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THE COMFORTING EFFECT OF WINE IN A PLACE WITH A HARD PAST

We discover how the conviviality around a table of food and wine can erase the wounds of the past in a space with a heavy historical imprint.

"JEDI" TAVERN IS LOCATED AT 13 PAPARESKA STREET, A FEW METERS FROM THE GATE OF JEDI KULE.

HEAVY LEGACY.
At the highest point of Thessaloniki (on its own acropolis) rises even today the Eptapyrgio, a fortress that was built during the time of the Palaiologos, to encamp the city's guard, but also for the residents of Thessaloniki to take refuge in it in case of attacks or sudden raids. To many people, of course, it is known even today by its Ottoman name, "Jedi Kule", which means "Seven Towers" (from the seven towers that strengthen the walls of Thessaloniki, not including the middle towers).
Apart from being a fortress, Eptapyrgio was one of the harshest and most inhumane Greek prisons, within whose walls thousands of citizens were imprisoned and tortured in the last century. Already at the end of the 19th century, when the fortresses had definitively lost their defensive value, Eptapyrgio was turned into a prison by the Ottomans. After the liberation of Thessaloniki, in 1912, the Jedi Kule became the property of the Greek state, which maintained it as a place of detention, even building a series of auxiliary spaces, so that the complex would be more functional for its new purpose. At that time, the inner courtyard divided by fences into sections, the observatory, a chapel, isolation cells, women's prisons and a military wing were formed. Three hundred meters outside the walls was the execution site, where several convicts were shot, as well as national resistance fighters during the German occupation.
The prisons operated from 1890 to 1989, housing some of the country's most notorious criminals – among others, Aristides Pagratidis, who was sentenced to execution accused of being the "dragon of Sheikh Su", the robber Tzatzas, the henchmen of Fotis Yagoulas, but also a multitude of political prisoners during the years of the Civil War and the Metaxas government. Eptapyrgio was infamous for its harsh conditions of detention, with several complaints having seen the light of day about cruel torture of prisoners, whose voices, and screams, according to witnesses of the time, could be heard well outside the walls of the Jedi Kule.
During the German occupation, more than five hundred prisoners were executed at the site, while dozens more were imprisoned there during the seven years. Political prisoners often complained about the conditions of detention and the behavior of prison guards. The situation did not improve much until a former political prisoner, Professor Georgios-Alexandros Magkakis (who had been imprisoned in Jedi Kule during the junta period), mobilized to close the prisons permanently. At the same time, the Deputy Prosecutor of the First Instance Chrysoula Yatagana revealed the inhuman conditions of detention through a special report – and thus, after pressure from the civil society, the prisons were permanently transferred to Diavata, in 1989.
After the closure of the penitentiary, Eptapyrgio came under the ownership of the Ministry of Culture and was turned into a museum, where visitors can watch exhibitions related to the Byzantine period and admire the view of Thessaloniki from its walls.

HISTORY IN HUMAN MEASURES.
One of the most characteristic stories that describe the relationship of Eptapyrgio with the outside world is the one that concerns the cafe of a refugee family, right next to the prison entrance, where every morning the relatives and friends of the prisoners visited their imprisoned relatives.
Back then the area was desolate and uninhabited and therefore easily controlled by the prison guards. Thus, a rather peculiar system was adopted to distinguish the visitors from the prisoners: some had to wear "crabs" (the hats of the time) and others had to remain uncovered, so that the guards could distinguish immediately the ones from the others.
This peculiar system was followed for about a decade (from 1922 to 1931), but it turned out that it was not infallible, as, despite its implementation, the then secretary of the KKE, Nikos Zachariadis, managed to escape from the Jedi Kule wearing it hat of a visitor and disappearing into the crowd.
For the record: some of these "crabs" are still hanging today in the "Aithrio" cafe, which operates in the same spot, ready to welcome its visitors under the dense arbor.

RETSINA, THE THERAPEUTIC.
Fortunately, time heals all wounds. The prisons were moved away, the city "embraced" the fortress of the Palaiologos from all sides, this part of the city became a favorite haunt of the younger generation, while at the same time it entered the routes of local and foreign visitors to Thessaloniki. And yes: here too, the role (and) of retsina was healing.
It was the end of October 1991, when the idea for a new hangout with delicious mezedes, good wine, genuine tsipouro and cool and fragrant retsina was born. The space (small, but very warm and atmospheric) was found at 13 Papareska street, just a few meters from the gate of Jedi Kule. Its name came almost as a matter of course ("Jedi"), while its doors were opened to its regulars in 1992.
Its mission is quite simple, but valuable. Offering Greek cuisine (with dishes such as Olympos wild boar stew with forest fruits and coq au vin with noodles, but also stuffed squid, lobster pasta, swordfish and sea bream) and homemade mezedes in an environment decorated traditionally, but with style, it comes to confirm a timeless truth : time is a doctor who comes to heal all wounds, to tame wild places, to erase bad memories, to replace sighs and sighs with laughter of joy, with company, with faces lit up by smiles.
Yes, time is a healer. And wine is one of his elixirs.