The Ghost Towns of Greece: Darkness

In the north of Greece, about ten miles from Mount Olympus, lies a deep, narrow gorge. The steepness of the surrounding hills coupled with the dense vegetation means the gorge receives little sun, especially in the winter. In the early nineteenth century a lumber mill was built here, and a company town sprang up around it. In a nod to its geography, the new residents named it Skoteina, which translates into “the darkness” or “the dark one.” As most residents were employed at the mill, when it closed in the mid twentieth century they were left without a reason to remain in their gloomy town. They chose to abandon it and move a few miles downhill, where they built a new town called Photeina. In Greek, this name literally means “the brightness.”

This ghost town lived up to its name on our visit, with the midday sun obscured out by the thick clouds and fog. We parked by the old mill (which sadly wasn’t very photogenic) and crossed the river that runs through the gorge on a pedestrian bridge. From here, the village rose up along the hillside opposite. We would spend the next few hours here exploring as much of it we could.

One of the first stops was the church, which was, in fact, not abandoned. We found that, in Greece, churches get preserved even when they have very few worshipers to serve. In many cases that simply meant maintaining a roof to keep the building from falling into ruin, but Skoteina still has a few at least part-time residents, so it looked like its church was still getting regular use. It remains wild to me that these churches remain completely open at all times. We were, of course, respectful, but I would worry about thieves or vandals having the same access as us. Still, hard to get a shot like this anywhere else:

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The houses themselves were fairly rustic stone structures, though many of quite a large size. We had to be careful when walking around, because there were still some that were occupied. The overcast weather complemented them quite nicely.

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Just upriver from the town we found an abandoned farm with this tractor left under a tree
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Some of the interiors we saw, ranging from the completely ruined to still quite livable:

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I don’t know what was up with this log conference room, but it made for a fun shot

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We climbed the switchback path that led to the parts of the village further up the hillside, and there we came across a churchyard with some people camped in front of it. They turned out to be quite nice local hippies from this area of Greece, and they camped in this town from time to time. They pointed out a sight they thought I’d appreciate.
This was the church, with a small cemetery in front of it.

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In the far corner of the yard was a curious shed-like structure.

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I think I knew what I was about to see, but it was still… odd

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I would never act on this impulse, but the thought of bringing home a very morbid souvenir did cross my mind while setting up this shot. But just as with the church earlier, I wonder at the fact that these things, left wide in the open, have not been stolen or vandalized.
It is definitely says something about the Greeks that this is the case.

Thanks for checking out my photos. More Greek adventures to come soon!