We would like to quote an extract from Marc Held's book as the epilogue to our site.
Thank you for visiting us!

The buildings and countryside around this ancient Mediterranean are the work of human beings. These lands which we love have been shaped and reshaped by human hands, rebuilding after disasters, clearing the land after long exiles and tirelessly replanting devastated orchards. It is people who, since time immemorial, have give the earth the contours that fascinate us today.

To love a land, and an island especially, is to love its inhabitants. They are the true heirs of the many founders who, over the centuries, created the face of this hermetic land - the landscape resembles them. Those of us who come from Paris, Athens, Salonica, London or elsewhere, should approach on tiptoe. The equilibrium of this beautiful little world is fragile. The gentleness of the islanders, their hospitality, their modesty, are all qualities that make them vulnerable to the influence of arrogant tourists.

Let us not bring here our haste, our hurts and affectations. History abounds with examples of invasions (even of tourists) which end with the local culture being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and lost for ever. Let us rather look at the grafts which have been successful. In these cases, it is the "invader" who is absorbed by the island culture and who takes on the islanders' qualities.

If you come this way, try to be a Skopelete .... or better still, a Glossiot!