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Porto Rafti is a bay on the east shore of
the Attica peninsula. Four islets
(Rafti, Raftopoula, Praso, Circe) are inside while one (Koroni) is outside and
slightly to the south of the bay. Porto Rafti and the surrounding region belonged
in the demoi (Δημοι) Prasiae
and Steiria, two of the 139 municipalities
of Ancient Athens. Pausanias tells us that
Athenians built a temple of Apollo and erected a statue of Erichthonius at Prasiae.
Erichthonius, the son of Cecrops
and an Attic hero, was also buried at Prasiae according to Pausanias(1,31,1).
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It is
not known whom the enigmatic statue on top of the Rafti islet honored and what
was its purpose. The colossal marble
statue likely was sculpted during the Emperor Hadrian reign (78-138 AD). Pausanias submits that it was Erichthonius
while local folklore suggests it was a tailor as the word rafti means tailor in
demotic Greek vernacular. Even a casual inspection of the statue convinces even
the most uninitiated that the statue is a woman. Therefore, deities such as Athena, Artemis or Demeter or prominent
women such as Hadrian’s wife Sabina or Herod Atticus’ wife Regilla are likely
candidates. Its purpose is also unknown
but I strongly believe that it served as a lighthouse to assist ships returning
at night from the Cyclades islands the nearest of which Kea is 20 miles away
to Attica. Two more reasons in support of
my theory that its main function was that of a lighthouse are first that it is
facing east towards the Aegean islands and Asia Minor and second one of its
arms is raised where I would like to propose a metal cauldron was placed and
used for the purpose of lighting a fire. Etching by Irish traveler E. Dodwell who visited Greece from 1801 to 1806.
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Porto Rafti Regatta is a three-day event with the first race run was from the starting line around the islets of Praso, Rafti and back to the finish line a length of approximately 5 nautical miles. The crew of Okyrhoe in day I was my brother Nikos, his wife Alexandra, our friend Kostas and myself.
The course in the second race was similar to that of the first day and the crew of legendary Okyrhoe was Nikos, Kostas, Myrto a most able woman sailor, her daughter and our cinematographer Alecos.
In the third and last day of Porto Rafti Regatta my brother had an all women crew. It is interesting that Okyrhoe was first at the finish line in all three races. It was a most pleasant weekend and a great way for me to celebrate my 73rd birthday with relatives and dear friends. In closing, I would like to thank my friend Alexander Syris who was the cinematographer and producer of the three beautiful videos of Porto Rafti Regatta.
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