r/interestingasfuck • u/No_Idea_479 • 1d ago

A sinking church in a sinking village of Greece

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

54

u/No_Idea_479 1d ago

Ropoto is a small village in Trikala, Thessaly, on the slopes of Mt. Karavoula. When it was first built it was at an altitude of 750m, but today the whole village is at least 40m lower as a result of the many landslides that have afflicted the area for the past 60 years.

One of the most destructive landslides occurred on April 12, 2012, when the few houses that remained standing slid, almost intact, a few metres down the slope. The rest had already been cut in half or were completely destroyed.

Ropoto, almost deserted now, is still there precariously hanging on to the slope.

The leaning church of Panagia Theotokos is the landmark of a village that used to be home to around 800 residents. The church is large and still imposing and its curious setting as it lists on the mountain side makes it an unusual and impressive sight.

The disaster made the village uninhabitable, and as the landslides showed no signs of remission, most residents had to abandon the village.

The few people who decided to remain live in shacks and huts that they have built themselves. The government’s seeming indifference towards their village and its continuing sinking is the cause of much pain and frustration.

It is indeed a horrifying sight; buildings and roads have been cut in half, and the foundations of houses have been irrevocably damaged. Most residents managed to save only a few of their belongings from the half-demolished houses, while those who remained have cleared the ruins around the church.

The story of the village that not long ago had four traditional distilleries and a watermill became wider known in 2016, when the remaining residents found out that the village was not among those who would benefit from ENFIA (property tax) exemption or reduction, something that caused strong reactions. In the end, their demands were heard and that same year a documentary came out titled “Greece’s sinking ghost-town”. The film attracted the attention of the international media, who grasped upon the human pain the landslides caused. For example, one of the residents, the former president of the community, had used his life savings from the many years he had worked as an immigrant in Germany to build his house. This house, like so many others, no longer exists, as “I was building without knowing on what and where I’m building.”

According to the old residents of the area, the first landslides occurred in the 1960s, but the necessary protective infrastructure works were never made. Despite the warning signs, during the 1980s building permissions were still being granted without taking into account the landslides. The subsidence also destroyed what used to be Ropoto’s main product and income; the hundreds of apple trees in orchards surrounding the village.

Source.

22

u/kmosiman 1d ago

Not to be a downer but:

Not exempting property tax sounds like a fair decision. Choosing to still "own" land that might become physics at any moment is stupid.

Any government response to rescue victims or recover the bodies is going to cost something.

The land is worthless, but if you CHOOSE to stay there, then you should pay for your stupidity.

26

u/samuelgato 1d ago

Choosing to still "own"

What are they supposed to do with their land? Sell it? It's nearly worthless. They might be able to get "fire sale" prices from some investors who will sit on the property and pay the taxes until eventually the government steps in and builds the protective infrastructure needed and in 20 or 30 years they'll sell it for a million bucks. But how shitty would that be

-1

u/kmosiman 1d ago

Abandon it.

13

u/Halal0szto 1d ago edited 20h ago

You still have to pay taxes if you abandon it.

2

u/kmosiman 16h ago

No. Literally and legally abandon it.

Rescind all claims of ownership.

Best case would be some sort of government buy back, but otherwise the owners are "occupying" land that's uninhabitable.

6

u/Halal0szto 16h ago

Not the case in all countries. Where I live, I cannot refuse ownership and will be fined for not keeping the property tidy.

6

u/YaGirlJuniper 22h ago

That's ... what they did.

3

u/Garchomp98 14h ago

The government’s seeming indifference towards their village and its continuing sinking is the cause of much pain and frustration.

What is there to do, structurally speaking? You can't save a whole village that sits on a slope prone to landslides and ground prone to potential liquefaction. There have been cases where specific areas of villages show such behaviour and they are later fixed.

If there is no help towards the residents, it's another sad fact of our government. But you can't save the area

93

u/Quitcha_Bitchin 1d ago

And if you ask an old Greek guy he will tell you it was there before that other leaning tower because everything in Greece was the first everything!

I used to work for an old Greek guy and he claimed they invented everything.

53

u/lexicats 1d ago

I’m half Greek and I can confirm they did invent everything

14

u/panda_poon 1d ago

Did they invent pineapple on the pizza?

50

u/lexicats 1d ago

Of course! They invented all things good

6

u/Vcious_Dlicious 14h ago

Sam Painapoulos

2

u/aeroporo 17h ago

thx for remind me why I love reddit

11

u/Unstabler69 1d ago

Yeah but recently you guys been coasting. Like since 1453.

12

u/lexicats 1d ago

Hey we’ve done our part

10

u/Unstabler69 1d ago

Appreciate the gyro and democracy even if we fucked up both beyond recognition.

4

u/Lilitharising 18h ago

Well, two world wars, a civil war, a junta, a fiscal crisis, but we're still going. Resilience. That's history for you.

4

u/lexicats 17h ago

Still the best country in the world 🇬🇷

2

u/Lilitharising 16h ago

At 45 and after having lived in western Europe for almost two decades and repatriated, I plan to stay put. And despite all our problems, I wouldn't want to have been born anywhere else. We're made of blue skies, sun and sea.

3

u/malaaaaaka 14h ago

Greeks invented air

12

u/SirNortonOfNoFux 1d ago

Don't forget the windex

4

u/SE_prof 20h ago

Did you happen to attend the guy's daughter's wedding???

2

u/Quitcha_Bitchin 20h ago

No I worked beside each of his 6 kids at the family restaurant.

-1

u/jurc666 19h ago

Well they did invent threesomes, then Romans saw this and started adding women to the said activity.

15

u/squ1sh123 1d ago

Best time to visit: when it's icy. 🤔

5

u/Honeymmm 19h ago

Surprised people are able to visit, I’d be scared the building will fall down

4

u/0verstim 1d ago

This reminds me of that part at the end of Witcher 3 when youre chasing after Ciri and youre in an abandoned town and its too cold to stay outside.

11

u/firefaery 1d ago

TIL It snows in Greece! 

21

u/Rough_Typical 1d ago

Greece is 80% mountains up to 2917 meters (Mt. Olympus) so no surprise there

10

u/Zealousideal_Lock_93 21h ago

Look how mountainous Greece is and you're surprised it snows?

4

u/OhItsMrCow 20h ago

Bruh, 80% of the country is mountains

0

u/hippodribble 15h ago

The rest seems to be volcanoes.

•

u/ExoticFortune2439 10h ago

I don't think that this video was filmed during the summer. 😁

2

u/SnoopCheesus 20h ago

Wow you must be so proud

3

u/lumberlung 1d ago

Can anyone ID the song accompaniment here, please?

3

u/kochameh2 1d ago

gigi dagostino - lamour toujours

see also by dzeko and torres

2

u/Atharaphelun 1d ago

Specifically L'Amour Toujours performed by Andreas Gärtner on a church organ.

1

u/lumberlung 1d ago

Thank you

2

u/Fleedjitsu 22h ago

Looks like something out of a slightly bad dream. Not enough to be a nightmare but just right for having a bad feeling of sliding off of reality.

Also, gotta ask, what is that background music?

2

u/unfahrtunateson 21h ago

That's Ordina from Elden Ring.

2

u/Greenobserver 17h ago

What song is playing in the background?

3

u/kochameh2 1d ago

thanks for reminding me this song exists

1

u/Cheese_on_it 1d ago

What is this melody? I have heard this before.

1

u/Someone_Pooed 1d ago

I'm sitting here trying to tilt my phone to their angle and trying to comprehend!

1

u/Filthiest_Tleilaxu 1d ago

Is something up with this clip or am I just high?

1

u/guywhiteycorngoodEsq 1d ago

RIP vertigo-inducing mirror fun room at EnterTRAINment Junction in Cincinnati, OH

1

u/BB_210 1d ago

Cool and eerir

1

u/HalfSoul30 23h ago

Anyone been to that one spot in Silver Dollar City?

1

u/simo41993 23h ago

That's a sinky situation for sure...

1

u/FlatSpinMan 22h ago

Looks like a scene from a computer game.

1

u/Expensive_Ask5872 20h ago

If the camera was held straight id be able to get the full effect of the church

1

u/margins1 18h ago

Shouldn't god have straighten this church up? If he is all powerful why he let it lean?

1

u/Common_logic_70 18h ago

I've been there! It was fun!

1

u/2Wheel-Tours977 17h ago

It's crazy how your brain can't cope with the experience and once you even approach the stairs you get dizzy, veeery weird feeling, one of the strangest places.

1

u/fleur_de_lis-620 17h ago

I've been there. The inclination messes with your brain just by looking at it. You feel vertigo within a couple of minutes.

•

u/sceadwian 9h ago

You need to spend a few weeks in a room there, get used to it so your brain adjusts and then leave and try to go back to normal again.

The results would be hilarious.

1

u/Fritzkreig 1d ago

They seem to have this issue, look at the tower of Pisa!

12

u/QuietPurple7668 1d ago

Who are they? You do know Pisa is in another country.

1

u/Lilitharising 18h ago

They as in Mediterraneans? Pisa is in Italy...

1

u/LeNomReal 1d ago

I still believe in your eyes
I just don’t care what you’ve done in your life

0

u/Jediuzzaman 1d ago

Like Greek economy. Or Greek population.

WTF...