Arna, Lakonia: chestnuts and stories under the plane tree
A mountain village on the slopes of Taygetos, the stories surrounding the ‘Battle of Arna’, the Chestnut Festival, and why we keep coming back here to photograph.
Village in the mountains
Every time we take the mountain road from Xirokambi to Arna, Lakonia, the same thing happens. The bends become tighter, the air cooler, and somewhere around where the chestnut forests begin, the air smells of herbs. After a short, winding descent, we drive into the village, park the car, and walk down the road past the hotel. Then there is the square, with the enormous plane tree that, according to the stories, is about 2000 years old.
Arna is situated on the eastern flank of the Taygetos, at an altitude of nearly 800 metres. No one knows exactly when the village was founded. Traces of a Mycenaean settlement have been found at the site of Arkina, and the name itself appears ancient. During the Ottoman era, Turkalbanian families settled there, who likely built towers around 1780, some of which still stand. Arna was not officially recognised as a village until 1835.
Heroic tales
Then there is the story of Dimitris Drogaris. According to local tradition, in 1821 he led the men of Arna in a battle against Ottoman troops, the ‘Battle of Arna’. The figure of thirty thousand Ottoman soldiers killed, that you sometimes read, is almost certainly exaggerated. A grandson with the same name is said to have led the inhabitants to a cave during the Second World War, where the church of Agios Dimitrios now stands, so that no one was killed in the bombings. Historically, all of this is difficult to confirm, and other sources mention another clan chief from Arna, Giorgakis Giatrakos. But the name Drogaris can still be found in Arna.
One of the houses, which the residents say is the oldest, has a rounded corner that originally had no window, only a firing slit (the narrow openings once used to shoot from).
Another stone house has rounded corner extensions with narrow firing slits at the front and back. During a renovation last year, the slits were plastered over, but they are still visible in our older photos. We do not know whether these houses are among the Ottoman-era towers.
An emptying village
The village itself is experiencing a quieter struggle. It must be nearly twenty years ago now that the primary school closed and the daily bus stopped.
From then on, parents had to take their children to Xirokambi or Sparta and pick them up again, and for many families, that became too much to bear. They did not leave because of Arna, but because daily life here was becoming increasingly difficult: taking the children to school every day took an enormous amount of time and energy. Where hundreds of people once lived, only about forty remain year-round, a friend of ours says.
Under the plane tree
Nevertheless, the square and the road further into the village are often surprisingly lively.
The old kafeneio (traditional village café) at the end of that road is practically always open. And ‘Anna’s Taverna’ (‘Ταβέρνα της ‘Αννας’) is also a meeting place for those who still live in Arna and for those who cultivate the surrounding land, with chestnuts, walnuts, cherries, mountain tea, oregano, and other herbs. You sit there with a coffee, a glass of wine, or a freshly prepared meal, hearing the villagers chatting and the rattling sound of old pickups driving by.
Chestnut Festival
The highlight of the year is the Chestnut Festival, held every year on the last weekend of October since 2004.
This year it runs from October 30th to November 1st, with music, a market of local products, and chestnuts from the biggest cooking pot in Greece. Thousands of people come to Arna over those three days, many times more than live there now.
Furthermore, some local initiatives are becoming increasingly successful. Such as collecting and cultivating mountain tea, oregano, other herbs, and selling them locally, exporting them, or distributing them as far as Athens.
Why we keep coming back
For Laurien and me, Arna is a place we return to time and time again. During the hot months, to cool off. And always to meet people.
And during our photo tours, we love coming here with small groups: for the beautiful drive there, to have lunch under that plane tree, for the company, and for the old houses where we are allowed inside to take photos with the owners’ permission. Even with so few inhabitants, nothing goes unnoticed in Arna: with the key in hand, someone always asks what we are doing there, and for us, that is part of the experience.
Whoever has visited Arna once does not forget it. Long after you have driven away along the winding road through the chestnut forests, the smell of herbs, the shade of the plane tree and the voices on the village square stay with you. That is why we keep coming back: for the stories, for the people who still live here, and for that centuries-old plane tree that has so much left to tell.