For four years now, Wamvaku, a beautiful mountain village between Tripoli and Sparta that has been abandoned for decades, is truly experiencing moments of glory thanks to the initiative of a group of young people to “resurrect” it.

The reason for the idea Wamwaku Revivalwhose working group was established in August 2018 with the moral and financial support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, since Vamvaku is the birthplace of its founder, Stavros Niarchos.

The first phase of the program, aimed at attracting visitors, revived Vamvaka from the very beginning. Now, whoever stays in the village, which Parnonas surrounds with its natural wealth, feels that he has come to a small resort, which has nothing to envy of the classic winter destinations.

Well-maintained guest houses, as well as many organized activities – from hiking and 4×4 tours to mountain biking and cultural events – await visitors all twelve months of the year in the village, where a modern playground, houses and buildings have been renovated. , and the historical school has become a space for events and a center for the development of new ideas. And the goal is to one day rediscover this idyllic place for children.

Wamwaku enters the next phase

In the second phase of the program, Vamvakou aims to become a common space for collaborative development of ideas. In essence, what do the initiators of the program want? Wamwaku incubator (Business Incubator) are young entrepreneurs with passion and dreams to work together to create sustainable start-ups. (startups), which would allow someone to live and do business in the area. The first cycle of applications is already “in progress” (applications until September 12 here), followed by an assessment of enterprises from the beginning of the new year and immediately after it and their support.

From Exarchia to Wamvaku

OUR Anargyros Verdilos he left Exarchia with his wife and child four years ago to live in Vamvaku.

He himself explains that it is not easy: “You must strongly believe in what you are going to do.. The conditions you will encounter will be very different from what you knew in the city. If you don’t accept it, you won’t be able to make the transition.”

But, as Mr. Verdilos says, pandemic, with all the restrictions that have accompanied our daily lives for a long time, combined with inflation, have created a new stream of interest in moving to the countryside. “And it’s not just that in the countryside you don’t need 600 euros for rent, it’s also a matter of quality of life,” he says, and continues:

“The more people return to the region, doing interesting things, the more attractive the “forgotten” places become. Our activities in Vamvaku so far show us that there are many opportunities. We are already seeing this happening in other parts of Greece. We are in contact with groups that are doing similar things in Kaloskopi in Central Greece, as well as in Milies in the prefecture of Ilia.”

He describes how much Vamvaku has changed in four years: “Members of the Vamvaku Revival Initiative, we started out as a restaurant-café. We have also set up two guest houses with a capacity of 14 rooms and are preparing to further increase rooms due to demand. We have come to host over 12,000-13,000 visitors annually in the village, which currently has 26 permanent residents out of nine prior to the start of the project..

At the same time, we have created 16 full-time jobs. Recently, our team was joined by an assistant chef who lived in Athens and came with us to Vamvaku to work in our already well-known restaurant. Two cooperatives were also created, one agricultural and one women’s.

In fact, in a few days the first standardized products of these cooperatives will be released on the market: walnuts and chestnuts, olives (from the harvest of the cooperative members in Parnonas), graviera and honey (four different varieties).

As for submitting new ideas for further development of Vamvakous, Mr. Verdilos mentions that after going through this stage, he knows that it is not easy for an initial idea to turn into a real proposal. “However, precisely because we have a picture of the difficulties we are facing, we are able to present the situation to stakeholders in its true dimension,” he notes, adding: “The fact that we have many financial instruments in our quiver to develop these ideas are also very positive.

He even highlights how quickly the prospects for road-continental tourism in our country changed after the pandemic, and then: “We saw what happened last summer with the Cyclades and the Greeks. I inform you that Vamvaku is already a place to stop for a few days or even a whole day on the Mani tour, and this happens not only in winter, but in all months of the year.

The “Business Incubator” is part of the Operational Program of the Peloponnese 2014-2020 and the priority axis “Improving the competitiveness, attractiveness and extroversion of the region, the transition to quality entrepreneurship with cutting-edge innovation and increasing regional value added”.

New activities (which may also concern existing businesses) target the technology-innovation, culture, tourism and agri-food categories.