2110 – more pictures of Ouranopolis

In addition to the last post 2109 about the Ouranopolis webcam, I want to add some old pictures of the village, that I found in my archive.

The first one is from 1959, when the first car arrived in Ouranopolis:

The first car on the beach of Ouranopolis

The beach looked very different in those days:

You can recognize the main street along the beach, nowadays it is completely packed with restaurants. The photo is taken from the old ‘Sidney Loch’ tower. Sidney Loch died in 6th of February 1954 during a winter storm, when he tried to rescue a pelican.

The main street along the beach, with children playing and chicken walking around.
July 1957: the Sidney Loch tower, seen from a boat (photo by Cas Oorthuys/ Nederlands Fotomuseum)

Two kids swimming near the pier of Ouranopolis (photo Cas Oorthuys 1957/ Nederlands Fotomuseum)
Another photo by Cas Oorthuys/Nederlands Fotomuseum in 1957 – curious Ouranopolis-kids welcome the returning pilgrims
Almost the same spot, now with the complete tower (Cas Oorthuys /Nederlands Fotomuseum1957)

For more about Cas Oorthuys and his visit to Athos have a look at posts 646, 649 and 652.

This is a picture of Joyce Nankivell Loch, who lived in the tower until 1989. She meant a lot to the local people, because she helped them with the founding of a textile (wool) industry, after they had arrived in Greek/Turkish ethnic cleansing after World War 1.

Joyce Nankivell Loch
Joyce Nankivell Loch in her home, the tower, in 1969 (photo by Jan Paul ten Bruggencate)
Ouranopolis 1967 (photo by Jan Paul ten Bruggencate)
Ouranopolis tower and piers in 2018
Ouranopolis seen from the air, 2017 (photo Wim Voogd)

Wim Voogd, 25/02/2020

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3 Responses to 2110 – more pictures of Ouranopolis

  1. This is really fascinating. Thank you for sharing this

  2. Thank you for posting such interesting photos of Ouranopolis. It is a lovely little town that fascinates me. I remember an excellent meal there after a pilgrimage in 2018.

    Do you know the book by Sydney Marangou White called ‘Bones Washed in Water and Wine’? She grew up in the town and was greatly helped by the Locks in her education. She became a nurse and then anded up in the UK working in our National Health Service. It is a wonderful book and a brilliant evocation of the hard life of the people who lived there.

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