After leaving Olympia, we were headed for the opposite (east) side of the Peloponnese peninsula for the island of Poros where we planned to spend Christmas. This was a little too long a drive for one day so we decided to stop in Stemnitsa (see Google map link).
The central part of the Peloponnese peninsula is quite different from the coast – mountainous and very scenic with deep gorges. We didn’t capture the name of this city, but this picture gives you an idea of the scenery.
On our way to Stemnitsa, our guide book described a museum in a village called Dimitsana was a crucial center for the manufacture of gunpowder during the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s against the Ottomans. The museum displayed the use of water power in manufacturing a variety of agriculture (corn meal, animal hides) and commercial (gunpowder, raki liquor).
It was surprisingly polished for a museum in the middle of a string of small villages and then we learned that its construction had been funded to the tune of 600,000 Euros by the EU. At the museum we met a family from South Africa. The father was the son of Greek immigrants to South Africa but his father had a house in a nearby village that they used when visiting Greece. Interestingly, the children spoke English, Greek, and were learning Zulu which has probably taken over from Afrikaans since the fall of the apartheid.
A picture showing the water flowing through the site used to power the various processing equipment. We met a Greek-Australian and his family while we were at the sight (his family owned an apartment in a nearby village they used when they were visiting his parents) and he said that capital and operating expenses for this museum were provided by European Union grant(s). He had a few choice words about local politics – something about everyone having to get paid – which left me in no doubt he would not be leaving his residence in Australia for his ancestral home anytime soon.
The water-powered corn mill.
The tanning room.
During our visit to this museum we learned that gunpowder is a compound made of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate and needs to be mixed together as part of its manufacture. That is the function of this machine was also powered by water which raised and lowered these poles and crushed the gunpowder which was placed in the holes beneath the poles.
This is a raki still. They put the grape stems and skins in the ball at the left and then heat it along with some alcohol and collect the distillate out the spout at right of the picture.
This is the town of Stemnitsa which is located at about 1200 meters elevation from the road in front of our B&B. It reminded it of hill towns we’d seen in France and Italy. Yes, that is a skiff of snow on the rooftops that had fallen a day or two before our arrival.
This picture below is of the bed and breakfast we stayed at in Stemnitsa. We were on the floor just about the rock wall – I think the balcony you see pictured was attached to our room but we didn’t test it.
The family of the B&B owner, Nena (pictured below), owned this house and one on the other side of the village. Nena had lived and worked as a teacher in another part of Greece and had eventually decided to move back to the village and develop one of the family homes into this lovely B&B which she operated with great grace and hospitality. The other family business was the village bakery that her mother operated – we had great Greek cookies and goodies during our stay.
Here is a picture of Nena, in a pose with some attitude, which seemed in character. She was great and our stay with her ranked with the best of the entire trip. We’ll never forget the breakfast she made and the view from her breakfast room which had a great view of the village.
On our way to Poros from Stemnitsa we gained a little more elevation and evidently got above the freezing level and found snow for the first time on our trip. Allister had heard about the snowfall back in Canada and was missing the chance to throw snowballs and make a snowman so, for his benefit, we got out of the car and scraped together a few snowballs.
