When we started stripping The Galini Studio in 2014, we expected damp. What we did not expect was a small archive sealed inside the wall.
The cement render added in 1991 had trapped everything behind it. Under it were two intact layers of the original lime plaster — the outer one still carrying the faint blue wash Maria remembered from her childhood. Between the plaster and the rock we found a folded 1948 newspaper, brittle but readable, and a single coin from the reign of King George I.
Why we kept the lime
Cement seals a cave. Lime lets it breathe. Dimitris mixed a four-part lime plaster with crushed Theran pumice, fired in a small kiln in Pyrgos village, and we re-rendered every wall by hand. It takes longer, costs more, and is the single reason the villas stay cool without air-conditioning working overtime.
The coin sits in a small frame by the door of The Galini Studio now. The newspaper is with a conservator in Fira. We saved the coin.