On Sunday, August 9, 2026, at 20:15, the Cultural and Beautification Association of Agoriani, in collaboration with the Regional Unit of Laconia, will host the 8th Archaeological and Historical Conference for Northern Laconia at the Agoriani Municipal School. This year’s central theme is «Capturing the Threshing Floors of Northern Taygetus: Threshing, Winnowing, and Bread Production.»
The aim of this scholarly gathering is to highlight and protect the threshing floor, studying traditional threshing practices in rural communities from the 19th and 20th centuries. Additionally, the event will present a mapping of the threshing floors in Agoriani and surrounding local communities.
In Agoriani and other settlements in the northern part of the Eurotas Valley and Taygetus, a significant number of threshing floors have been preserved. These structures are characteristic of the daily life of agricultural societies in the recent past and are valuable monuments of Greek dry stone architecture. The impressive number of threshing floors identified and recorded in the northwestern section of the mountain illuminates the extent to which local rural communities were intricately connected to and dependent on land cultivation and the immediate processing of its produce.
Moreover, during the event, visitors will have the opportunity to admire paintings by Georgios Giannakakis, inspired by the agricultural life of the communities in Northern Taygetus. The art exhibition will open its doors earlier, at 19:30.
The detailed program for the conference is as follows:
- 20:15 – Welcome address by Ioannis Vergados, representative of the Cultural and Beautification Association of Agoriani.
- 20:20 – Greetings from representatives of the State.
- 20:30 – Address by Theodoros Veroutis, Deputy Regional Governor of Laconia.
- 20:45 – Introduction.
- 21:00 – Georgia Manesioti (Architect, MSc, PhD Candidate at NTUA): «The Dry Stone Architecture of the Threshing Floors of Agoriani Laconia and Their Mapping.»
- 21:20 – Nikolaos Mazis (Baker, Honorary President of the Bakers’ Guild of Laconia): «Laconian and ‘Modern’ Wheat Varieties: Their Role in Contemporary Nutrition and Baking.»
- 21:40 – Protopresbyter Chrysoavalantis Theodorou (Dr. of Liturgical Theology at AUTH, MSc in Byzantine Musicology): «From the Ear to the Prosforo: History, Tradition, and Faith Surrounding Wheat.»
- 22:00 – Dance performance: «Around the Village Threshing Floors.»
For further information and inquiries, please contact: Nikos Polyzos, Ilias Athanasopoulos, Panagiotis Papadopoulos, Georgia Manesioti. Communication numbers: 6974641464, 6944142209, 6974916747. Email: polsillogosagorianis@yahoo.gr | Website: www.agoriani.gr.
