Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPONGES AND SPONGE
DIVING
Sponges
are colonies of microscopic marine organisms that excrete a fibrous skeleton. The
living sponges that can be seen throughout the Aegean as black, melon-sized blobs, anchored
to rocks in three to ten metres of water, are mostly “wild” sponges, impossible to clean or
shape with shears. Kalymnian divers seek out “tame” sponges, which are much softer, more
pliable, and dwell thirty to forty metres deep.
Sponge-fishers were originally
free divers
; weighted with a rock, they'd collect sponges from
the seabed on a single breath before being hauled back up to the surface. Starting in the late
nineteenth century, however, divers were fitted with heavy, insulated suits (
skáfandhro
). Breathing
through an air-feed line connected to compressors aboard the factory boats, they could now
attain depths of up to 70m. However, this resulted in the first cases of the “bends”. When divers
came up too quickly, the dissolved air in their bloodstream bubbled out of solution - with
catastrophic results. Roughly half of those early pioneers would leave with the fleets in spring but
fail to return in autumn. Some were buried at sea, others, it's said, buried alive, up to their necks in
hot sand, to provide slight relief from the excruciating pain of nitrogen bubbles in the joints.
By the time the malady became understood, during World War I, thousands of Kalymnians
had died, with many survivors paralyzed, deaf or blind. Even though the
skáfandhro
was banned
elsewhere as the obvious culprit, it remained in use here until after World War II. After the first
decompression chambers
and diving schools reached Greece, in the 1950s, the seabed was
stripped with ruthless e
ciency, and the sponge fleets forced to hunt further from home.
Even the “tame” sponge is unusable until
processed
. The smelly organic matter and external
membrane is thrashed out of them, traditionally by being trodden on the boat deck, and then
they're tossed for a day or so in a vat of hot sea-water. Visitors to Póthia's remaining handful of
workshops can still watch the sponge-vats spin; in the old days, the divers simply made a
“necklace” of their catch and trailed it in the sea behind the boat.
To suit modern tastes, some sponges are bleached to a pale yellow colour with nitric acid.
That weakens the fibres, however, so it's best to buy the more durable, natural-brown ones.
8
museum, just inland from the eastern side of the port. The
pink, century-old Italianate villa holds seven high-
ceilinged, bug-screened, wood-floored rooms, while a
further thirteen studios and apartments, sleeping up to six,
are laid out around the large swimming pool behind.
There's a friendly and very helpful family atmosphere,
especially aro
und
the communal, outdoor breakfast table.
Open all year.
€60
EATING AND DRINKING
Kafenes
Khristós
T
22430 28727.
This pavement café,
close to the county “palace” in the centre of the harbour, is
always full thanks to its generous, tasty salads, seafood,
local goat cheese and bulk wine. Be sure to try the €6 “crab
balls”.
Daily 8am-late.
Taverna Pandelis
Áyios Nikólaos
T
22430 51508.
Large but inconspicuous restaurant, tucked into a cul-de-
sac behind the waterfront
Olympic Hotel
. Dependably good
meat and fish grills - ask for the daily catch - as well as
mezédhes.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Ì
Xefteris Khristós
T
22430 28642.
Century-old,
family-run restaurant, a block inland from the
waterfront east of the Italian “palace”. The dining room is
utterly plain, more like a large garage, and it's next to
the same owners' loud garden-set music bar, but the
traditional local food is superb, with dishes including
stewed chickpeas, and
mououri
, shredded lamb with
rice.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Zaharoplastio O Mihalaras
Áyios Nikólaos.
This
wonderful local cake shop, a must for any fan of Greek
sweetmeats, has two premises in Póthia. The traditional
original is on the harbourfront close to the “palace”, while
there's
a
modern annexe near the ferry jetty.
Daily
8am-6pm.
Vathýs and Rína
Ten kilometres northeast of Póthia, and accessed via an initially dispiriting coastal road,
the long, fertile valley known as
VATHÝS
is Kálymnos' agricultural heartland. Its orange
and tangerine groves make a startling contrast to the mineral greys and ochres of the
surrounding hills, but visitors only pass this way to visit the fjord port of
RÍNA
at its
southeastern end. Set at the end of a long slender inlet, Rína remains a popular
