One day in September 2019, I was asked by my Dutch friend Mark to plan for another day trip out of Athens. Mark being interested in sustainable lifestyle, I suggested we head for the Free and Real permaculture community on the north of Evia Island.
The Free and Real organization was founded in 2009 and has ever since achieved a high degree of international attention and fame with regard to its activities. They have set up a number of projects on north Evia Island of which the most notable is the Telaithrion Project.
This is an eco-village on a slope of Mount Telaithrion, overlooking the North Euboic Gulf. Admirable efforts are being undertaken to bring this little paradise into existence. The village’s main feature is the rather huge, two-storey mud dome house that stands in its middle. Various smaller construction and agriculture projects are underway.
The initials of Free and Real stand for Freedom of Resources for Everyone, Everywhere & Respect, Equality, Awareness, and Learning. The following paragraph from their website summarizes their vision:
We have made it our life’s journey to research, create and implement an efficient social structure in a prototype, sustainable eco-community in Greece, which can be imitated and applied in any part of Greece, and why not the world, to work as a research school on self-sufiiciensy and sustinability. This social structure will be founded on inalienable human rights and an economy defined by strategic use
of technology, available resources, practical knowledge and hard facts. Selfless service (not exchange) and an eagerness for development and new sustainable solutions will be the driving force of our project. During this time we encourage and actively support like-minded people and groups in their effort to research and/or realize their own productive and sustainable ideas, structures and communities. This way, our community will serve as a school for anyone who wishes to learn about self-sufficiency and sustainability.
To reach the Telaithrion Project by car from Athens it takes about three hours. We started before dawn, drove past the city of Chalkida, and followed the single road leading to North Evia. Shortly after sunrise, we made it to Pefki village where we stopped for breakfast and a stroll at the beach. Still early morning, we continued towards the village of Agios, near which the Telaithrion Project is located.
Despite being from Evia myself, I’ve spent very little time there in the past ten years, and I hadn’t had the chance to visit Free and Real before. So I didn’t know its exact location. If you check Google Maps, it returns a spot inside Agios village (coordinates: 38.9040, 23.0558). And that’s exactly where we drove to.
Upon arriving on the spot, we only encountered a small lot. It belonged to them, as a “Free and Real” sign on the gate made as aware of. But the place was full of junk and there was no sign of recent human activity. A few unresponded shouts asserted that the place was utterly bereft of humans. We went online and tried to contact them via e-mail and their Facebook Page. There it was stated that visitors are requested to get in touch with them some good time prior to their visit. This was a very spontaneous trip of ours, so we didn’t have the chance (sorry about that). After some time elapsed without receiving any answer on our last-minute mail, we decided to go find it anyway.
We asked the locals in Agios village for directions and they promptly provided them. The Telaithrion Project is located some good way up the mountain slope south from Agios Village, close to a little settlement by the name Pedoupoli. Its coordinates are 38.879, 23.0722.
The villagers warned that it’s a rough drive for a non-4×4. So we parked the car by the end of the asphalt road, a short way out of the village, and proceeded on foot. After all, we found out that the road wasn’t that bad, but who cares, it was a really pleasant hike that lasted for about an hour.
It was quite disappointing that we found the place deserted. The dome and stuff were there, but no human soul. We checked a bit the place out on our own, and we were about to head back down, when people showed up in a pick-up. It was a small group of them. They let us know that no-one resides up there permanently. They stay in another Free and Real eco-project down at the coast and they only come to work. They were up to doing some repairs on the dome. They invited us in and gave us a short tour of the place. They’ve been doing a really good job up there and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the project will evolve in the future.
We let them go work and loitered about a little, checking the place out and enjoying the glorious views down to the bay. Then we headed back down to the car. We drove to Edipsos for food and a dip in the sea and embarked on the ferry to the mainland.
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