049 - Crowbar

THE STONE MASTERS used natural stones, which were filled with other pieces that they had to remove themselves from the ground. An indispens- able utensil in this hard work was the iron crowbar, the upper edge of which ended in a makeshift handle, while the lower end was curved, in order to fit inside the rock. Stone masters were then forced to carry the extracted stones with their hands, for a long distance. That is why they had developed a technique called “stithisma”, which, according to testimonies by the elderly, allowed people even of an advanced age to carry large stones for house building.

Donor: Ioannis Glezakos