Ano Meria: Rural History and Ecomuseum

In Ano Meria, a windy, dry landscape meets a history shaped by rural livelihoods. The Themonies and the historic uses of the Folegandros Ecomuseum buildings give this history concrete form. The island’s summer festival and destinations such as the Aspropounta Lighthouse add to the picture. When planning your trip, you can choose between local culture, island trails and a festival held at a specific time of year.

Landscape and rural life

The landscape of Ano Meria is windy and dry. Despite the difficult weather conditions, most households remain largely self-sufficient in agricultural produce and livestock products. The landscape and way of life are closely connected: alongside nature, visitors interested in local daily life and history can also learn about farming and animal husbandry.

The Themonies and the Ecomuseum

The Themonies of Ano Meria were small, self-contained farming units that included livestock. They supported a self-sufficient rural way of life that shaped village life until a few years before the account was written. The term therefore refers not only to individual farmsteads, but also to a way of life that was important to the village in earlier times.

The largest of the three Folegandros Ecomuseum buildings served as a family home until the 19th century. Towards the end of the century, after a new home was built within the same Thimonia, it was used as a cellar. The harvest was stored there in large storage jars and other clay vessels. The building’s use thus changed from a home to a place for storing agricultural produce.

The adjoining building housed the olive press and the cheese dairy. Together, these historic uses illustrate different activities related to living, storing the harvest and processing produce. They add further concrete aspects of rural life to the story of the Themonies.

A summer festival in Ano Meria

The Folegandros Feasts (Giortes Folegandrou) are the island’s summer festival and bring events to Ano Meria and other places every July. The programme includes theatre performances, films, and concerts of classical and Greek music. The annual programme may vary. If you want to plan around a particular event, check the festival dates before your trip.

Walking trails and destinations on Folegandros

On Folegandros, a 20-kilometre network of selected, well-preserved old paved roads and footpaths forms the “Footpaths of Historical and Cultural Interest”. It crosses large parts of the island and leads to destinations of particular historical, cultural or ecological significance. This is an island-wide network connecting destinations of historical, cultural and ecological interest.

One specific walk from Ano Meria leads to the Aspropounta Lighthouse; the walk is said to take about 60 minutes. This approximate walking time can help you plan your schedule. Alongside the island-wide network, it represents a single named destination with an approximate journey time, as distinct from a larger network of trails leading to various destinations.

Choose the right focus for your trip

When looking for a holiday apartment in Ano Meria, consider what you would like your trip to focus on: local rural history, the festival in July, or a walk to the lighthouse. The trail network, in turn, is something to explore across Folegandros as a whole. These distinctions can help you decide what kind of stay you want, without conflating the village’s history with other destinations on the island.

Discover more destinations: Anafi, Alopronoia, Oía, Vothonas, Pyrgos, Perissa, Thira, Thirasia

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