{"id":1855,"date":"2026-08-09T11:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T08:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2026-08-09T11:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T08:31:14","slug":"cheese-basket-shepherds-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/cheese-basket-shepherds-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cheese Basket and the Shepherd\u2019s Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A MORNING WITH YANIS BOULAS
\nAT \u201cGROU\u2019S FOLD\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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W<\/span>e met at the 7th Mountain & Livestock Festival in Pityos. Yanis had been invited by the Chios Shepherds\u2019 Association to demonstrate how people used to make tyrovolia from reeds \u2014 traditional woven baskets used for making myzithra<\/strong>, a soft whey cheese. \u201cCome to the fold tomorrow,\u201d he said when I greeted him. \u201cCome, and I\u2019ll show you how tyrovolia are made.\u201d<\/p>\n

I left my car at Agia Kyriaki and walked to \u201cGrou\u2019s Fold\u201d, the sheepfold belonging to Yanis Boulas, the entrance to the \u201cworld of the shepherds\u201d of Astyfydolakkos<\/strong>. I found him watering the goats. When he was done, we went to his little shelter. He brought out the reeds he had gathered from Delfini and sat down on the cot. \u201cCome here and learn. I couldn\u2019t show you properly there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others may know the art of basket weaving, but this seventy-year-old shepherd is the only one who still actually makes tyrovolia to this day. \u201cAt our age, we\u2019re not really supposed to be doing things like this anymore. I used to catch wild goats by the leg; now everything comes back around<\/strong>\u2026 Learn, because you never know what life brings. One day people will be looking for these as souvenirs, like in the old days, like ancient things. Whoever knows how to make them will sell them for fifty euros.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was unsuccessfully trying to make sense of the initial tangle that forms the base of the basket. How many strands are there? Which one is the gaitani? \u201cYou cross them and start. The gaitani is the one that goes round and round. The old people called it the \u2018arse\u2019; now they call it the bottom, and up here are the lips.\u201d \u201cYanis, who taught you?\u201d I asked. \u201cPeople from Pityos taught me, a certain Kritoulis. But this weaving technique comes from Lithi, and it\u2019s easier than the one from Pityos.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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W<\/span>e met at the 7th Mountain & Livestock Festival in Pityos. Yanis had been invited by the Chios Shepherds\u2019 Association to demonstrate how people used to make tyrovolia from reeds \u2014 traditional woven baskets used for making myzithra<\/strong>, a soft whey cheese. \u201cCome to the fold tomorrow,\u201d he said when I greeted him. \u201cCome, and I\u2019ll show you how tyrovolia are made.\u201d<\/p>\n

I left my car at Agia Kyriaki and walked to \u201cGrou\u2019s Fold\u201d, the sheepfold belonging to Yanis Boulas, the entrance to the \u201cworld of the shepherds\u201d of Astyfydolakkos<\/strong>. I found him watering the goats. When he was done, we went to his little shelter. He brought out the reeds he had gathered from Delfini and sat down on the cot. \u201cCome here and learn. I couldn\u2019t show you properly there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others may know the art of basket weaving, but this seventy-year-old shepherd is the only one who still actually makes tyrovolia to this day. \u201cAt our age, we\u2019re not really supposed to be doing things like this anymore. I used to catch wild goats by the leg; now everything comes back around<\/strong>\u2026 Learn, because you never know what life brings. One day people will be looking for these as souvenirs, like in the old days, like ancient things. Whoever knows how to make them will sell them for fifty euros.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was unsuccessfully trying to make sense of the initial tangle that forms the base of the basket. How many strands are there? Which one is the gaitani? \u201cYou cross them and start. The gaitani is the one that goes round and round. The old people called it the \u2018arse\u2019; now they call it the bottom, and up here are the lips.\u201d \u201cYanis, who taught you?\u201d I asked. \u201cPeople from Pityos taught me, a certain Kritoulis. But this weaving technique comes from Lithi, and it\u2019s easier than the one from Pityos.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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He expertly makes the base and starts working his way upwards. The rest is easier and doesn\u2019t require quite as much skill, so he suggests that I give it a try. \u201cPut your hand inside, so it turns around your hand. You have to make 15 rounds to build it up<\/strong>. Up and down, up and down,\u201d he instructs me. Sometimes I seem to be doing all right; other times I get completely tangled up. \u201cIf you do it wrong, I\u2019ll fix it, don\u2019t worry.\u201d He leaves to water something \u2014 animals or vegetables, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

He comes back and sets about opening it up a little, because I had made it too narrow. \u201cThe finishing is easier, because it\u2019s already made and it guides you along.\u201d \u201cHow long does it take you to make a tyrovoli?\u201d I asked. \u201cIf I sit down to do it, about an hour for one.<\/strong>\u201d He weaves the rim of the tyrovoli and, just before trimming the loose reeds and handing it to me as a gift, he says with a smile to Antonis, who had arrived at the fold in the meantime: \u201cSo he can put it in his backpack, to put his eggs in.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took the tyrovoli, thanked him and was about to leave. \u201cHave you got a shepherd\u2019s staff?\u201d he called out. \u201cHere, take this one. It\u2019s made from wild olive wood. The shepherd\u2019s staff is the shepherd\u2019s weapon<\/strong>.\u201d Holding the tyrovoli in one hand and the staff in the other, I headed downhill towards Agia Kyriaki.<\/p>\n

Yanis, you know what? I may never actually use the tyrovoli to carry eggs. But years from now, I know I\u2019ll be taking your staff with me on my walks<\/strong>, and I\u2019ll remember you, Antonis and Stavrini.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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He expertly makes the base and starts working his way upwards. The rest is easier and doesn\u2019t require quite as much skill, so he suggests that I give it a try. \u201cPut your hand inside, so it turns around your hand. You have to make 15 rounds to build it up<\/strong>. Up and down, up and down,\u201d he instructs me. Sometimes I seem to be doing all right; other times I get completely tangled up. \u201cIf you do it wrong, I\u2019ll fix it, don\u2019t worry.\u201d He leaves to water something \u2014 animals or vegetables, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

He comes back and sets about opening it up a little, because I had made it too narrow. \u201cThe finishing is easier, because it\u2019s already made and it guides you along.\u201d \u201cHow long does it take you to make a tyrovoli?\u201d I asked. \u201cIf I sit down to do it, about an hour for one.<\/strong>\u201d He weaves the rim of the tyrovoli and, just before trimming the loose reeds and handing it to me as a gift, he says with a smile to Antonis, who had arrived at the fold in the meantime: \u201cSo he can put it in his backpack, to put his eggs in.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took the tyrovoli, thanked him and was about to leave. \u201cHave you got a shepherd\u2019s staff?\u201d he called out. \u201cHere, take this one. It\u2019s made from wild olive wood. The shepherd\u2019s staff is the shepherd\u2019s weapon<\/strong>.\u201d Holding the tyrovoli in one hand and the staff in the other, I headed downhill towards Agia Kyriaki.<\/p>\n

Yanis, you know what? I may never actually use the tyrovoli to carry eggs. But years from now, I know I\u2019ll be taking your staff with me on my walks<\/strong>, and I\u2019ll remember you, Antonis and Stavrini.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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TOU GROU TO STALISMA<\/strong>
\nThe place name \u201cTou Grou\u2019s Stalistria\u201d refers to a nearby spot south of the sheepfold, where during the summer months the animals find shade and coolness and rest beneath an evergreen holm oak.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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TOU GROU TO STALISMA<\/strong>
\nThe place name \u201cTou Grou\u2019s Stalistria\u201d refers to a nearby spot south of the sheepfold, where during the summer months the animals find shade and coolness and rest beneath an evergreen holm oak.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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A morning with Yanis Boulas at \u201cGrou\u2019s fold\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[27,50,49],"class_list":["post-1855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-stories","tag-aepos","tag-cheese-basket","tag-yanis-boulas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1855"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1869,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions\/1869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chioshiking.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}