THE FACTORY OF THE NEW A.VI.KO.
Alone, empty, dirty, and abandoned, the tomato factory — the famous A.VI.KO. in Lambi — has been left behind. A vast area of 14,000 sq.m. is up for sale or rent and, until then, remains closed, having at the same time become a place of expression and creativity, since there is no wall left without some impressive graffiti painted on it.
In 1954, the "Cooperative for the Sale and Processing of Agricultural Products" was founded. The Public Real Estate Organization purchased the plot where the cannery was established, and the factory was named the "Canning Factory of the Cooperative for the Processing of Products of the Island of Kos." The first secretary was hired, and a five-member managing committee was appointed to run the factory, which operated as an "informal consortium" under the name "Agricultural Industry of Kos — A.VI.KO."
In 1957, A.VI.KO. developed and expanded significantly with new buildings and new machinery, increasing its capacity to 40 tons of tomatoes per day. (All the photographs in this post are from the new A.VI.KO.)
By 1960, the tomato had become the island’s dominant agricultural product.
In 1965, on a neighboring public plot and with designs by the Agricultural Bank of Greece (A.T.E.), a new factory was built with ten times the processing capacity. Production was so great that A.VI.KO. rented private trucks, each capable of carrying 1,200–1,500 crates per day. Exports to Europe, Africa, and Asia also increased dramatically.
During this period, the old A.VI.KO. factory and the new facilities operated as a single, large tomato paste unit with a processing capacity of 400 tons of tomatoes per day. More than 10,000 acres of tomatoes were cultivated, and Kos produced 50% of Greek tomato paste, which was exported to all five continents.
The decade 1965–1975 was the golden era of A.VI.KO.
But the tourism industry transformed the local economy. By 1990, tomato cultivation had dropped to 1,500 acres, and A.VI.KO. faced a serious problem due to lack of raw material. Within just four years, this was enough to shut A.VI.KO. down. Cultivation shrank further to 250 acres, and the factory closed in 1994.
Its buildings are now part of the industrial archaeology of our island. In 1995, while the buildings, machinery, and archives of A.VI.KO. were still preserved in excellent condition, the Municipality of Kos submitted a proposal to the Ministry of the Aegean to have only the new A.VI.KO. factory declared a listed monument. For unknown reasons, the ministerial decision was never issued.
Meanwhile, the Municipality of Kos also made a proposal to the A.T.E. for the concession of the A.VI.KO. factory, and in 1998 submitted an exchange proposal to acquire ownership of the new A.VI.KO. factory and the Winery. But this proposal, too, remained unanswered and without follow-up.
In 2001, the A.T.E. became the sole owner (100%). At that time, the machinery was also removed from the site, further diminishing the historical value of the building.
In 2006, the Winery and the old A.VI.KO. were finally ceded to the Municipality, but not the new A.VI.KO. The Municipality of Kos, together with a citizens’ committee, demanded the building of the new A.VI.KO., but A.T.E. refused.
In 2009, A.T.E. once again suddenly announced the sale of the now-empty building, but the mobilization of the island’s municipalities and citizens at the time prevented this action. Even today, the struggle continues for the deserted building to return to where it belongs — to the people of Kos.
The weighbridge — the bridge-scale where the trucks loaded with tomatoes were weighed — still exists. Inside the little cabin is the tool that was used for weighing.
All that remains of the tomato paste packaging… remnants of a golden era for our island.
A.VI.KO. was the largest industrial complex ever to operate on the island of Kos. It made us all proud, and every family on the island was connected to it in some way. Its closure in 1994 marked the end of an era — the era of the tomato and of Kos’ agricultural economy.
Today, many young people express themselves through the art of graffiti, and all the walls of the once-great factory are decorated either with dozens of large and small graffiti pieces or with slogans, some of which I consider small “artistic gems.”
Both the interior and exterior spaces have become colorful canvases, painted by well-known young artists of Kos who sign their works — works that, I imagine, they could have been paid handsomely for, given that some of them are enormous in scale.
*Whatever remained of the factory was completely demolished in November 2019.
Γνωστό και ως Θέατρο Δήμου Ισθμιωτών, το ελληνιστικό θέατρο της Κεφάλου με θέα το Καμάρι, βρίσκεται σε περίοπτη θέση στην παλιά ακρόπολη της αρχαίας πρωτεύουσας του νησιού στη θέση Παλάτια (Η Κέφαλος, στην αρχαιότητα, ονομαζόταν Αστυπάλαια και μέχρι το 366 π.Χ. ήταν η πρωτεύουσα του νησιού)
Το αρχαίο θέατρο της Κεφάλου, περιτριγυρισμένο από χαμηλούς λόφους, είναι ένα από τα τρία σημεία στη θέση Παλάτια που πρέπει να επισκεφτεί κάποιος, Τα άλλα δύο είναι τα ερείπια της αρχαίας Ακρόπολης και τα ερείπια ναού δωρικού ρυθμού αφιερωμένου στον Ασκληπιό και την Υγεία.
Ανακαλύφθηκε το 1928 από τον Ιταλό Αρχαιολόγο Laurenzi. Η σκηνική του κατασκευή ήταν αναγνωρίσιμη σε επίπεδο θεμελίωσης. Διατηρούσε λίγες σειρές καθισμάτων, παλιότερα φαίνονταν τρεις ολόκληρες σειρές (σε φωτογραφία του Aldo Neppi Modona λίγο αφού ανακαλύφθηκε), ενώ τώρα μόλις οι δύο. Ίσως γιατί το δάσος που βρίσκεται ακριβώς από πάνω, "κατεβαίνει" σιγά σιγά.
Στο κέντρο βρισκόταν η Διονυσιακή κυκλική "θυμέλη" (το κεντρικό μέρος της ορχήστρας που απήγγειλαν οι ηθοποιοί και συνήθως ο κορυφαίος του χορού. Ήταν διαμορφωμένο βήμα σε σχήμα βωμού).
Η σκηνή είχε μήκος 13,25 μ. και διατηρούνταν τα θεμέλια από 4 κολόνες δωρικού ρυθμού, καθώς και αρχιτεκτονικά μέλη δωρικού, επίσης, "θριγκού". Χαρακτηριστική είναι η τοποθέτηση του θεάτρου στη φυσική κλίση του λόφου καθώς και η απουσία "λογείου" (μέρος της σκηνής του θεάτρου όπου έπαιζαν οι ηθοποιοί (τραγωδοί, κωμωδοί κλπ)
Στις πεζοπορίες μας προς περιοχές μετά το χωριό της Κεφάλου, συνηθίζουμε να σταματάμε για μια περιήγηση στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της θέσης Παλάτια και βγάζουμε μια αναμνηστική φωτογραφία στις θέσεις του θεάτρου.
Πηγή: Αρχαία Ιστορία της Κω (Από τα προϊστορικά μέχρι τα ρωμαϊκά χρόνια)
