Villa Phyllia, a property with history

The property and buildings that make up the creative centre known now as Villa Phyllia has a history that spans modern times back to the late nineteenth century. Then a teenager , Emmanuel Akoumianakis, arrived barefoot at Knossos and presented himself for employment. Emmanuel had walked from his home villa of Gerakari to escape a vendetta that his family were facing. Self-survival took him to Knossos where the news was that the excavations conducted there required fit workers for the grueling work of revealing the palace of King Minos – the heart of the Minoan civilisation. Emmanuel did very well and was rapidly promoted by Arthur Evans who appreciated the young man’s ability and enthusiasm. It was not long before ‘Manolis’ became Evans’ foreman and right-hand man responsible for managing the large workforce that had grown as the archaeological site became known internationally. As a consequence of his success, Akoumianakis could afford to buy land in the area – vineyards, olive groves and a barn for sheep on the hillside overlooking the palace -the site that has now become ΦΙΛΙΑΣ (Villa Phyllia), as it passed down the generations of the Akoumianakis family to his daughter Phyllia, her son Peter and to his children, Oliver and Eva. Phyllia's date of birth was always a mystery to the family. She was in fact born in 1921 not 1925 as shown in her passport. She was slightly older than her husband John. So uncle Micky Akoumianakis arranged a minor modification of her birth certificate to make her five years younger! If only it was so simple today. All we have is a small blurred photograph of Phyllia dancing arm in arm with two girls. It reminds me of a fresco or an ancient vase . A smiling happy young woman. She is wearing boots – according to my family the first girl in Knossos who did so. And the first girl to ride a bicycle. Her early life in Knossos Crete was bliss. She spoke about the gardens of the villa Ariadne next to her home – where the British archeologists lived. A paradise as she called it. Flowers,