What is creativity? It is the act of turning a unique idea into something we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. We think of great works of art — paintings, music, dance, and so on. And we sometimes recall famous creative people. However, anyone can be creative in one way or another. While traveling in western Crete, we discovered a good example of this. In the beach town of Kalyves, we turned inland towards the White Mountains (Lefkas Ori). On a hill not far from Kalyves we came upon a whimsical wonderland called Koumos.
The Koumos chapel surprises every visitor with its strange appearance
The chapel is only large enough for a few people at a time
The little chapel contains all that is needed for Sunday church services
Koumos is imagination made real. It all started in 1990, when the wife of Giorgos Khavaledakis suggested that he build a stone table in the garden behind their house. Giorgos thought about the project, and came up with a fanciful way to accomplish it — encrusting the sturdy supports for a stone tabletop with small stones and colorful bits of ceramic.
Antique (but functional) mill with fantasy stone work
This inspired him to attempt other projects, which became an obsession over the next 14 years. He carried selected stones and rocks down from the mountains to create all manner of distinctive buildings and artwork.
Buildings are covered with hand-placed stones and found objects
Stone benches around tree in an open stone tower with decorated walls
Intricate stone mosaics and fantastical sculptures cover the house, taverna, chapel, a small museum and every other building in the complex.
A fortress-like structure across the square from the taverna
Although he was not a trained artist or architect, the creations of Giorgos Khavaledakis are delightful and strangely compelling. In fact, they are similar in some ways to the work of Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926), the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Because of his designs, Gaudi’s name was transformed into the word gaudy, meaning extravagantly bright or showy.
Goudi’s famous Sagrada Familia cathedral sometimes appears to be melting
Goudi’s colorful mosaic “El Drac” (dragon) in a public park
Quirky crocodile is one of many Khavaledakis sculptures at Koumos
No one questions the creativity of Gaudi, nor should they question that of Giorgos Khavaledakis — a self-made artist.
