VALLEE DES PIGEONNIERS

Nearby, Tarambados preserves some of the most beautiful specimens of the island. In Tinos, these dovecotes began to be built around 1200 A.D. The oldest of these constructions date back to the Venetian period. The island of Tinos has 800 of them. In the valley of Tarambados, you will see several dovecotes and among them the oldest and best decorated on the island. During the Venetian occupation, the ownership of the dovecotes was an exclusive privilege of the feudal lords of the island. When they left Greece and the Cyclades, this privilege became a practice open to all strata of society. Pigeons were sought after for their meat, but also for their droppings, a fertilizer used for crops. Even today, these buildings built to house and feed pigeons are a real curiosity on the island. A typical pigeon house measures 3 m by 3 m and 5 m high and could house 50 couples. From the outside, these complexes seduce by their geometrical forms and boxes, all in triangles and rhombuses, like stained glass windows. They are white buildings, adorned with amazing geometries. This example of popular art is part of the cultural heritage of Tinos. You are bound to see them. Traveling around the island for 4 years for an inventory, a photographer, Manthos Prelorentzos*, counted 924 dovecotes on the island. Even if their use has been gradually abandoned, their architectural touch remains in the landscape.
*www.facebook.com/prelorentzos.manthos