Herakles Lino Tescos – Building bridges between Ikarian heritage and modern times

8 am on a Tuesday morning. Finally, a blue sky arches over Agios Kirikos … only a few small clouds remain over the Atheras, the rocky ridge that spans the entire island of Ikaria.

Lino is sitting on the little terrasse outside the reception of “Pyrgos” – a small complex of traditional villas built uphill from the main port of Agios Kirikos. He is sipping on his coffee. From the outside he looks relaxed, more like a tourist who is enjoying a nice sunny morning and a splendid view. But Lino is not relaxed at all! He is the hotel manager and this means that he is running this place and he has to ensure that “Pyrgos” is ready for opening for the 2026 season. Only a couple of days until Greek Easter and the workload is still substantial. Due to the heavy rains which stopped every preparatory work on this site, there are delays everywhere: the rooms have to be cleaned, the bushes have to be cut, the swimming pool needs painting … and … and…  and.

Linos is sighing. He is Ikarian so he knows that miracles will happen at the very last minute – nevertheless he is a bit uncertain whether the workers, who promised to come today, will finally show up. And besides that, he has more things to do on today’s agenda: he has to go to the banks to make different payments, he has to meet with Dimitris to discuss the “Ikarian Film festival” in summer and he has to make some phone calls to launch some discussions with representatives of the Ikarian cultural association “Festival Ikarias”. Linos has many “hats” on and he is trying to keep them all ticking, not losing the balance, but to achieve results … but if you are stuck on one project, keeping the balance becomes an enormous challenge.

Two hours later “Pyrgos” is buzzing like a beehive: Vacuum cleaners are roaring in the rooms, branches are being sawed behind the front desk, and from the swimming pool you can hear the screeching sound of the grinders against the pool walls.

Linos moves busily back and forth between the various small construction sites, giving further instructions before turning his attention to the rose bushes. This is his task, a work he really enjoys: pruning them back and giving them more space to “breathe”

In these busy moments, many ideas from his various projects come together: as an architect, he has the big picture of “Pyrgos” hotel complex in mind – its authenticity, the harmonious growth of the entire complex through new little villas, built in the traditional way of the Ikarian stone houses. Or the little chapel that was recently built on a small hill behind the houses.

There is also the sustainable water supply system, which is secured by a private water tank and which needs his special attention, as summers are hot and dry on the island. And the last thing he could risk is to leave his guests without water during the high summer season. As Linos carefully prunes the rosebush, he thinks intensively about how to incorporate the planned vegetable garden and composting area into the overall design of the green spaces.

This is his vision for “Pyrgos”: a holistic approach that builds on the traditions of Ikaria—preserving the island’s traditional grey-stone architecture, featuring simple, traditional—almost frugal—yet technically state-of-the-art apartment interiors, and sustaining the Ikarian way of life through growing one’s own garden produce and recycling waste. This is how Lino wants to introduce Ikaria to his guests … by traditional simplicity, that is not shouting out loud, like many hotels on other islands.

Once Lino is satisfied with the way the roses have been pruned, he lets his gaze wander once more over the Pyrgos grounds, the harbour of Agios Kirikos, the sea and the island of Fourni across the water. “Exactly like this,” he thinks to himself, “that’s exactly how it should be. This is going to be good, and I’ll have the chance to live and work even more on Ikaria.” That is his goal: to return, to bring his diverse interests and activities together here, and to put down roots again.

Lino has Ikarian roots, with a father from Agios Dimitrios – Raches and a mother from Magganitis. But like so many Ikarians, he grew up in Athens and he has repeatedly faced the question: should I come back or should I stay in Athens? Actually, the answer has long been clear to Lino: he wants to live on the island, but the question is – as so often – what to do? How to shape a life and earn a living?

Lino’s return to the island was not part of any strategic plan – it was more the result of consistent actions and interests.

As mentioned earlier, Lino was born and raised in Athens. But like all children of Ikarian parents who left the island, Lino was lucky to be able to spend his holidays in Ikaria. As the Tescos family has many relatives on Ikaria, Lino always had plenty of opportunities to meet his cousins, with whom he spent a lot of time in nature – in the woods, on the beach and in the mountains. And, of course, he always lent a hand when his grandfather was bringing in the grapes or olive harvest.

Whilst Lino immersed deeply in rural life on Ikaria, he embraced his ‘urban side’ in Athens. As his father is a civil engineer, Lino has been familiar with the world of ‘building and construction’ from a very young age. As a boy, he built many things himself using various materials and that way he developed an interest in art, particularly painting and sculpture. Against this backdrop, his choice of career after leaving school was almost a foregone conclusion: he opted for architecture – a discipline in which knowledge in engineering, mathematics, art, art history and creativity are brought together in an ideal way. Lino loved the subject and studied it first in Plymouth, UK, and later in Volos.

(c) https://www.linotesco.com/architecture?lightbox=dataItem-izj0bsi61

Alongside his studies, he continued to engage in art. In his private life, he continued painting, engaged in digital design, but he also worked extensively across disciplines. He was curious: what happens when you combine different genres? Sculpture and digital art? Steel and painting? What will happen then?

In Athens, Lino connected with the Athenian art scene, which was small but very active. Lino knows that the Greek art scene is not really well known either in the rest of Europe or in the USA. It is more of a small community within Greece, which makes the art business difficult. But for Lino, the big ‘art business’ is not really relevant. Although art is political for him, he has opted to express himself artistically in private. Taking part in exhibitions and group events was not really ‘his thing’.

But for the past few years, he’s been „pushing himself“ a bit to get more involved in the public art scene – particularly by exhibiting his paintings and installations. And that feels good. It’s good to be able to pursue another of his interests and discuss it with others.

Icon made by Linos Tescos

But Linos’s main occupation is architect, with an office in Piraeus. He has established himself in the profession and is busy with commissions in Athens and on Ikaria.

In 1999, Spiros Teskos (Lino’s father) bought some land in order to build a house in Agios Kirikos on Ikaria. His plans were to build 2 small houses with bricks and roof (standard style) for him and Lino and the few friends who visit him in the summer. But already from the beginning, the idea faced major problems: The land was primarily only rock and stone and the access to it was very difficult for big trucks to bring new materials. This means that it needed huge efforts and expenses to excavate and build on this land.

And then a “typical Greek situation” arrived, when you are digging into ancient soil: During the excavation work on the site, they discovered the ruins of an old windmill, and this find changed all their plans. Instead of new buildings, they decided to keep the stones of the site and build with these as the main material, firstly restoring the mill. Around it, they planned to build small, individual apartments in the traditional style of Ikarian stone houses. The aim was to create a small traditional community for Ikarian visitors. Lino was responsible for the design and interior decoration, whilst his father as a civil engineer made the first plans and oversaw the construction.

One of the houses of the Pyrgos Hotel

This decision marked the start of a great adventure, which mainly involved finding masons who still knew how to use the traditional building methods of Ikaria. By that time, many Ikarian builders had already opted for quick, modern construction methods for many years: steel, concrete, and so on – that way wasn’t time-consuming and it was more cost-effective.

But Lino’s father, Spiros, persisted. He found a few workers who were still familiar with stone-building techniques. It turned out to be a long process, which is in fact still not quite complete today, in 2026. But that’s fine with Lino. He would rather see his ideas take longer to realize than have them ruined by the pressure to rush.

Today, Spiros and Lino can not only look back with pride on the eight apartment blocks scattered across the site, but Lino can also point out that his example has since been repeated by many others. Today, many developers are once again opting for traditional building methods, and this is bringing a part of the Ikarian cultural history back to life.

And Ikarian culture and history have become a matter close to Lino’s heart! For him, this is not about personal enjoyment, but about the belief that even a remote and (some may say) economically disadvantaged island like Ikaria can open up culturally. This conviction has driven Lino to the point where he is now taking the initiative himself, developing and implementing projects on the island and for the island alongside like-minded people.

Poster of the Ikaria Film Festival 2025

One example is the “Ikaria Film Festival”, which was launched in 2024 with Greek filmmakers with the aim of making young, modern Greek films – which do not reach the major cinemas – accessible to the Ikarian audiences as well.

Then there is also the ‘Atheras Project’, which was set up by artists from Ikaria and has organized exhibitions and music events in Athens and various locations on Ikaria. Linos has participated in this – both as an artist and as an organizer. It works to his advantage that he ran a music pub in Athens for more than 20 years, so he is no stranger to organizing events.

But Linos does not want to limit himself to individual cultural projects in order to contribute to a broader understanding of culture on Ikaria. He has recently become president of the ‘Ikarias Festival’ association, which has a long tradition of initiating and supporting cultural projects on Ikaria. Linos hopes that, in this way, he can continue to organize high-quality cultural projects on Ikaria together with other like-minded people. That would be a promising perspective – above all, one that would allow him to spend even more time on Ikaria.

Since work began on the Pyrgos project, Linos has gradually extended his stays on Ikaria. Today, he spends around eight months on the island and the rest of the time in Athens. Usually not all at once, but rather on a weekly basis, so that he can also look after construction projects in Athens, but above all spend time with friends and family. He needs this change of place; it gives him plenty of inspiration for new ideas.

Pyrgos hotel (c) webpage Pyrgos

“But, to be honest,” Linos thinks to himself as he takes a short break from pruning another rose bush, “it would also be lovely to spend even more time on Ikaria. Art and culture take time; they need to mature … and we have plenty of time on Ikaria.” Linos likes the thought but cannot dwell on it now. Urgent practical work needs doing. There are problems with the swimming pool. And that’s the priority now. Cultural projects will have to wait. And with that, Linos puts aside the secateurs he’s been using to prune the rose bush and hurries over to the builders.

Lino and the home made recipes he is sharing at Pyrgos

(@Text and photos _ Birgit Urban)