Kapsali Aqueduct

During the British rule, the English used Kapsali as a port and tried to organize its operation. Hence, they built the aqueduct, known to locals as “ntepozito” (tank) or “vrisi” (fountain), in 1828 at the location Patitires, for the water supply of ships as well as for public provision to the local community.

The ships approached the aqueduct, and were supplied with water with a hose that used to be there. Next to the building, there is a small public lavoir with troughs where women washed the “heavy laundry”, such as blankets, sheets etc. They would press them down in the sea, on the rocks below, with their feet  and then they would hit them with a wooden carpet beater and rinse them off with the freshwater of the aqueduct. The place was full of people, who came with loaded donkeys from Chora and other villages, and more often than not, they had to wait in line. That's also where the kids used to learn how to swim. When they didn't have time to wash and dry the laundry in a single day, they would sleep on the pebbles, in front of the beach. Women from Kapsali would help when needed.

The aqueduct is only a part of a much larger project that begins in the ravine of Sparagario, where an undergroung tunnel was dug for the transportation of water. It is one of the many infrastructure works that took place on the island when Kythera was a protectorate of the United Kingdom from 1809 to 1864.