The Rethymno baker who still makes phyllo by hand

At 86 years old, Crete native Giorgos Hatziparaskos is one of the last bakers in Greece making phyllo pastry by hand, his workshop located in the heart of Rethymno’s old town – one of the island’s best-preserved.

With the help of his wife and son, Hatziparaskos has managed to keep the business going, thanks to tourism, although the Covid pandemic and its impact on international travel have cast a question mark over the fate of the business.

Rethymno’s entire region is rich with ancient history, most notably Minoan, as evidenced by Knossos to the city’s east. But Rethymno’s own growth began when the island’s Venetian conquerors decided upon an intermediate commercial station between Heraklion and Chania, allowing it to acquire its own bishop and nobility in the process. The city was subsequently captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1646 during the Cretan War (1645–69), and remained under Ottoman rule for 253 years.

Today, the old town still maintains its aristocratic appearance, with its 16th-century buildings, its arched doorways and stone staircases, its Byzantine and Hellenic-Roman remains, the small Venetian harbour and its labyrinthine, narrow streets.

View the original video here.

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