so we're here on the back side of Oia in one of the alleys that runs the length of the village
that is away from the main sort of thoroughfare the marble pathway the main spine that the vast
majority of people who come to visit Oia here in santorini actually experience and on the back side
are a bunch of small shops and a slower pace there's a bunch of great restaurants and small
sort of cafes there's a place where you can have a glass of wine from any of the vineyards on the
island and i'm talking with spyros the owner of candouni restaurant about this alleyway
specifically a little bit about the history and how it's unique and what people who might want
to break away from the absolute center of the masses might like to experience here in
Oia so Spyros it's nice to be with you hi hi again great so tell me a little bit about this alley
and what's significant about it and what people might find why they might want to check it out
off the bat co-owner there's also my brother and my family okay it's not only me cool it's
a family thing so this is the back alley this is the new candouni in the corner further down
and then this alley is parallel to the marble road on top which obviously has flipped today because
in the ancient times i mean we're talking five six a hundred years ago this is where the money was
all these phones are all old captain home so the captains are the ones who control the sea
controlled water and controlled the workers the workers lived on the caldera in little 20 square
meter homes and had to be the first defense of any pirates or anything like that coming up
so theoretically um Oia has transformed where everybody wants to stay in a caldera because
of the view and obviously the view and then in the back alleys is where everything sort of is
more quiet more winding so this road has been used a lot from all of us employees and now the
people that live in the caldera meaning the big grand hotels as an escape route from all that
big traffic and this is it this is one part of the alley so while the the main route the marble
pathway that runs along is packed during the main season so much commerce so much picture taking so
much food and high turnover and crowds and stop signs yeah and it can get into the salmon yeah
going through the stream right now that here on the back side there's a whole different uh
pace shades trees homes so for people who might want to experience so you can show these
houses yeah great so tell me a little bit more about the history of what used to be back here
uh in terms of before the evolution of the whole santorini tourism industry that brought that side
you know the caldera focus the one is you have ethereum hotel it used to be a factory this
was the cotton factory the sock factory sphinx the restaurant is part of the that's where the
main office was so that's where the exchanges were done candouni at the corner was a house uh there's
everything behind these walls they're all up the walls because they're protected from the
pirates so that's why the gates were all like this and this is why they're all shaped coming
into the back alley you go through some arches there's arches here those arches were hasapicos
passagios at the beginning of these arches were gated and had guards because everybody
was entering to the castle so you're entering into a castellito into Oia as a castle and there
was guards and and and the rich people lived in the big homes richness had to do with uh with the
captain homes and the peasants or the workers or the animals lived on the caldera which was where
the workers had to live somewhere and that's where they lived that was easier to make holes
into into into a rock and have them living in in 10 square meters or 20 square meters and
so today what do people find on the back alley if they're interested in exploring well well they'll
find touristical shops they'll find restaurants i mean we've created a nice i mean being here 22
years we were the first so uh it doesn't really matter what it is but it has created an escape
and you'll find some fine dining experience you'll find vineyards you'll find sphinx you'll find
roka another restaurant karma obviously candouni and Oia yes this is at the end the other corner
and you know and a little all of us have our own identity which is important you know you
want to have a glass of wine with some message you go to vineyard roka is a bit mediterranean
candouni is the home environment sphinx is a very high-class uh fine dining experience and eigefs
has combined everything together as to show you a bit of fine dining and a bit of mediterranean
great yeah thank you so much for just sharing this sort of backside
of that sees so many fewer visitors so it's nice to learn about it thank you great thank you spyros
you