In the Chora of Kythnos, there is a wide range of chimney stacks. This results from the personality of the various masons who built them, each one in their own personal style. The craft was handed down from one generation to the next and produces works of art. The top of the stack is called kapasos and it is usually a ceramic object. Traditionally the shape has been cylindrical with a cone-shaped crown bearing openings for the smoke to go through. It is a functional and decorative element of residences in Thermia. Often, the kapasos was no more than a medium kouroupi (crock jug) or a bee pseli (crock hive) without a bottom, placed upside down. If the residence was to remain vacant for a long time, its kapasos was sealed by placing a heavy flat stone on it. The most elaborate kapasoi used upside down crock jugs with their bottom left in place and openings made in various shapes on the body of the jug to let the smoke out.
The caminada (chimney) is not only the stack, but the entire space of the fireplace where people also cooked with a pot placed on a trivet. The word ‘kaminada’ comes from the ancient Greek word ‘caminos’, which meant furnace, i.e., a construction tolerating high temperatures, and the equivalent Venetian word ‘caminada’. The chimney is usually built in a corner of the home to facilitate smoke release regardless of wind direction or intensity. It has been confirmed that the chimney was never placed across from the entrance, so the fire and smoke would not be affected by the air current created. Inside the chimney and moving upward, an unusual conical space is formed ending through the funnel to the stack.
Chimneys were built to serve functional needs of rural or urban residences on the island of Kythnos. It was a natural extension of the kitchen and dining area, where cooking took place. The base of the chimney is elevated, about 60-70cm from the floor, and covers an area of about 1-2m2. It was paved with stone slates. The trivet was placed on this flat base, ready to receive the ceramic pot for cooking. Next to the trivet stood the fufu (adaptation of the loan Venetian term ‘fogo’), also known as mangali (from the Turkish ‘mangal’), a portable ceramic container of fire with two handles for coal to be placed in its lower part. On the side walls of the fireplace various cooking pots were hanging, such as the giouvetsi (from the Turksh ‘küveç’) (ceramic flat pot), the smaller pot tsoukalaki (from the Italian word ‘zucca=marrow’) with a lid, the bigger tsoukali to rovithio, the pot for cooking pulses and the davas (from the Persian ‘tāva’), a flat pan for roasting kid. The necessary tool for the fire is the tsimbida (pincer) (or massia from the Persian ‘māsha’), the tongs, to push the burning wood or coal.
After 1950 no chimney stacks have been built in newly constructed residences to meet the needs of cooking, since liquid gas and, later, electricity were used.
