SKOPELOS SIGHTSEEINGS
SKOPELOS
OLD KLIMA ( PALAIO KLIMA ) VILLAGE
THE VILLAGE OF PALIO KLIMA. This is found on the NW part of the island, between the villages of Neo Klima and Glossa. It is at 24 km from the town of Skopelos. It is an evergreen village, built amphitheatrically, with old stone houses that look over the Aegean sea.
Klima is one of the picturesque villages on the island of Skopelos. Today, it has remained unchanged, despite all the interventions to denature its traditional nature. It is near to Glossa, that is on the south-west side of the island, looking towards Skiathos and Northern Evoia.
The village, till the early 1950s, was+ split into two neighbourhoods -machalades as they were called- Epano and Kato Klima.
The lower village –Kato Chorio as the locals call it- is older than the upper village. It was created, according to 18th century sources, by residents of Glossa, who set up something like a rural community there of the type of Ananias and Kalogeros, which we find on the island to date.
The church of the village, Agioi Anargyroi, was built in 1828, there may have been an older church there beforehand.
The lower village had a square at Tsitsiraflos which was very spectacular –you could see Loutraki, Pilio, Skiathos; there was a large KOKOREVITHIA tree there which was very impressive, and this was known to everyone as Tsitsiraflos. In the ravine that separated the two settlements there were till recently some old olive presses, Kalliagries as the locals called them.
The 1950 earthquakes caused degradation to the village’s glamour and beauty. Its residents went to the upper village, others to Loutraki, while very few remained until 1965 when the other earthquake destroyed the upper village, driving them away forever.
The Upper village is, as already mentioned, newer than the Lower. It was initiated around 1880. The residents were farmers, mainly occupied with viniculture, the production of resin and stockbreeding.
The most prominent characteristic of Klima residents was their enthusiastic character and their hospitality. It must also be noted that the Klima residents were some of the best merrymakers on Skopelos. On festive days, weddings and some Sundays, there was dancing and festivities in the square at Velania, and many people from Glossa attended. Traditional lively festivities took place on the celebration dates of Agioi Anargyroi (1 July and 1 November), Panagia Eliotissa, Agia Paraskevi etc.
On the Wednesday of Holy Week in 1965 the village was hit by earthquakes. Later, in 1981, they were transferred to the area Elios, where there is the new settlement of Klima residents under the name Neo Klima (Elios).
(text by father Konstantinos Kallianos)
