In the footsteps of the ice makers of Hortiatis – The profession that was lost when the refrigerators came

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The last ice maker was Angelos Gouramanis who left the profession in 1955. The rest had begun to retire earlier, as from 1952 electricity and refrigerators entered the lives of urban families in Thessaloniki

For decades, Hortiatis was the natural ice factory of Thessaloniki, when electric refrigerators were absent from homes.

Every family that lived on the mountain had a member who in the winters was professionally engaged in the creation of ice, while in the summers he loaded the ice columns on carts and horses and transported them to the city to be sold to wealthy families and shops.

The last ice maker was Angelos Gouramanis who left the profession in 1955. The rest had begun to retire earlier, as from 1952 electricity and refrigerators that kept food fresh and offered a glass of cool water entered the lives of the urban families of Thessaloniki. .

Citizens of Thessaloniki will be invited to march on Sunday in the footsteps of the Hortiatis ice makers, who on the northern side of the mountain created makeshift tanks in the ground, the so-called bars, which filled them with clean water so that they would freeze in the low winter temperatures , November 6, at 9 am.

For the last 25 years, on the first Sunday of November, when the colors and aromas of the place – as the locals say – are unique due to autumn, a hiking route of about 4 hours and a distance of nine kilometers has been held.

The participants, from small children to the elderly, walk in the footsteps of the ice makers and at the same time learn about the history of Hortiatis, the martyr page of the Holocaust, about the flora and fauna of the mountain, as well as the problems faced by the massif.

ice makers

The idea for this particular walk, which did not “freeze” even during the coronavirus pandemic, began with an article by the representative of the Hortiatis Citizens Movement and publisher of the newspaper “Hortiatis 570”, Babi Nanakoudis, who invited all Thessalonians to learn more about the history of their place.

ice makers

“Our great-great-great-grandfathers made the ice naturally in the heart of the forest and preserved it in structures they made in the form of the cone, turned upside down on the earth. The most important written testimonies are from the Turkish chronicler and traveler, Evliya Celebis, who first wrote about the ice makers in 1623, when he toured the then Ottoman Empire, arrived in Thessaloniki and climbed Hortiatis,” said Mr. Nanakoudis to the Athenian/Macedonian Agency. News.

The hike starts and ends at the statue of Christos Batatsios, it is not particularly difficult and any hiker can do it. The first stop is the shelter of the Hellenic Mountaineers Association, while following the path of the ice makers, a cobblestone, which was made during the First World War. There, the participants in the action face the famous reservoirs and springs of the mountain that supplied water to Hortiatis and Thessaloniki until 1975.

“History fans have been participating for several years, but every time there are new people who come to see the route and learn about the history of the place,” adds Mr. Nanakoudis.

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