In 1955, a young student from the School of Architecture in Geneva, Manuel Baud-Bovy, visited Tinos for the first time, staying in a cottage on the sandy beach of Kiona. 

Exploring the island, Manuel came across some unusual buildings that he had never heard of before. With surprise and enthusiasm, on each of his trips he discovered solitary dovecotes on sandy beaches, others leaning on slopes, and others dominating the heights, each surpassing the previous one in beauty and pride. 

Thanks to his father, Samuel, an ethnomusicologist, Manuel had developed an interest in studying folk culture. After all, his famous grandfather, Daniel, had published studies and books on traditional architecture in Switzerland...Deeply captivated, Manuel Baud-Bovy thought of compiling a systematic catalog of the dovecotes. He walked all over the island and slept sometimes in a village, and sometimes under the stars or in a threshing floor, chapel, or abandoned dovecote. He discovered about eight hundred, which he captured in four large albums with detailed drawings, theories, and thoughts, which he submitted to the School of Architecture in Geneva for his doctoral thesis. 

After 60 years or more, a part of this rare material becomes a book, enriched with introductory texts and many photo-documents that capture the dovecotes as they were preserved in 1955, thus strongly emphasizing the need to protect our cultural heritage and urging us to follow the paths of the island...