As in all rural areas of Greece, on the island of Lesvos, in the plain of Eresos (seaside tourist village), we find the first residences, small cottages, natives called them KOYLES, inhabited from April to October. Typically, the KOYLES were built on fields with figs, olives, cherries, almonds, vines and many other trees. These houses were made of stone and wood, without luxuries, where they were hosting families, the crops they gathered in the summer and often, their animals.
The stone-built walls had some recesses internally used as storage spaces, that is to say, as wardrobes, as cupboards and wardrobes. These areas were either exposed to house guests, such as dairies or were covered with wooden canvases for the rich, or with laces embroidered by the housewife so that their content would not appear. The housewives competed to make the most beautiful embroidery to cover her Mesandra and make the space more beautiful. The day everything was hidden behind the Messandra, and in the evening, all was taken out, the sheets, the woven sheets, the pillows, the blankets for the family to sleep.
Such a curtain, Mesandra was rescued from our grandmother’s dowry, found in the passage of time, resting in the chest of our memories.
When we first began in our first place of searching for traditional tastes (our tavern) next to Geni Mosque in the upper side of Mytilene, a historical, picturesque and nostalgic neighborhood, we looked for a name that suits our tavern and the philosophy of our quests. So we named our tavern “MESSANDRA” search place of traditional flavors, and we washed our Messandra, stamped it because it from fill, put it in a frame and decorated it as a symbol of our family business.
MESANDRA rehearsed to embellish. She found her place. Then the production of figs began with vineyards, sour cherries, almonds, walnuts, and our passion for pure products! Our trademark continues to be MESANDRA, which unites us with the past, reminds us of our roots and gives us strength and vision for the future, because if we forget our past we can not move on to our future.