OTO

Born in 1978 and raised in Kinidaros Naxos in a quarrying family, Yiannis Karpontini’s relation with marble started very early.

In 1997 he left the island for his studies in Athens. Then travel and work took him to other countries. In 2005 he returned to Naxos and restarted his family-owned marble quarry.

His daily contact with marble and the company of artists that visited him for marble supply inspired in Yiannis the need to evolve a more personal relationship with marble in addition to his main occupation of marble extraction.

In 2008, he created the first marble lights for his own house. This marked the beginning of OTO Marble Lights.

The whole process, from the selection of the stone to the polishing, takes place here, on the island of Naxos.

Oto and Efialtis are ancient Greek heroes and protectors of the ancient quarrymen. A couple of kilometers south of the modern marble quarries of Kinidaros are the ancient quarries (in existence since 3000 BC). Archaeological excavations around the quarries have uncovered an area where ancient Greek quarrymen worshipped their protectors, Oto and Efialtis (ΏΤΟ και ΕΦΙΑΛΤΗΣ). These giant deities had the power to move huge stones and bring them from the darkness of the earth to the light of day.