It's good to embrace serendipity

This photo has just popped up on my timeline.

I took it in Pyrgos Kallistis, Santorini, in 2023.

If there's ever a place where you feel that the architecture of a place is a living, breathing embodiment of a nation's visual identity, it's a scene like this.

The whitewashed walls and domes in that beautiful blue hue perfectly complement Greece's national flag and the deep blue of the oceans around the Greek islands. It's almost like they hired a big branding agency at some point, and this was the result.

The interesting thing (well, to me anyway) is that the white buildings result from a cholera epidemic in the first half of the 20th century.

The government at the time mandated that all buildings be whitewashed with a limestone-based solution, as it was cheap, readily available, and effective in disinfecting buildings and, therefore, limiting contagion.

Blue, also so prevalent, was a relatively cheap colour that the local fishermen used to paint their boats. Any paint left over was used for fences, shutters, doors, and whatever else needed painting.

A lovely example of form following function – creating a beautiful, serendipitous outcome.

And I'm all for embracing serendipity.