Caravelis, Mary K.

The pattern of decline of the mining community of Sotiras, in the island of Thasos in Greece is examined as well as its resurrection as a seasonal second home economy. Thasos has been famous for its mineral wealth since antiquity, and Sotiras, functioned as the second most important mining town on the island during the early twentieth century. The community has experienced boom and bust cycles from its continued dependence on a single activity, mining in the early part of the century and tourism and seasonal residents at the present time. The main objective of this study is to discuss and analyze the socioeconomic, cultural, and spatial effects of the boom periods and the long decades of decline in between on the population and landscape of Sotiras in a core-periphery framework.

The community of Sotiras on the Greek island of Thasos has experienced two distinctive periods of economic boom during the twentieth century separated by a long period of decline and abandonment. Early in this century, a mining economy flourished, while today the community functions as a haven for seasonal visitors. This paper compares the socio-economic and spatial impacts of both periods via personal interviews and examination of letters of long-time inhabitants of the village. These sources seem to imply that the current growth period is less welcome by the native Sotirans.