Greetings and Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season was amazing to you all and the new year is filled with health, happiness and the pursuit of fulfilling your dreams! I know I am excited to embrace 2013 and start the process of setting and working towards new goals. One of my goals is to focus on my relationships with friends and family living in other parts of the world. Through email, YouTube and Skype I’m determined to keep connected this year. Last summer we spent 7 weeks in Europe visiting relatives and traveling, it was fantastic to see everyone after a long break. I photographed this session with my sister in law,niece,nephews and Miss M at the 400 year old “Monastery of the Prophet Elias” in my Father in laws’ northern Greek village named “Zitsa”. The first buildings of the monastery were built in 1598 with the abbey being built in 1658. It is adorned with Byzantine frescoes and is also well know for being visited by Lord Byron in 1809 when he needed to take refuge from a violent storm. Byron later wrote of the monastery and village in his poem “The Adoration of Childe Harold”. Below are some images from our family shoot as well as few images of the village of Zitsa.I will share more images from other parts of Greece, Italy and Spain in future posts.
The village of Zitsa, Greece
View from the monastery of Zitsa
Priests of “The Monastery of the Prophet Elias” first blessing the bread at a celebration and handing it out. It was quite amazing as three priests took part in the service and one was the priest that both married my mother and father in law and baptised my husband!
The entire village is invited when there is a celebration at the monastery or a party in the village…
Inside the stone walls of the monastery.
The stone streets of the village and Maria in front of the tiny church where Stav was baptised
The village bakery which one of Stav’s cousins owns is where villagers buy their daily bread and kids love the tiropita (cheese pies) and pizza. He met his wife in Boston and she agreed to move to this tiny village and run the bakery with him. What a lifestyle change!
This area of Greece is well known for its wines and has many wine festivals. Many locals grow grapes and then sell them to local wineries. Wineries pay the vineyard owners based on the quality and sweetness of their grapes.
One of the wineries in Zitsa that we toured…
In the morning you will often hear the bellow of the the gypsy trucks roaming through the narrow streets of the village. They pack their trucks with different daily offerings…sometimes chickens, sometimes kids pajamas, sometimes deck chairs…on this particular day it was “karpuzzi” (watermelon). They have a loud speaker attached to the to of their truck and drive slowly through the village promoting their wares…
The town hall and the stone street leading to Stav’s family home in this small village where almost everything is made of stone..
The following are some typical homes and buildings in Zitsa.
The kiddos eating “Pitas” …what I would call the Greek national food 🙂 pork or chicken souvlaki wrapped in a pita with onions, tomatoes, fries and either tzatziki or a combo of mayo/ketchup. So popular..so everywhere in Greece.
And finally a look at the village at dusk from the cafe on the hill just below the monastery. Once it gets dark you can gaze over the mountains and see where each tiny village is located by their twinkling lights, so isolated but so connected to one another…
Stunning Leanne, absolutely fabulous photos!