Marvel At The Remarkable Homes In Greece Nestled Beneath Massive Boulders

The Greek Island of Ikaria in the Aegean Sea is home to numerous camouflaged houses built under giant rocks to make them harder to spot by pirates.


Nowadays, Ikaria is a popular tourist destination famous for its sandy beaches, picturesque villages and pristine natural landscape. But it wasn’t always the slice of paradise it is today. Hundreds of years ago, Ikaria was a prime target for the pirates who called the Aegean their home, so to protect themselves from their raids, the locals started building ‘anti-pirate’ homes deep into the mountains, to make their island look uninhabited from the sea. At one point, the entire population of Ikaria concealed itself in rock houses that didn’t attract attention unless you literally walked past them.


Historical records show that piracy plagued Ikaria and other islands of the Aegean since the 1st Century BC, but things only got worse with the passing of time. Raids of the island occurred both under Roman and Byzantine rule, and in the 14th century, after the island became a part of the Republic of Genoa, piracy got so bad that the locals destroyed their own ports to deter incursions. But that wasn’t enough.

It was only after Ikaria was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire that the people of Ikaria decided to take desperate measures. The lax rule of the ottomans only encouraged pirates to attack and raid islands like Ikaria, and locals didn’t have many options to deal with the situation. They could either stand their ground and probably die, or leave their ancestral home and move somewhere safer. They chose the third option…

With no real hope of successfully resisting pirate invaders, the people of Ikaria abandoned their homes on the coast of the island and migrated inward, into the mountains, making it seem like they had abandoned the island entirely. Many moved in modest, stone-built homes that lacked the comfort of their village houses, but offered perfect camouflage.

Known as “anti-pirate houses”, these dwellings incorporated natural features of the island’s mountainous landscape, such as boulders, rocks, cliff overhangs and thickets, thus making them harder to spot from long distances.

“It was a total reversal of the sort of structure most people associate with Greece,” local Eleni Mazari told the BBC. “The age of grand temples was over. Ikarians were building homes designed to be seen by no-one, and to do it they had to go high up into the wilderness where they could not be observed from sea.”

Ikarians would continue to build and live in anti-pirate homes for about three decades, a period commonly known as “piratiki epochi” or “the pirate era”. Ghost mountain villages like Lagkada still feature stone dwellings from that time, many of which are as hard to spot today as they were back then.

To avoid attracting attention, houses would generally have just one level, lower than the boulder or cliff camouflaging it and they would have no chimney, to prevent columns of smoke. Locals would mostly interact at night and avoid using fire or any sources of light, and they didn’t even keep dogs, for fear that their barking would attract unwanted guests.


Interestingly, despite the hardships endured by the locals over the centuries, Ikaria is known as Greece’s land of longevity, where one in three people ends up living well into their 90s, and many become centenarians. It’s one of the world’s rare “blue zones”, places where people regularly manage to outlive the rest of us by 10 years or more.


Related Posts

Matt Damon has put his stunning Pacific Palisades mansion up for sale for $18 million, with all proceeds going to help the victims of the devastating L.A. fires. It breaks my heart to see people fleeing in the night…see more

In an extraordinary show of generosity, actor Matt Damon has listed his stunning Pacific Palisades mansion for sale at an impressive price of $18 million. The decision to sell his…

Read more

Touching: Keanu Reeves saves a child after his parents died during evacuation as fires spread in LA. Keanu Reeves recounts the life-and-death moment that left him…see more

In the midst of devastating wildfires that ravaged the outskirts of Los Angeles, one family’s story of survival and resilience stands out—thanks to an unlikely hero, Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves….

Read more

Grief-stricken over a devastating loss, Harrison Ford was forced to evacuate his $20 million Brentwood home as the LA fire spread rapidly. The damage was so severe that he had to…see more

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have claimed yet another victim—this time, the legendary actor Harrison Ford. As the flames rapidly spread through the Brentwood area, Ford was forced to…

Read more

Timaya’s Luxurious Private Jet, Worth Millions, is Furnished Like a Five-Star Hotel, Hosting VIPs Like Davido and Jay Jay Okocha Weekly

Check out Timaya’s multimillion-dollar private jet, fully equipped with amenities, helping him unwind from the rigors of touring around the world Check out Timaya’s multimillion-dollar private jet, fully equipped with…

Read more

Rick Ross paid his neighbors with 100 expensive supercars to get them ready for the car show

Rick Ross is making an effort to convince his neighbors in Fayetteville, Georgia that his upcoming auto show will bring benefits to the community. To support his argument, he recently…

Read more

Davido shows his love for luxury items by spending thousands of dollars to acquire a rare supercar Fenyr SuperSport and driving it on a domestic tour

This extravagant purchase has left autоmоtive aficiоnadоs and admirers in awe, further enhancing his reputatiоn as a cоnnоisseur оf fine autоmоbiles. Jоin us as we delve intо this remarkable acquisitiоn…

Read more

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *