An article praising the beneficial Domestic Property for our island, as well as the leading figure in safeguarding the institution, constitutional expert George Kasimatis, was published in the newspaper. Sunday newspaper August 7. Journalist Margarita Pournara refers to the unspoiled landscapes, pristine mountain peaks, and sandy beaches of Kythira and explains how the island's natural beauty is now its most important attraction. Read her article below.
Domestic Property: The most important attraction of Kythira and Antikythira
As I grow older, I develop a strange habit during my holidays. I feel that I can only relax and find peace when my gaze wanders over unspoiled landscapes, pristine mountain peaks, and sandy beaches. I seek the purity of the landscape to restore my mental balance. In Greece, there are now very few places that can offer this gift of uninterrupted visual escape from human creations. Some opportunistic fellow citizen will have found a way to build a small, unauthorized structure, to aesthetically pollute a hillside with his little palace, to put a tile in the middle of nowhere. There is one notable exception to this rule that is worth highlighting: Kythira. I have been visiting fanatically since 2000, but anyone choosing it for the first time this year for their summer break will be surprised to find that they can drive for miles without seeing a single «blot» of unauthorized construction. The natural environment has remained largely unchanged, and the existing settlements have maintained their boundaries and have not expanded at the expense of forest areas. The reason for this has a name and a history, and we owe our thanks to one man. It is called the Local Property of Kythira and Antikythira, and if it had been implemented throughout the country, our fate would have been very different.
This is an institution of British rule that applied to the Ionian Islands, but survived on two of them. The total non-private property of Kythira and Antikythira is characterized as common and inter-communal. While in the rest of Greece it belongs to the State (so-called public property), especially in Kythira and Antikythira, the State has no right of ownership over any non-private land, neither forests nor common areas, i.e. the foreshore, beaches, roads, squares, springs, and ports. This has proven to be a blessing, because if a cunning Greek wants to build on the mountain, encroaching on public land, the Tsirigotes will not leave him alone until the state takes notice (if it ever does...), but will rise up, because this land belongs to all of them. This legislation has survived to this day thanks to constitutional expert Giorgos Kasimatis, who shielded it so that it would not be threatened by the state, the Church, and other bodies that sometimes take issue with its existence.
So, if you find yourself in Kythira and wonder about the miracle on Earth that you see before you, it is worth learning the name of this man, who protected his homeland like no other, influencing future generations to preserve Kythira's greatest attraction.
