Piles is one of the 12 villages of Karpathos.
The smallest, inhabited, village, built on the west side of the island, with panoramic views of the neighboring historic island of Kasos and the mountains of Sitia. It is literally drowned in the green of its many orchards and every day, you can enjoy a wonderful sunset from here!
The village was first inhabited in the 17th century by refugees, who left the coast of the island, where they originally lived, to avoid the pirates who were ravaging the Aegean islands. Many fugitives from neighboring Crete and the martyrdom Kasos were added to them during the Revolution of 1821.
Piles followed the fate of Karpathos (Turkish, Italian-German occupation), bravely resisted the conquerors, took part in the liberation struggles, and also enjoyed the joy of liberation (1944) and the incorporation (1947) with Mother Greece!
Konstantinos Psilis, a Sacred Band (“Hieros Lochos”) commando sergeant from Chios, who was killed by a shell in Pronni is buried in the Cemetery of the village.
Piles inhabitants sprouted into the ends of the Earth. Hard-working, as they are, blew and flourished wherever they went. But they always love and visit their village. They reinforce every charitable work and are interested in village’s progress.
The name of the village
There are various versions, for the name of our village.
There were some gates (doors, in greek “pyles”) or the village was a gateway (passage, entrance – in greek pyli (plural pyles) is a synonym to gateway), that joined the villages of the north zone with the lower and southern Karpathos.
There was – and there is – a lot of clay (in greek “pelos”. (Initially the word was written in -e: Peles). There were caves (in greek “spilies”) and the word came to be Piles.
Education
The Piles, famous for the many and good Teacher it produced, were called “The Teacher’s Village”. In 1908, at the expense of the Ecclesiastical Committee, the school was bought and in 1925 the school building was rebuilt. The school initially had three teachers, later it had two and ended up with only one.
The school building was damaged by earthquakes, rebuilt again completely in 1994 and since then the Community Office and the Community Clinic have been housed there.
In 1985, the new school building was built on a privately owned communal plot of land at the edge of the village. It is a modern training center, perfectly equipped with all modern electronic educational tools. In the classroom innovative educational programs are applied by use of 8 computers.
In our School, the pioneering program “LOGOMATHEIA” (1993) was first applied, and the “TELEMACHOS” NETWORK OF GREEK SCHOOLS (1995) was inaugurated.
The School participates in the global environmental program GLOBE-ALEXANDROS (1997) and in a program for the protection of the Mediterranean seal. In 1998 it was twinned with the Primary School of Larnaca, Cyprus, with which it developed a remarkable collaboration.
In 1980, at the expense of the eminent George N. Grivas, the KousoureLakkion Foundation and all over the earth expatriate villagers and village friends the two-story school Library was built and equipped and as a result the Library has been operating in exemplary mode since.
Associations
Clubs and associations operate in the community and offer their important services, each in its own sector:
– The Charity and Educational Association “O APOLLON”
– The Athletic Club “ARGONAFTIS”
– The Association of Ladies and Misses “PROGRESS”
– The Local Committee of the KousoureLakkion Foundation
– The Parents and Guardians Association
– The Schoolchildren Cooperative
– The Agricultural Cooperative
