NISKIA

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At the countryside’s households, open-fire cooking was a common practice and the installation used for this purpose was called niskia (open hearth). This installation was most commonly found in the courtyard, but sometimes niskies are found inside the maerkon (kitchen) or one of the other rooms of the house. Hearths were constructed of masonry or stones lining the hollow centre, rising to a small height and bearing an opening at the front for placing fuel, usually wood.

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On several occasions, the maerkon (kitchen) had more than one niskies placed side-by-side on a bench. The biggest niskia was used for cooking with the chartzi (cauldron), while smaller ones were used with smaller cooking pots. Often, iron tripods called sidironiskies were used for the safe placement of the pots on top of the niskia.

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At lowland homes, the smoke from cooking on the niskia exited the house through the kapnoroufas, namely a hole on the roof, which when not used was sealed with tiles, bricks or in some houses with a broken kouza (jug) positioned as a makeshift chimney on the roof. At higher altitudes, the niskia was fashioned as a fireplace with a more proper built chimney at the top.