A Bit About Greek Door Knockers!

For many years I’ve had an obsession with photographing doors and windows.  There is something so evocative about an old, ornate door that through its layers of peeling paint, begins to reveal the patina of time.  It’s not just about the external appearance, it’s the curiosity of what lies within.  The lives that have been lived and what had been seen through those windows over time.

As well as the doors, I’ve also become intrigued by door knockers – especially the ones found during my travels around Greece.  Many years ago I started noticing the hand-shaped knockers usually displaying a ring on a finger.  Then there were the lion-shaped knockers that stood guard over the entrance to the homestead.

I decided to delve a bit deeper to see if I could find out anything about their origins.  My findings seemed to suggest that Greece and Athens in particular, were instrumental in the development of what we know as a door knocker today.

Back in the days of Yore – otherwise known as Ancient Greece, the wealthy Athenians didn’t like the idea of unannounced guests rocking up to their mansions.  Apparently, the Spartans had a habit of barging into any household unannounced.  The more sophisticated Athenians decided to give their slaves the task of manning the door to announce the arrival of visitors.  Slaves being slaves lacked the motivation to do this rather monotonous job day in and day out.  They’d often fall asleep on the job or just abscond.

Having had enough of the slavish shenanigans, someone struck upon the idea of chaining the slaves to the entrance.   A large metal ring was fastened to a sturdy backplate upon which the chain was attached.  They could no longer run away and if they fell asleep, the visitor would rattle the chain or knock the metal ring upon the door.  Hence the beginnings of the door knocker.

This was later adopted by the Romans and migrated henceforth!  Over the years they became more elaborate and the designs were often symbolic of the owners or the residence.

The lion knocker is symbolic of strength, power and the protector of the home.  Here are a couple from my collection.  Hover over the image with your mouse to see where the photograph was taken.

The door knockers that always grab my attention are the ones shaped like a hand.  I had noticed that some were a left hand and others were a right and wondered if there was some significance in that – my research yielded very little information on this.  Some hands were adorned with rings and others were plain.  I’d wondered if the hands sporting a wedding ring may have been given as a gift to a newly married couple or as part of a dowry to decorate the door of a new homestead.  I can only surmise.

What I did discover is the hand knocker is likely to have been based on the hand of Fatima who was the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam.  The hand of Fatima or Hamsa is said to offer protection and is widely used across several faiths. In the absence of any further information, I assume that it migrated along the Mediterranean from the Middle East and was adopted by the Ottomans just as in the way food dispersed itself too. (My Egyptian husband swears the Egyptians invented Moussaka – but don’t tell the Greeks!).

I also read that in its earliest incarnations wealthy Arab households would have two door knockers on the door.  One would be a female hand and the other a male hand both making a different sound when tapped.  This would enable the women of the household (to whom modesty was required) to only answer the door to callers of the appropriate gender.  Of course, they could often see who was calling from behind arabesque carved screens.

The hand knockers below are mainly from Greece but also a couple from the Alicante region of Spain where there was a large Moorish influence.

I’ve also found several door knockers from Greece that represented households with maritime or fishing connections.

And then there are the ones that don’t fall into any of the above categories.

I’ll continue to add to my collection even though I get some strange looks when inspecting door knockers!