We thank Giorgia for her visit to Montofoli Wine Estate and for including us in her dream to present a majestic and authentic Greece to the rest of the world. It is our honour to have played a minor role in the atmosphere conveying the history of Mando Mavrogenous, the heroine of the 1821 Greek war of independence.
By Giorgia Bitakou
“I “return” for a while to Karystos to post snapshots of wonderful moments recorded by the camera during the shooting of the documentary “Manto Mavrogenous”, since I skipped it after “radiating” to the North Aegean and Chios! Karystos: a city with wonderful energy and light, fighting spirit, alternating shocking landscapes, rich history and wonderfully hospitable inhabitants who love their place and work quietly for its development and exploitation. Many thanks to the Mayor Lefteris Raviolos for the very good cooperation and his promise to put a bust of the heroine Manto in the Port, where she landed as a liberator, George Lykouropoulos for his wholehearted devotion to research and photography, Nikos Chairetakis and his wife Alkmini Karakosta, owners of the amazing Montofoli Estate in Palea Chora and summer residence of lords, but also of Omer Pasha, for the tour, Antonis Kallianiotis, president of “Filippoi”, for the authentic weapons he brought to the Castle for the shooting and the copy of Mantos’ sword, Nikos Lagonikos and his sister Popi, for the hospitality at the Aegean Hotel and Stavros Panourgias for the meals. Above all, I have no words for my dear friend for many years, Spyros Georgiou, who immediately responded to my invitation to include Karystos in the shooting of this documentary and organized all the technical issues with respect to research, love for the Heroine and … his worship for Karystos! It does not take many to proceed a divine work … Few, with an educated ethos and love for God and Homeland!!!! I thank you wholeheartedly those who left your mark on this vision, and I wish Karystos to be in the place it deserves because it is one of the most majestic and enchanting areas of our Greece !!!!”
Photos by George Lykouropoulos
