Pefki, which historically dates back to Venetian times. The villagers cultivated wheat and barley which was used to make “dakos” (hard dried bread), kept sheep, goats and a few cows and had carob trees on which they fed the
animals. At the time there were few olive trees, no tourism and the land on which they grew their crops was at a much lower level than where the village stood. During the late summer months they would come down the valley to harvest their crops, and during the winter
months they would lead their livestock down to spend the colder months in the warmer climate at a lower
altitude. The villagers build small, very basic cottages at the foot of the valley in order to spend the nights in relative comfort as they would often stay down for a week at a time. The cottages were built out of natural local stone and usually consisted of only two rooms – one for the family and one for the animals.
As
life progressed and tourism arrived, albeit in a very small way,
many of the Pefki villagers came to live at the coast and work
in the tourist industry. The cottages were left for many years
to the mercy of the weather and nature until, in 1985, Aleka
came to visit some friends on holidays and was introduced to
Aspros Potamos.
The
cottages, which were originally 20 dwellings without bathrooms
or toilets, had already been partially renovated some 10 years
previously by an Athenian architect who had passed away. However
there was still a tremendous amount of work to do and no plans
or drawings could be found so in effect Aleka had to start from
scratch. Her vision was to renovate the dwellings to provide
comfort but to retain as much of the traditional feel, both
atmospherically and structurally, as possible. Aleka
continued her labour of love until the cottages were habitable,
almost 4 years later.
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