People of Aegina #17 – Marina Coriolano – Lykourezos
What made Marina Coriolano-Lykourezos leave her life in Athens and move to Aegina with her life partner, chemist and artist Yannis Zagorianakos, since 2012? Marina Coriolano Lykourezos shares the secrets of her happy daily life on the island with We Love Aegina. In her interview, she talks about her love for her own home, her passion for ceramics, and her professional involvement with the production of “The Cool Projects” in the couple’s workshop in Aegina. Enjoy!
“We moved to Aegina in February 2012, having made the decision six months earlier, completely unexpected. We received a phone call in the summer of 2011 and came to Aegina after our summer vacation to see a house in Pacheia Rachi. We decided to live there since then. In our case, we did not find the house, the house itself found us. Everything evolved very easily. After coming to Aegina, we put into practice the idea of Yannis, who is a chemist, to produce handmade natural soaps, a purely Greek product with olive oil. In 2013, we started doing research on soaps and in January 2014, we went to our first exhibition abroad. Somehow, after we settled in Aegina, we were kept busy with the soaps, our love for our home, as well as the little diamonds of the island that you discover and conquer every day.
Although I have wonderful childhood memories from Aegina, mainly because of our friendship with Jason Molfesis, his daughters and their house in Plakakia, it was not the island where we regularly came on vacation. That’s why I did not know the island when we moved here.
Discovering your relationship with nature, you uncover the beauties of Aegina.
I didn’t know Aegina as a summer destination. In my opinion, the best that Aegina has to offer from September to May, are the walks on the sea and the mountain, not just the paths. We live in Pacheia Rachi, a very quiet village, although things have changed a bit lately because more people are coming and due to the pandemic, the non-permanent residents come and stay in their homes. It’s magical that you can get out of the house, see the horizon and go straight for the mountain or go down to the sea. You create another relationship with nature in your daily life and this is something you conquer every day.
Aegina hides treasures in every corner.
Whether you visit a well-known place, such as the enchanting Paliahora, the temple of Ellanios Zeus, Mount Athos, or an abandoned village, Benakides or Kapotides, you are impressed by the treasures hidden in every corner of the island. In this small land, you observe the alternations of nature, the mountain and the sea, areas overgrown with olive trees and others with pines, landscapes reminiscent of a Cycladic island, such as Sfentouri, the closest point to the open sea, but also green landscapes, such as Agia Marina, where the pines reach the sea. You also have the stone, which on this south side is soft and white and on the north side dark and hard. On such a small island you have many things to see and do.
I was impressed by the rich ceramic history of Aegina.
I studied ceramics in Theodora Chorafa’s workshop and found out that Aegina has a huge history in ceramics. If you follow the path from Chrysoleontissa, after ten minutes you will end up in a large plain, from where the river Skotini starts. The soil is dark and clayey there. In addition to the plasters, you will also discover an old stove. You can collect clay from nature but it needs mixing to work it more easily.
My daily life now connects me with Aegina.
After 9 years, my daily life connects me with Aegina, it fills me so much. I am connected with the place and its people, our life is here. When I leave and return from Athens, the fact that I arrive by boat at the place where my house is, makes me feel wonderful. I feel very lucky. I arrive at the very beautiful port, which has become even more prominent now that the pergolas are gone. This feeling that I leave behind the chaos of Piraeus, cross a part of the Saronic Gulf and reach an island that is very close, is incredible. When you go to the southern side and enjoy the view to Peloponnese and Methana from Sfentouri and Portes, seeing the open sea makes you feel even further away, you are completely cut off from what reminds you of the bustle of the city.
We discuss it with friends. It is one thing to leave Athens for vacation for a month or two if you have the opportunity, and another to live every day in a place that has nature, but also culture. We need this balance in our lives, especially now with the pandemic situation. It’s huge luck to live in the countryside. It’s difficult but you do not feel this closure that you necessarily have in the city. I go out in my garden and I do not need to wear a mask. While some years ago there was no such strong need to go out in nature, now we have rediscovered it.
My favorite places on the island…
From Pacheia Rachi we take the path and go to Eleonas, every season. Whether with a chamomile carpet or with plant bulbs, with or without shepherds and many sheep, these ancient olive trees are a very magical place. I also love Paliachora and its energy. I really like Aegina in winter. But what keeps me in Aegina the most is our house in Pacheia Rachi, old, small, with its garden, isolated, with open views, it is a sanctuary house. It is luck to say that your home is one of your favorite places in a place. Another gift of Aegina is the ceramics I discovered here and that I practice with love and passion for many years now, through the workshop of Theodora Chorafa. I am inspired by the space itself, now I know that I have my corner there.
There are many small, unexplored diamonds of Aegina.
On your walks in Aegina you won’t stop discovering, exploring incredible natural water tanks (souvala), buried here and there. From Benakides to Giannakides, following the pine-covered landscape, you reach a magical point with three souvalas in the rock, it’s a dream. These are all the magical places of Aegina.
Aegina is a place where you will meet interesting people.
The island attracts interesting people, of all ages, that you can talk with. In recent years, younger people are coming with young children who give more life to Aegina. I am a child of the city, but now I have set other priorities in my life and I do not mind losing something. You develop another rhythm here. Besides, the island is alive, things are happening, such as the Music Festival, the Pistachio Festival, and the Tsak Bam Festival that we have been organizing in recent years with a group of friends and the International Ceramics Symposium that we organized in September 2020. The island is alive and things happen. You gradually understand that life is not just in the city.
Aegina in a word…
Surprise. Aegina is not the place that enchants you at first sight like Santorini or Amorgos, but it has a sweetness and hides many surprises. For me, it is a surprise because you discover things slowly.
I love Aegina because…
I live here. It’s not necessary to love a place because you live there, but that’s how it started. I came to live in a place I did not love because I did not know it and throughout the years the island offers me a quality of life.
A few words about We Love Aegina
It is a very positive effort, as it highlights and promotes a place because it loves it. Sharing something you love adds value by itself. And there is a lot of material but also people who are interested in the island.
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