I first met Emvis in 2006. He had arrived from Albania as a boy of sixteen, traveling across Greece mostly on foot until he reached Marmari, one of the loneliest villages in Mesa Mani. There he met papa Mitsos, an elderly stone craftsman who took him in.
Mani is also known as the ‘land of stone’. Rough, barren terrain where survival meant invisibility. For centuries, pirates prowled the coast. Vendettas smoldered between families. Houses had to disappear into the landscape.
So the builders worked with what lay beneath their feet, carving and fitting each stone with a sculptor’s care until house and hillside became one. Their walls matched the color of the mountain and windows stayed small as loopholes.
Papa-Mitsos taught Emvis this traditional craft. Today, he still lives in Mani with his own family, leading a crew of stonemasons, keeping the tradition alive. They may be among the last remaining traditional stone craftsmen in Mesa Mani.