Nowadays, the Greek Island of Ikaria in the Aegean Sea is a popular place of interest famous for its sandy beaches and amazing villages. ▲
Hundreds of years ago, Ikaria was a prime target for the pirates(海盗). To protect themselves, the locals started building “anti-pirate” homes deep into the mountains, to make their island look uninhabited from the sea. At one point, people in Ikaria hid themselves in rock houses that didn’t draw attention unless you walked past them.
Historical records show that pirates caused Ikaria and other islands of the Aegean trouble since the 1st Century BC, but things only got worse with the passing of time. Locals didn’t have many choices to deal with the situation. They could either stand their ground and probably die, or leave their home and move somewhere safer. They chose the third choice.
With no real hope of successfully stopping pirates, the people of Ikaria gave up their homes on the coast of the island and moved inward, into the mountains, making it seem like they had left the island completely. Many moved in stone-built homes, or “anti-pirate houses”, which lacked the comfort of their village houses, but offered perfect camouflage(伪装). To avoid attention, houses would generally have just one level, and they would have no chimney(烟囱), to prevent smoke. Locals would mostly communicate at night and avoid using fire or any kind of light, and they didn’t even keep dogs, for fear that their sounds would bring unwanted guests.
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