Tripotamos Village
The village has to its rear, north, to bare rock of Exombourgou, with its ruins of the mediaeval town of Tinos and the findings of the cities of Pre-historic and Geometric years, which were discovered after the excavations of the archaeologist Nota Kourou at its root. Towards the South, Tripotamos can see Dilos through an opening. It has the form of a castle, without exterior walls and when the outside gates of the village were closed, the whole settlement functioned as a structure, as the pomegranate closed its seeds well within its peels. It is about a labyrinthine, hand-made, stone structure, with arched, sheltered streets, crossroads overlying the houses of the village.
The backbone of the village, the central road, with a direction from east to west, runs through the village and crosses gradual side-street and arcades which are intertwined in its binding structural tissue, without in between gaps.
The inhabitants of the village, for centuries now, function as one big family tightly bound socially, with their local traditions, customs and moral standards. The architectural structure of the village is formed by their social cohesion. The tradition of “Kavos”, which comes alive on Christmas day each year, continues till New year’s day and goes on all year round until it ends its annual circle, the following Christmas, give us the extent of the cohesion which characterizes common feast which takes place on Christmas day, at which only the heads of the families of the village attend, after first having exchanged speeches of understanding and reconciliation among them. At this common feast they also discuss the needs of the village. The foods have been the same for centuries and are served in the same exact order: rice-soup with egg-lemon sauce, boiled meat, stew, stuffed cabbage leaves, meat cooked with tomato sauce and finally fruit. Wine is plentiful and is drunk in bronze mugs.
The church of the village, “Presentation of the blessed Virgin Mary”, is celebrated on the 21st of November, a day of great festivities for the houses of the village, which open their doors and with home made snacks welcome visitors to their dinner tables after holy mass and till late at night. The people and the sounds of songs spread through the aisles and street of the village, altering the daily routine.
The distance of the village from Tinos is about 5km and from the village one can easily access the traditional settlements of Exomeria, the inland and upper area of the island as well as its unique beaches since Tripotamos is located on the crossroads towards Endohora. Old homes and stone built paths which run from the village towards Hora and Endohora are more then suitable trekking. Many of these are well-maintained and road-signed. Through the village runs a path (route 3) towards the villages of Sberados, Mountados, ending up to the Monastery of Saint Pelagia.
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