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Oikia Karapanou

The greek "oikia" is at the the root of such words as "ecosystem", "ecology". It means both "house" and "home".

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Christina's Story

First came the dream. 
Then came the house. 

At the time of the dream, I lived in-between sea and sky in a small wooden homemade cabin, on my home island of Cephalonia. I was at the time writing a book. Living so close to nature greatly heightened my perception of the wonder of existence. Thus I started dreaming of a place where dedicated people would join, live and explore together the many ways of listening to and tuning in the wonder through all aspects of life.

At that time I had no idea that Oikia Karapanou would one day come into my hands. 

A few years later I inherited - and from the cabin I moved to the "palace," as the older locals used to call Oikia. I can still remember the moment when I sat for the first time outside Oikia's kitchen. What immediately came into my mind was: "Here we are. The dream has found its place". 

Some years later I met Olivier Clementz, a frenchman who was to become my life companion and partner in caring for the Oikia. Our place became a well established pioneering center in Greece
. Today we are embedded in the community of Aegina, with a precious team of collaborator friends and a whole flock of birds, dogs and cats. 



Oikia Karapanou  is above all, a house with a soul. Nothing in it is formal, nothing is standard. Surrounded by a huge garden, close to the sea, Oikia is a somehow the essence of a house. Simple, spacious, poetic, refined. A place where guests often tell us that they feel as if they have finally come home. 

Oikia Karapanou was the first holistic center to open in Greece. Since 1995 we organize and host all kinds of workshops and events fostering personal development and collective awareness. 
SOAR is our new opening in that direction.

The land of Oikia is a timeless step back from today's modern and fast paced world. Participants are offered a rare and precious opportunity to re-define lifestyle choices through the exploration of awareness practices, group work and connection with nature. Hosting the SOAR program at Oikia is an invitation to slow down, re-evaluate and find focus and balance through learning and practice.

Learn more at www.karapanou.com



Oikia's Genealogy 
George Voulgaris (1769-1812), ancestor of Oikia's SOAR's founder, Christina, was the first of the family to put down roots in Aegina.  On one of his voyages from the island of Hydra to the port of Piraeus, bad weather forced him to weigh anchor in Aegina at the gulf of Perivola. The area enchanted him and he bought a great piece of land, part of which includes the Oikia estate. 

Voulgari's son Dimitrios (1801-1877),  built Oikia in around 1850.  He was appointed several times prime minister in the first free government of Greece following turkish occupation. After Dimitrios' death, his son Lazaros inherited Oikia, which was later left to Lazaros's daughter Maria. Maria married Alexander Karapanos, a diplomat and Minister of Economics. He was the son of banker, politician and archaeologist Constantine Karapanos (who unearthed the ancient site of Dodoni, the oracle of Homeric times). From then on, the Oikia Voulgari has been known as the Oikia Karapanou. Maria Voulgari-Karapanou died at Oikia in 1967, and the house remained empty until 1990, when her great-granddaughter Christina Chorafas arrived in Aegina. 


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