By Jake Seitz
When I came to the Island of Paros, Greece, I expected to see a place dominated by ancient cultural elements, because that’s the common knowledge of Greece in the USA. I also expected to see a lifestyle which is much more comfortable between neighbors and strangers than in the USA, a place where everyone gets along. In some ways, this is true.
Paros has a more connected lifestyle than where I live in the USA. People live closer to each other because of the smaller buildings directly beside each other. Everyone can walk from their homes to work each day, and strangers can have enjoyable conversations outside. Most people also look ahead as they walk instead of at their phones.
Through our documentary projects and what we study, which includes the farmland on Paros, the beaches, and the ancient stone walls, we have learned much about the ancient culture of Paros. Most of it still exists on the island, especially the large quantity of stone walls on the hillsides, used to dam the landslide soil and cultivate land. But there has been a great amount of change over the last sixty years or so, only a percent of the time Paros has been inhabited, and a primary cause is tourism.
Paros is seen as primary real estate for the heavenly island lifestyle, and as a result, Paros has seen increasing rates in construction and renting. The beaches are a clear sign of this change, as many are covered in uniform benches with umbrellas, which are rented out to beach goers for as much as 100€. But the Greek constitution says the beaches must remain public for anyone to use, rent free. There is an ongoing movement to reclaim the beaches and restore what’s rightfully the public’s.
The stone walls have seen their own share of change. Many of them have been destroyed to make room for new development on the land. The problem is that it takes time to make and repair the walls, and very little time to take them down. There is movement for the stone walls as a result, to keep them as they are, and to repair the ones that have been damaged. It’s an important movement because it symbolizes the ability of people to respect the past and remember it through original artifacts, but a goal that’s not shared by everyone on the island.
These changes have brought to light the differences between the past and the present. The past of Paros was a time of living simply, farming the land and the marble on the island, and taking care of it by prioritizing its thriving over the material needs of people. Now, many care primarily about capital gain and put tradition on the back burner. But it’s important to keep cultural tradition, especially on Paros, because of the island’s role in Ancient Greece’s economy through farming. The past is still around, so there is time for future generations to return it to the forefront of Paros’ identity.
