Yesterday’s post was all about stone, so today I’ll stay with the same theme.
The roofs of traditional houses in the Epirus region of Greece are one of those details that really capture the character of the local villages. They’re not covered with the usual roof tiles, but with thin stone slabs — mostly grey, sometimes with a warm brownish tint. The stone splits quite easily into relatively flat pieces, which makes it surprisingly practical as a roofing material.
The slabs are laid in rows, with each one overlapping the one below. There’s no cement holding them together — the heavy pieces stay in place mostly through their own weight and the way they’re carefully arranged. As a result, the roofs have a slightly uneven, almost natural look, with individual slabs varying in size, shape, thickness, and colour.
I was lucky enough to photograph these roofs in the rain, which only seemed to bring out their texture even more.
What I find especially interesting is how the same stone seems to continue all around the house. The same shades of grey appear in the walls, fences, paths, and paved streets, so the roof never really feels like a separate part of the building. It almost looks as though the house is simply an extension of the stone landscape around it.
Perhaps that’s what gives the traditional villages of Epirus so much of their character — the feeling that the houses didn’t quite arrive in the landscape, but grew out of it.
@alexanderfluke