Description: These intriguing old sea mills sit in a small wooded area about a 30-minute walk from the centre of Argostoli, right on the tip of the Fanari peninsula and on the scenic route that doubles back to Lassi. At one time they were used to generate electricity, but this came to an end in the 1930s.
In October the place is deserted, but there is a taverna here that caters for the coachloads of visitors that descend upon the place in high summer.
The mills here were at one time driven by the old waterwheel, still in Situ but sadly now derelict. The waterwheel was powered by seawater that drained into the sinkholes via narrow man-made channels that speed up the flow. Where this water went to was anyone’s guess.
Curiosity overwhelmingly intervened in the 1960s, and geologists dumped green dye in to the sinkholes to see where it might resurface. Amazingly, they had their answer within two weeks as the water reappeared in the underground lake at Melissani and then finally at the small pond by the coast at Karavomilos. The now-surveyed subterranean route from Katovothres to Melissani is particularly flat explaining why the water moves at a very slow rate of one kilometre per day.
Just beyond the waterwheel we see the charming Doric lighthouse of Agios Theodoron. This was built by Charles Napier who governed the island from 1822 until 1830. The original was destroyed in 1875 by an earthquake but was rebuilt to the original plans shortly afterwards. Unfortunately, it also fell victim to the 1953 disaster and was rebuilt for the second time in the late 1960s. It is a peaceful, reflective spot from where to watch the sunset and is more akin to a bijou temple than a maritime aid.
Leaving these sights behind, we now travel a couple of kilometres back towards Lassi and take a sharp turn-off to the left. This winds up a steep hill to the atmospheric Italian War Memorial, set in a tranquil location that is in total juxtaposition to the dreadful events that it commemorates.
The Italians sympathetically rebuilt many of the local buildings and landmarks in the 1930s prior to the outbreak of the war and then occupied and ruled the island until their country’s surrender and the fall of Mussolini. After the Italian capitulation, Germany seized the island in 1943, with the Italians receiving contradictory orders to both surrender and repel the Germans.
Hopelessly outnumbered, the Italians surrendered on the basis that they would be allowed safe passage back to their country by their so-called allies. But rather than send them home or at the very least, place them into POW camps, the Germans rounded them up and shot them all, many around Katovothres.
Some 5,000 Italian soldiers and officers were murdered, and this memorial details the units they served in and the towns and villages where they were based, a solemn reflection of the tribulations and futility of war.
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