Perdiki, Ikaria is a tiny village in the mountains of the Aegean island in Greece. The village is so small that there is not even a market shop for food, only a taverna or two that open after 7pm. That is what gives the town its charm and lack of tourists.

Ikaria is one of the few documented Blue Zones where people live to 100 and more, and that is the reason why we visited the small villages and larger cities, in order to learn about longevity secrets of the people there.

So, after stocking up on a little food, we left our previous accommodation at the larger village of Koravostamo and headed to Perdiki for our final leg of our Ikarian travels.

Perdiki Village of Ikaria in Summer

When we visited the town of Perdiki in late June, the Sparta flowers (spartium junceum) were in full bloom, covering the town in breathtaking golden hues. As we traversed the dirt roads on our walks around the village, we were in awe of their beauty.

We were told by one of our hosts that the Sparta shrub is eaten by livestock, and wondered if it was edible for humans too. However, after some research, we found out that the plant is toxic, and can cause digestive upset. This is very strange, given that we have seen the dried plant for sale at a grocery store on the island.

We also noticed that Perdiki, in particular, has many wind turbines, likely due to its location at the top of the mountain. When you drive by the turbines, you may disregard their ugly look, but pay attention to the noise they make. Their unsightly appearance does not compare to the noise pollution that they create.

Not that this bothered us tourists, but we can imagine how they disturb the peace for the local villagers with their noise. Of course, alternate sources of energy benefit the island immensely, but there is a worldwide trend to get rid of wind turbines in particular due to the amount of birds they kill, as well as their other negative contributions.

Edible Plants of Perdiki, Ikaria

As we walked the roads lined with mulberries and sour cherries, we picked a few fruit to snack on. Also, one of our hosts showed us how to eat the young, wild ferns on the island. It was a way that the locals survived the wartime starvation periods and still remember to forage to this day. Perhaps, the eating of wild plants it is one of the reasons for the Ikarian’s longevity.

There are a huge number of edible plants on the island. We picked many herbs for tea to drink as local Ikarians do. Some of the plants that we used for tea include sage, savory, oregano, thyme, eucalyptus, St. John’s wort and lavender.

Besides the numerous number of churches in this tiny village of Perdiki, there is also a picturesque tower with sea views. Right besides it is some kind of underground bunker or storage area that we were unsure of, but it was cool to see.

The canyon-like mountain hill landscape in the direction of Agia Kyriaki reminded us a lot of Iceland. Speaking of Agia Kyriaki, take a look at our post on the radioactive radon thermal springs that are located there. It is a hidden gem totally worth visiting on Ikaria.

Another place that Perdiki reminded us of was Quebec, Canada in the springtime. This seems like a strange comparison, but the golden hue of the Sparta flowers blanketing the landscape felt familiar to how the dandelions encompassed the fields of the Quebec countryside.

Do you agree with our comparison?

Goodbye to Ikaria

Perdiki was the last stop on our almost two-month long trip to Ikaria. Though it didn’t have many amenities compared to the bigger cities and towns, we enjoyed the peace and quiet we got here. It often felt that we were the only ones there, besides a few villagers. That, combined with the many wild herbs and berries we ate left us with fond memories of the place.

Overall, we had such a great trip that we would return to the island in a heartbeat. Stay tuned for our overview of the island and upcoming posts on other places we travel to.

Related Content: All Our Blog Posts on Ikaria, Greece