Key of an Alaya Mansion

The key belonged to the front door of the home of Petros Karakourakoglou’s family, within the Castle of Alaya. Petros, an owner of caiques used for transporting goods, was lost in the labour battalions (*amele taburu*), leaving behind his wife Gesthimani—then only 17 years old—with an unbaptised infant in her arms.
Gesthimani was forced to abandon the family home violently. She initially found refuge in Cyprus, paying a high price to the British authorities to be permitted to disembark together with approximately 500 Alaya refugees. She survived for two years by working as a quilt maker.
She later settled in Nea Ionia, in the neighbourhood of Eleftheroupoli, where she worked in the local textile mills. She never remarried. Throughout her life, she kept the key to her home in Alaya in her apron, hoping that one day she would return.
She refused to learn the Greek language and was never able to speak about the events of the expulsion; every attempt would lead her to bitter, uncontrollable weeping.

Kindly made available for photography by the family of Stathis Nouveloglou.