People of Aegina #11 – Yorgos Bitros
Coming from Aegina, Yorgos Bitros is one of those lovers of our island who practically prove their love in every way, through every word they say. He has been serving Aegina either as a teacher of the 2nd High School of Aegina in Kypseli for 25 years, and as a headmaster for the last 10 years, as the Artistic Director of the Aegina Theater Festival or as a citizen. In his interview to weloveaegina he takes us to his carefree childhood of the ‘70s, he reveals his favorite places of the unnoticed Aegina and he shares why so much love for the island. Enjoy Yorgos Bitros!
Aegina for me …
Aegina is a place with awesome energy, color, light, smells, other senses. It is a mysterious place. The island has tremendous energy that when you are absent for 2-3 days, you have the feeling that you are missing a week, a month. This island attracts you.
My favorite places in Aegina
I believe the beauty of Aegina is in the mountains. There you discover the Aegina of animal husbandry, the old, intact, authentic Aegina, which fortunately has not been disturbed too much by easy tourism. One of my favorite places is Eleonas.
Above all is Paliachora.
It is a place of mystery. It is a place that has not stopped talking for centuries, even though it remains silent. No matter how many times you go, Paliachora will reveal another secret to you. I believe that the only one who has respected Paliachora is time. It could have been torn down but time holds it in a secret, mysterious way. Paliachora is like another Mystras in the Saronic Gulf, it could be our No. 1 attraction. It has a castle, tanks, alleys, the monastery of Agia Kyriaki. It has underground arcades, burrows that were escape routes for pirates. We only see the churches but there are also houses, there are things that no one can imagine. Unfortunately, Paliachora has not yet become so famous, although lately many are starting to walk on it, clearing its paths.
The unnoticed Aegina
There is no hidden Aegina, but an Aegina that goes unnoticed. It is revealed only when it finally gains your trust. Then it appears to you through the Dragon Houses in Sfendouri, as the ancient Eleonas, through the rain gutters, and the ancient aqueducts, through charming paths on the mountains. You start a path from Pachiorachi to get down to Eleonas and it is magical.
The island continues to reveal itself on the top of Oros Mount and in the forts and machine guns of Tourlos, where you will discover the side of another Aegina. This area belongs to the Navy and no one is allowed to go without permission. There are arcades built by the Germans. The forts were built by Metaxa in 1936 with the help of a German architect and they were part of the Greek line of defense that starts from Crete, passes through Perdika, continues to the southern forts of Aegina, the northern forts of Aegina, Tourlos and reaches until the forts of Rupel in Macedonia. When the Germans came here in 1941, they already found them here and modernized them, they made warehouses, awesome buildings with tons of concrete, creating a defense grid combining the southern fort, the northern fort, the observatory in Agios Antonios (after Anitsaio), the observatory on the Monastery and that of Kypseli. They controlled the whole sea up to the Corinth Canal and the entrance from the Aegean, it was a monitoring network. Last but not least, the current military communications facilities in Tourlos were modernized and used in the 2004 Olympic Games.
What I love to do on the island…
I love to create on the island because Aegina inspires you, motivates you to create. Either to write, like Elytis, Varnalis, Kazantzakis, paint, or compose music. Aegina does not leave you alone. Even while taking a short walk, an awesome house with awesome architecture will distract you, challenge you to photograph it, compare it, study it, ask about it, find out who stayed there. Kapodistrias, Kazantzakis, Varnalis, Elytis could have stayed there. Driving from Agia Marina to Aphaia, you think that this route was once walked by Elizabeth Taylor. Exploring Aegina, you think that Virginia Woolf and Albert Camus did the same. All this energy motivates you to create.
I love Aegina for all the above reasons.
It is a motivation by itself. You cannot not love Aegina. Aegina during the last 10 years has risen a lot in the appreciation of people. However, it is not yet known for the reasons it should be.
A few years ago, a group of journalists came to cover Aegina and we took them to the houses of Kazantzakis and Kapralos, to historic houses in Aegina, the Kapodistrian houses. We went to Pachiorachi, Paliachora, and through the circle of Portes, Alones, Agia Marina, and Afaia. A journalist who bought a house in Aegina after this tour told us that what we should promote on the island is Kapodistrias. Aegina is the only place that has Kapodistrian buildings. Neither Corfu, nor Nafplio, nor Athens has buildings built by Kapodistrias. Aegina is not known for Kapodistrias, it is not known for its culture, for its wine, nor its sponges. You get off the boat and see the emblematic building of Vogiatzis, who was a sponge merchant and sold the sponges of the local sponge divers abroad. Aegina hides many secrets.
Aegina in a word…
Love, life, creation, homeland.
What connects me to the island are my roots, my parents.
My place of origin, the island where my parents were born is Aegina. My childhood summers connect me with Aegina. As I was living in Piraeus, every day I passed by the port to go to school and I saw the ships coming and going. My mind was always on Aegina, the island opposite. In the house I lived in Agia Sofia, Piraeus, sometimes the breeze was bringing the smell of the ship, the oil, the paint. There was always the anticipation, the expectation of when we would leave for Aegina, whether it was an Easter holiday or the torturous last days of June when we waited for school to close to finally get on the boat with a lot of things and bags. We are talking about the Aegina of the ‘70s, the Aegina of the ice cooler and the oil lamp.
My childhood summers in Aegina…
The images from the childhood summers have great nostalgia and truth. My memories are full of colors, fragrances, the family, my grandmothers and my grandparents who were sponge divers, who are in fact my connection with old Aegina, of the folklore and cultural life.
My memories are full of Aegina with dirt roads, we played or rode a bike, without so much heat. We cut grapes and figs from the fig trees, we picked pistachios, a unique ritual at the end of August or the beginning of September. These childhood summers lasted until the beginning of September and my great complaint was not living in Aegina in the winter. When it rained a little at the end of August I used to cover myself with a blanket to feel that it was winter and I was still there.
The dream came true with my job as a teacher in the 2nd High School of Aegina.
This dream came true when in 1995 my first appointment as a teacher was on the island due to locality. At that time I did not think that I would spend my whole life here. But life on the island won me over. Do you know what it is like to teach at school and watch the mountain from the one side and the sea from the other? Watch the change of seasons, finishing school and going for a swim in the sea? Incredible things. I got used to this dream life. That’s how I stayed.
Aegina awakens in me feelings of nostalgia and great love.
The feelings for Aegina are very loving, you bond, you take root. I am not the only one who says this, many people who have come, have built a house, fallen in love, loved Aegina madly and cannot be separated.
A few words about me
I grew up in Piraeus and studied in Athens. I have been living in Aegina for 25 years and I am serving at the 2nd High School of Aegina in Kypseli, which I have been directing for the last 10 years, while since 2014 I have been involved with the Aegina Theater Festival. My love for theater has always been great. I had created theater groups initially with school children. Then, after the children grew up, we created the Kypseli Theatrical Group which usually performs every year at the Kypseli Cultural Center, a place we feel very familiar. My involvement with the Aegina Theater Festival, which was founded by actress Anna Gerali who also lives in Aegina, started in 2014. Through KEDA we undertook to organize the festival, which counts 10 years of continuous presence in the artistic events of Aegina.
An initiative of Yorgos Bitros, the halls of the 2nd High School of Aegina are decorated with works by local artists, such as Yannis Moralis, Nikos Nikolaou, Kyriakos Krokos, Dimitris Pikionis, Maria Pop and more.
A few words about weloveaegina
Weloveaegina as a phrase should be of great concern to the locals. Fortunately, people have come who love the island and feel it as their homeland. Weloveaegina should become our motto. Apart from the title of a site, may it become a daily practice, whether it concerns our beaches, the management of garbage, water, or our driving education, our behavior, our daily life, our behavior and especially our love for the history and culture of Aegina. Culture is eternal, Aegina is an island that has a very rich history.
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