Cargo animals

For the unique Hydra so much has been said! Impressive, unique, aristocratic, charming, cosmopolitan. An island of insurmountable charm that inspired dozens of artists who made it a source of inspiration, but also a refuge of their lives, an island with history and great naval tradition, with the traces of its naval culture in every part of the settlement.

The beautiful cobbled streets, the flower-decorated houses with the bougainvilleas, the well-preserved stone mansions, built amphitheatrically under the bare rocks, together with the picturesque donkeys and the horses, are a beautiful setting that challenges you to stop your time and live. other relaxing rhythms.

Of course, apart from the tourist and picturesque image, there is also everyday life. Because Hydra, to those who live it every day, realizes that it is a difficult island. Nothing is done uncut. That is why those who want easy solutions have not chosen it as a place of vacation or holiday.

This time we will talk not about the obvious and glorious beauties of the island, but about another wealth, the backbone of the society and the economy of the island. Hydra, in a nutshell, owes the preservation of its picturesque settlement and the world fame of the island, to architectural beauty her, in her fact non-existence of wheeled vehicles and to tireless and uninterrupted work of cargo animals and conductors who move everything on the island.

The first and predominant activity of animals is the transport of building materials for the construction of new houses or the maintenance and remodeling of old ones. Stones, tiles, tiles, cements, gravel, sand, beams, floors, electrical and plumbing materials, frames and windows are loaded at the port, where they usually come from Piraeus by cargo ship, and are transported one by one patiently by the conductors. guide three tied, three to their destination. The animals will be transported with all the equipment of the house and its household items. A daily painstaking work done thanks to the mules and their animals.

The cargo animals of Hydra transport the elderly to distant monasteries, when the festivals take place, or drag the plow themselves, to plow the fields, and to plant mainly cereals and then to make their fodder, while in places where the garbage truck can not pass - the The island's only wheeled vehicle - some animals carry the rubbish to places where it passes.

With the cargo animals, the houses are daily supplied with daily supplies and mainly with drinking water and whatever else has volume and weight, because let us not forget that life in Hydra is beautiful but requires a continuous go-and-go in alleys with many stairs.

Thousands of visitors to Hydra crossed the beautiful cobbled streets on donkeys and mules, between proud mansions and beautiful shady squares, thus knowing the most occult beauties of the traditional settlement. For demanding travelers, there are paths along impassable paths that lead to chapels, monasteries and beautiful beaches.

The mules, the donkeys and the horses in Hydra they are taken care of every day, they are well-behaved, one has only to notice them, when they pass by him. Their hair shines. Not because they are the "machines", the means of transport of Hydra that should shine like limousines, the means of securing an income, but mainly because they are souls, they have personality, everyone has him guy of, and why in Hydra animals and people live on the island as one family. And they do not need animal lovers to show them how to love and how to live with animals.

In Hydra today they live around 300-400 cargo animals and about 30 families who from generation to generation live exclusively on the pipeline. On the other hand, there are dozens of families who have their animals freely on their estates and use them for private purposes.

A few words, minimal value to these animals, which is the real wealth of Hydra!

Because Hydra would not be what it is, without its cargo animals.