Tinos is home to a number of handicrafts of which perhaps the most famous is marble. This is centred on the village of Pyrgos in the north of the island where there is also a school of fine arts which specialises in sculpture, drawing and marble work (top picture).

The results of the marble workers of Pyrgos can be seen in the churches, in the coats of arms that decorate some of the houses and, of course, in the tombstones of villages like Pyrgos and Platies. Other areas that are ornamented with marble work include fan light, lintels and fountains.

The marble workers can be observed at their work, carving sculptures and cutting engravings onto marble slabs. The traditional scenes shown in the pictures below include ploughing a field using a horse and a traditional plough in the first picture. The third picture shows the distilling of raki, the local version of the spirit that is made in all wine-producing countries from the remains of the must once the grape juice has been removed.

Other traditional handicrafts are also practised on the island. These include wood carving, the making of traditional wooden locks and basket weaving.

 

Introduction	History
Handicrafts	Way of life