A traditional Greek washing machine!
“Nerotrives”, literally meaning “water scrubbers”, are probably as old as humanity. They consist of a source of powerful falling water and a wooden cone-like receptacle, deep enough to create a spin.
Very near our hotel, in the mountain village of Manna, we have two such devices still in use today! They are especially used for the cleaning of woollen rugs, which are usually handmade too.
The process consists of throwing the rugs into the wooden basin, where the water tumbles in with great force and spins the rugs around until they can be considered clean. It seems a lot like a process of purification actually! The rugs are then taken out with the use of a long stick and thrown over a metal bar where they stay in the sun to dry.
If you visit us in the summer, ask us for directions to the village and you might be lucky enough to see the procedure live!
Check out the videos below to see what the procedure really looks like!
