Maritsa
— — a village square in late afternoon.
Not only on a wall.
“Inland Rhodes. A small village under the flight path of Diagoras, with a stone-paved plateia, a few cafés around the church, and olive groves running off to the hills. Most visitors to Rhodes stay on the coast and never come this far in. The square is quiet by late afternoon, when the heat falls back and old men begin a slow round of backgammon. from the studio
Maritsa, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Maritsa is an inland village on the island of Rhodes in the southeastern Aegean, set on a low plateau about 15 kilometres south of Rhodes Town and four kilometres east of Diagoras International Airport. The village is part of the South Aegean region and the Rhodes regional unit. Its population is around 1,400, settled around a central square, an Orthodox church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and the surrounding olive and citrus groves of the Maritsa valley.
Inland Rhodes runs at a different speed from the coast. Maritsa keeps the rhythm of a working agricultural village — kafenia open early, the square filling in the evening, the church bell at six. The valley has been settled since antiquity, and Mycenaean tombs were excavated in the area in the early twentieth century. Coach traffic to Lindos and Faliraki passes well to the south; the road through the village is mostly local, walked more often than driven.
Maritsa sits within easy reach of the island's two main centres. Rhodes Town and its medieval walled city lie 15 kilometres north; Lindos and its acropolis are 35 kilometres south. The village makes a short detour for travellers moving between them, with a few tavernas around the plateia serving local wine and slow-roasted lamb. Spring, when the orange blossom is heavy, and early autumn are the best windows. Summer heat in the interior can exceed 35°C in July and August.