In August, a ferocious wildfire swept through the mountains north of Athens, Greece’s capital, pushing into the city and coming within feet of where Ilias created made-to-order tombstones, statues and other items out of white marble.
The flames ignited a gasoline-filled generator at his workshop, which burned for two days before he could get near the property. A bust of a Greek Orthodox saint was spared and now rests in front of the gutted and soot-covered site in the suburb of Halandri.
“It’s not the financial cost. I’ve lost my work — something spiritual,” Ilias said. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, since I was a kid, aged 14.”
The Aug. 11-13 wildfire tore through more than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and scrubland and scorched the shores of the city’s main water reservoir at Marathon, where an ancient battle inspired the modern distance…
