From Mining Community to Seasonal Visitor Destination: the Transformation of Sotiras, Thasos, Greece
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
R&D LIBRARIES Florida Atlantic University FAU Institutional Repository http://purl.fcla.edu/fau/fauir This paper was submitted by the faculty of FAU’s Department of Geosciences. Notice: This manuscript may be cited as: Caravelis, M. & Ivy, R. L. (2001). From mining community to seasonal visitor destination: The transformation of Sotiras, Thasos, Greece. European Planning Studies, 9(2), 187‐199. European Planning Studies, Vol. 9 No. 2, 2001 From Mining Community to Seasonal Visitor Destination: The Transformation of Sotiras, Thasos, Greece MARY CARAVELIS and RUSSELL IVY [Paper rst received, February 1999; in nal form, December 1999] ABSTRACT The community of Sotiras on the Greek island of Thasos has experienced two distinctive periods of economic boom during the twentieth century separated by a long period of decline and abandonment. Early in this century, a mining economy ourished, while today the community functions as a haven for seasonal visitors. This paper compares the socio-economic and spatial impacts of both periods via personal interviews and examination of letters of long-time inhabitants of the village. These sources seem to imply that the current growth period is less welcome by the native Sotirans. 1. Introduction The village of Sotiras is one of 31 communities which dot the Greek island of Thasos, the northernmost island in the Aegean Sea (Figure 1). The island has been famous for its mineral wealth since antiquity (Healy, 1978), and Sotiras, located on the north-west side of the island, functioned as the second most important mining town on Thasos during the early years of this century (Boreadis, 1954). As the mining activity dwindled towards the middle of the century, Sotiras had to search for new economic livelihood. After decades of economic and population decline, today the permanent inhabitants of the community rely largely on the regular in ux of summer residents and a small stream of tourists to survive. While quite modest in comparison to the growth of the early mining period, it is important to note that today’s seasonal visitor economy is a “ urry of activity compared to the previous few decades” (Vranas, 1995), and therefore viewed by the many of the locals as a boom period. As industry and other traditional economies decline around the world, many peripheral regions have attempted to nd their niche in the global marketplace via the promotion of a tourist or seasonal visitor economy (Koscak, 1998; Buhalis, 1999). The main objective of this study is to compare the socio-economic, cultural, and spatial effects on Sotiras and its permanent residents during both growth periods of the twentieth century. In doing so, the authors hope to make a modest contribution to a growing body of literature attempting to Mary Caravelis, Department of History and Political Science, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL 33161, USA. Russell Ivy, Department of Geography and Geology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991, USA. ISSN 0965-4313 print/ISSN 1469–5944 online/01/020187 –13 Ó 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd DOI: 10.1080/09654310020027902 188 Mary Caravelis and Russell Ivy Figure 1. Geographical setting of Thasos. understand the issues and challenges related to the transformation of economic space in peripheral (often rural) geographic regions to a service economy based on seasonal visitors. The rst section of this paper will discuss the mining history of the island highlighting the Speidel Era (1903–1916), which greatly altered Sotiras shortly after the turn of the century. This will be followed by a discussion of governmental planning, which led to the community’s transformation as a tourist and second home destination. Comparisons of both periods will be drawn from collected letters and personal interviews with long time residents. Interviews were conducted by the primary author between 1994 and 1996 of all remaining permanent residents in the village (total of 13) and a dozen former residents now living along the coast of Thasos. Most of the interviewees were children and grandchildren of former Speidel employees with vivid memories of the Speidel era, thus allowing for the comparisons. 2. Thasos and Sotiras Through the Centuries For centuries, the island of Thasos has been exploited by outsiders. Because of its abundance of natural resources, the island attracted the attention of the Phoenicians, Parians, Romans, Egyptians and Ottoman Turks, among others (Alamani, 1978; Vakalopulos, 1984). The Greek historian Herodotus claims the rst group to exploit the riches of the island were the Phoenicians. They arrived in Thasos in 1600 BC, during which time the gold and silver mines From Mining Community to Seasonal Visitor Destination 189 were worked, and the forests on the southern portion of the island were used for timber (Healy, 1978). Only for a brief period in the fth century BC did Thasian power and culture ourish, freeing the islanders of outside in uence and domination (Alamani, 1978). Frequent piracy during the seventh century and again in the eighteenth century (periods when no strong outsider could protect the island) brought about the settlement of villages, such as Sotiras, within the mountainous interior. To fortify themselves, the Thasians aban- doned coastal communities and built new villages on hidden, and somewhat inaccessible sites in the uplands (Vakalopulos, 1984). Although mines dating from the Roman era are found in its vicinity, the earliest mention of Sotiras appears in the writings of an Austrian diplomat who toured Thasos in 1828 (Epenekidis, 1982). During this time, Sotiras was an agricultural village inhabited largely by monks from St Paul’s monastery in Mount Athos who cultivated grape vines and olive trees (Hall, 1995). During the years of Ottoman Turk rule, mining on Thasos was largely ignored until the northern Europeans, who needed resources to fuel their Industrial Revolution, were able to negotiate treaties with the Ottomans (Pamuk, 1987). These treaties removed a number of government restrictions on Ottoman exports and imports, and opened up markets and raw materials for trade with Europe. During the 1880s, the rivalry among the imperialistic countries of Europe for markets and sources of cheap and abundant raw materials had intensi ed with the arrival of Germany as a world economic power. The Ottoman Empire appeared particularly attractive to the Germans, because it had not yet been colonized or exploited (Pamuk, 1987). In 1898, one of the two doctors of the island, G.M. Christidis, mapped former Roman mining sites on Thasos, and originated correspondence with the Speidel Mining Company, headquartered in Germany (Chionis, 1989). Dr Christidis sparked an interest in Thasos for Speidel, which led to German economic domination of Thasos during the early years of the twentieth century. 3. The Speidel Boom Era In 1903, the Speidel Company selected Sotiras as their second base of operations (the island headquarters was constructed in coastal Limenaria) for the development of the 11 Thasian mines (Figure 2) which they had leased from the Ottoman Turks (Speidel, 1929). The Speidel company intended to extract, process and export zinc, based on reports of about 60,000 tons of calamine (oxidized zinc) already scattered throughout the old Roman sites, and by the end of 1913, the German company had invested the equivalent of 10,000 British pounds on the island to support the operations (Boreadis, 1954). This investment included a new port in Limenaria to accommodate the large ships that were needed to transport the mined ore to Germany. In 1905, Parashoudi wrote in a letter that the port was transforming into a city of ‘colossal’ building and economic activity importing over 2800 workers from the mainland as miners and to assist in the construction of the necessary infrastructure of the Speidel operations (Chionis, 1986). He further argued that Limenaria had become the ‘California of Greece’. Sotiras ourished during the Speidel era. The labour force in the village was estimated at over 1000 workers, with 800 men employed as miners, and approximately 200 women and children (aged 7–14 years) employed to sort out the metals (Axiotidis, 1928; Dourios, 1995). Even though the lease agreement between the Ottoman Turks and Speidel stated that the importation of outside labour was prohibited, more workers were needed than were locally available. As evidenced by correspondence between Speidel and the Turkish governor, more than 500 workers were imported from the mainland (Chionis, 1989). Many of these imported workers were Pomaki (Greeks from Thrace that had converted to Islam) and were housed in wooden cabins located on the outskirts of the village (Hall, 1995). 190 Mary Caravelis and Russell Ivy Figure 2. Mining sites of the Speidel Company from 1903–1914. Large amounts of capital were invested in the Sotiran mines which were opened laterally off the old ones, about one mile north of the village (Boreadis, 1954). New buildings to support the expanded operations were constructed close to the mines, as well as a smelter which was connected to both the mines and to the port of Scala Sotiras by rail. Vranas (1995) reported that, at the peak of operations, there were six trains that were moving the ore from the mines to the smelter which was located halfway down the mountain. In addition to the new infrastructure at the mine site, the urban landscape within the village of Sotiras itself was expanded. The Speidel Company of ce (known locally as the palataki) for the mine site was built at the highest point in Sotiras. The large three-story structure was also designed to house the German metallurgist, his assistant, and their families. At the turn of the century (pre-Speidel), less than 50 houses and a church existed in the village according to the accounts of the long-time residents, however, during the Speidel years several new housing units were added (bringing the total number of houses to approximately 150) in addition to a school, three-story hotel, town hall, various retail establishments (including a company store owned by Speidel which also functioned as a bank for the miners), and a police station.