Trikeri (Peninsula and Island) Area _ The Reinvigoration of the island _ Hedonistic pathways
Trikeri is a village of the prefecture of Magnesia. It is built on top of the most remote hill at the very end of the Magnesia peninsula, east of the entrance of the bay Pagasitikos . It is very close to the sea and is served by the port of Aghia Kyriaki , located just below the village. Its distance from Volos counts at about 81 km. Two line bus routes daily set up its connection to Volos city. According to the narratives Trikeri village was built by residents across the island (Old Trikeri) who moved there in order to refound their settlement collectively for the sake of pirates. The place where the village was selected to be constructed was the location where a third candle carryied from the seashore has been blown by the wind.
Old Trikeri (Panayia) is an island of Magnesia at the entrance of the bay Pagasitikos. It has an area of 2.5 sq. km. and a population (according to Census 2001) of 86 residents. Administratively it belongs to the community of Trikeri. Its highest point is at 109 meters of altitude. In the center of the island lies the monastery of the Virgin Annunciation, built in the 19th century. The island is covered by dense vegetation that consists mainly of olive groves, and resembles the vegetation of the opposite coast. Further north lies the small island Pithos . The Old Trikeri was a place of exile for women during the period of civil war. In order to access it one should arrive by road from Volos and then by boat from the facing port Alogoporos. The sea crossing lasts only 10-15 minutes. There is also the possibility to approach the island by sea directly from Volos which is distant at about 15 nautic miles. The island has no cars. One can go around it on foot in two and a half hours.
The village Trikeri with the island of Old Trikeri constitute a dipole.
Their topography: Trikeri peninsula and island form a hedonistic landscape either by the nudeness and the wilderness, the verticality and the openness of some peninsula slopes, either by the deeply peaceful atmosphere on the island and the inner bays of the peninsula.
Their inhabitants: with residents who often live in both sides and cross every day the distance separating them, the island and the village share a common human material. Often one part of a family lives in the village, and another on the island.
The central position of the peninsula and the island of Trikeri in the whole Aegea Sea area helped it to develop a significant naval force once maintaining a large merchant fleet, and today the second fishing fleet in the Greek area. The long and interesting history of the place has left significant traces on constructions that lie in the environment, but also traces on the vibrant history and the anthropology of the human life: the houses and their bourgeois furnishings high on the village, theTrikeri traditional local outfit that are is still worn by the women of the village on days of celebration, the embroidery that Angela Hatzimichalis had collected and depicted, the sheepfold on the slope that connects the village to Alogoporos, the shipyard at Agia Kyriaki and the local fishing boats all across the sea area, the shipwrecks inside the rich sea depths, the excellent seafood by the sea at the two little harbours (island and Agia Kyriaki), the olive groves vegetation and pheasants on the island, the church naval offerings, but also the ruins of structures built by the women in exile during the period of Greek civil war - Trikeri(S) form a network of specific locations that maintain or scrap the living memory.
Students will collect from the surrounding area sound or video or photographic material, sketches, pieces of vegetables or minerals or traces of the people who inhabit it. Lectures about recent history, local architecture and cultural anthropology will be delivered. On the basis of the collected material the students will be collectively redesignign the map of the area, adding to it their selected points of intervention-information in order to reform a network for visitors providing a comprehensive extended eco-museum for Trikeri area.
