MONUMENTS
The quarries, the slitters, the boatyards, the mines as well as each monument, constitute a visible, material basis for shaping and preserving memory. The monument, as a material tangible object, functions as a visual stimulus to stimulate memory, since people recognize in it aspects of the past that may or may not refer to their lived experience, thus contributing to the reintegration of individual memory into collective. Traditional arts function as an element of collective identity and memory of every people and emphasize the value of preserving and highlighting its intangible cultural heritage.
AGIOS ELEYTHERIOS QUARRY
It is one of the early quarries of the village of Pyrgos in Exo Meria of Tinos and is located directly above the village. Although the place is called Marmara, the damari is known as “Damari of Ai-Leuteriou” from the chapel of Agios Eleftherios, which is built on its curbs. According to tradition, “in this location, where thousands of cubic meters of white marble have been extracted in very old times, the marble workers of that time built it to have a patron saint”.
Google Maps-> From Chora, TInos to the Agios Eleftherios quarry
It includes three separate pelicans (formerly more), that is, three independent properties which changed owners over time. The marble layer forms the starting point of a fold (wreath) that disappears underground and reappears. Along its route, it was also used in other places.
Google maps -> Fe26 the inherited earth Agios Eleftherios quarry
The marble it includes is solid, white with reddish veins. Its good quality, the ease of extraction ensured by the combs and the ease of transport (due to the immediate proximity to the village) contributed to its exploitation, at least from the 17th century, as attested by dated constructions made of this marble. It seems possible that marbles of some early works come from this quarry, such as those found in the iconostasis of Agios Nikolaos of Vanis, 1662-64).
