Most of the traditional houses in Chora have two floors, while the “kapetaneika” (the houses of the ship owners) have three floors. The lounge and the living room are located at the front part of the house. The kitchen is next to them, while the loom is usually in one of these rooms, too. The door of the house leads straight out on the street. In some houses there are indoor wooden staircases with hatches. The builders would put reeds, seaweeds, dirt and a mixture of lime mud and thick sand (called ‘kourasani’) over the floorboards. The streets are covered by the ‘katastegia’ (arched structures) that create roofed alleys and corridors passing under the roofs of two-storey buildings. Consequently, public spaces “invade” private ones and vice versa.