EUROMED SUSTAINABLE CONNECTIONS ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION COMMUNITY PROFILE 4:1. TROIANATA, KEFALONIA February 7, 2008 the majority of the island is rugged and mountainous, suitable only COMMUNITY PROFILE for goat herding. Less than a quarter of the island's land is arable. Village of Troianata Island of Kefalonia, Greece The majority of Kefalonians lived in rural areas before the 1953 Kefalonia was named after the earthquake, but today the urban population accounts for two- mythological figure king thirds of the population in the Prefecture, and the other third “Kefalos”, the head of a great remain in rural towns and villages close to farms. family that included Odysseus. Village of Many people believe Kefalonia to Troianata be Homer’s Ithaca. Kefalos Troianata is a arrived as a refugee from Athens rural mountain and displaced the island’s initial village located inhabitants, the “Taphians”. 11 km ESE of Kefalonia has the largest Argostoli in the landmass of the seven Ionian municipality of islands, measuring 800 km² (300 Argostoli. mi²). It consists of four Troianata is peninsulas: the Paliki, Krani, Erissos, and Pergii. It is a linked to surrounding villages and to the Argostoli-Sami Road. The mountainous region with deep ravines. The tallest mountain is Mt. village lies in the hilly Omalia Valley surrounded by a mixed forest, Aenos at 1628 meters. grasslands, pastures, olive groves and farmlands that dominate the valley. A view of the Krani plain as well as of Argostoli Bay, Lixouri The official population of Kefalonia, and parts of Paliki can also be seen. The small road through the according to the 2001 census, was village leads to the monastery of St. Gerasimos, the island’s Patron 36,404. Currently, the island's Saint noted for his good works. population is nearly 45,000. Kefalonia experienced one of the The population of Troianata is rural. The main economy is based fastest population growth rates in on agriculture. Businesses include a restaurant, an olive oil press, Greece during the 1990s. The two general stores and cafes, an iron works factory, and a small present population density is 55 rug weaving cottage industry. Animal husbandry includes the people per km² (140/mi²), with raising of cows, sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits. Many families Argostoli, the capital, home to one- have vegetable gardens, olive trees, and vineyards, and make their third of the island's habitants. Lixouri is the second major own cheese, olive oil and wine. There is also a church, a park, settlement, and the two towns together account for almost two- and a community center that served as an elementary school when thirds of the prefecture's population. the village population was higher and included families with young children. Kefalonia is located in the heart of an earthquake zone, lying east of a major tectonic fault where the European plate meets the Hundreds of people traditionally lived in Troianata but as the 1953 Aegean plate. Dozens of minor or unrecorded tremors occur each Ionian earthquake destroyed nearly every building in the village, year. On August 12, 1953, the third of four major earthquakes to the entire population suddenly become homeless. Villagers hit in August, measuring 7.3 shattered the island. 100,000 of the relocated to Argostoli, Athens, Germany, the USA, as well as other 120,000 inhabitants of the island were forced to leave the island. destinations. Little by little, homes in the village were rebuilt and The only area escaping damage was around the town of Fiscardo people began returning. In 1991, 130 people permanently lived in in the north untouched. The earthquake caused the entire island to Troianata with significant increases in resident population during be raised by 60 cm. summer months and holidays. Agriculture The primary agricultural resources in Kefalonia are animal Community Partners breeding, vineyards and olive orchards, with the remainder largely The village population today stands at about 130 persons, with a composed of grain and vegetables. Most vegetable production summer population swelling to over 400 persons. The year round takes place on the plains, which cover less than 15% of the island; population continues to live in a traditional manner – tending to the olives, the vineyards, and the livestock. Youth, as in most EUROMED Sustainable Connections: 4.1 Community Profile – Troianata, Kefalonia, Greece 1 areas of rural Greece, have migrated to the larger towns for EUROMED olive oil cooperative, which he sees as a way to bring a education or employment. The principle objective in reviving the competitive market to his village. He needs assistance in order to olive oil industry in Troianata is to help revive a year round harvest hundreds of the resident population by establishing economic vitality through olive trees in his orchard that now oil harvesting and production, and by creating new employment in lie idle. As a village leader, the olive oil cooperative. George looks forward to the day when the cooperative Makis Christoforatos is can help him harvest his an important village underutilized orchard in leader and serves the order to supplement his EUROMED project as a family’s income. principle community representative. He Sprios Theotokatos, the operates the village’s project’s “expert” olive oil press and community representative, owns an orchard has rebuilt his family’s home containing about 500 in the village, and works as a professor of sustainable agriculture ancient olive trees. As a community leader, he is dedicated to the at the island’s technical college, while also serving as the full time continuation of the agricultural vitality of Troianta. He employs general manager of the Agroindustrial Cooperative of Robola villagers in several of his agricultural enterprises. Besides the olive Producers of Kefalonia. In addition to his own grape and olive press, Makis also has a large herd of cows, goats and sheep as orchards, he is responsible for the management of the valley’s well as a very popular restaurant located in the village. He Robola wine cooperative, and brings substantial expertise about provides mechanical equipment services to till the agricultural organic farming practices, domestic and foreign export markets, fields for village farmers, and organizes field crews to manage and cooperative farming and manufacturing production to the many orchards. project. Nikos Kavaliaratos returned General permanently to his mother’s characteristics of olive village of Troanata seven years groves in Kefalonia ago. He and his wife, Sevesti, The census of 2004 by an icon writer and painter, the Greek Ministry of relocated from Athens years Finance indicate that the after Nikos’ family left the island of Kefalonia island as a result of the produced 1,623 tons of earthquake of 1953. He, olive oil. The mills in Sevesti, and their cousins from Dilinata, St. Thekli and Athens participate in the annual Stkanthata produced about 100 tons of olive oil each in 2005. The olive harvest at the family’s Ekologiko mill near Lixouri reported that they produced close to orchards. Their harvest is 1000 tons of oil in 2005. Given the extensive olive resource on the limited to domestic production, enough only to supply their annual island and the fact that the vast majority of olive trees are consumption needs. With an export market available through an underutilized, yields could potentially increase by 500%. According olive oil cooperative, Nikos looks forward to expanding his olive to the census conducted by the Greek Ministry of Finance, in 2000 harvest and to supplementing his income with agricultural there was a total of 534,700.8 hectares of land with trees of revenues. various types in Kefalonia, divided among 4,735 plots. Of these, 518,780.2 hectares have olive trees (on 4,720 plots). These George Christoforatos is a taxi driver in Kefalonia by day. The taxi statistics highlight the olive-dominated landscape of Kefalonia. business provides dependable income so that he can afford to The range of olive trees in cultivation was 50-600 per family continue his rural lifestyle and agricultural practices. His olive estate, with a mean of 174.35 and a median of 110. Land orchard numbers more than 400 trees. However, due to a limited holdings are measured in Stremata, the traditional Greek export market, he harvests only enough oil to support his own measurement for farm land. The plots ranged from 10 to 110 family’s domestic use. He is very interested in the formation of the stremata (the equivalent of 10,000-110,000 m²), with a median of EUROMED Sustainable Connections: 4.1 Community Profile – Troianata, Kefalonia, Greece 2 28.17 stremata (28,166 m²). Olive tree density ranges from 2.5 to 1950s from Ithaca and Crete. The olives are more abundant than 13 olive trees per strema. In the 1999-2000 census of Kefalonian the Dopia tree, but the olives are smaller, rendering less oil each. agriculture, the density of olive trees per strema island-wide was 10.9. The Thiaki is common on Kefalonia. The trees grow from 5 to 8 meters high, the average olive weight is 1.6 grams, the relation of Village Olive Oil Production flesh to pit is 6 to 1, and the yield in oil per kilogram of olive is The village lies in the Omalia Valley, one of Kefalonia’s most about 1:5 or 21%. The Thiaki variety is also cultivated for an olive productive agricultural regions. In addition to olive orchards, which oil of high quality and is drought-resistant. dominate the bottom lands of the valley, the village is famous for its unique variety of grapes – Robolla. Formed over 20 years ago, The Kalamata variety, or the Robolla Cooperative of Farmers produces one of Greece’s Καλαματα variety, premier table wines.