Today we took a tour to the sacred Island of Delos, which is about half an hour by ferry from Mykanos. We had a wonderfully knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who showed us the archaeological sights from about 600 BC to about 200 BC. These sights have been unearthed by the French. During these centuries BC there were about 35,000 people living on Delos, which is about 4 square miles in size. Despite the fact that so many people lived here, nobody was allowed to be born or to die on the island because it was the birth place of Apollo. I am not sure what happened if someone had a heart attack. Maybe they died too early in life to have such a problem. On this island Zeus' lover, to the dismay of Zeus' wife, gave birth to the twins Artemis and Apollo. So Delos has always been a sacred island belonging to the gods and even today nobody is allowed to live there. In the 200's BC people came to live on Delos and it became a cosmopolitan city where people from various backgrounds lived in harmony for the purpose of creating wealth for themselves. On Delos, there were very wealthy people and very poor people but no middle class. Our tour began at the agora which was the meeting place in the 200's BC. We then saw the remains of the houses of the poor and further up the hill the houses of the rich, all built the same way, but the rich had higher walls and more rooms. One house belonging to a very wealthy man and his wife Cleopatra, (a forerunner of the Egyptian Cleopatra) was two storey. The remains of the staircase are still there, as is the remains of a statue of the husband in the entrance of the house.
We saw the remains of a bank and of boutiques where such things as jewellery were sold. These shops all had solid marble steps at their entrance. We saw the remains of a house that had been dedicated to the god, Dionysius, the god of wine. This house had a mosaic floor with the head of Dionysius, the wine cup and a tiger. This seems to evidence that the Greeks of 200 BC had been to India because there are no tigers in Greece. Another house, called the trident house has been reconstructed with its high pillars, coloured walls, a wooden roof and a trident in the mosaic floor. We saw the cistern that brought water to the city. This cistern had a roof that was supported by dry stone arches that were the precursor of the Roman arches. The Greek arches were there on the interior for support, rather than being external for show. We also saw the remains of the theatre which seated 5000 people on marble seats. Only the front two rows had backs on the seats. We walked down the colonade that existed in 600 BC. This grand walkway led to the temple of Apollo. The colonade originally had pillars supporting the roof, which has now collapsed, but with the roof remaining on the ground. The original Greek etching on the roof tells us that the colonade was erected to honour Apollo and was a gift to him from Phillip IV, the son of Democrates. It is amazing to hear that the inscription written in Greek about 600 BC can still be read by the Greeks today because their alphabet and words have not changed.
People came to the island of Delos from 600 BC to give gifts to the gods. The statues of the lions were a gift from the people of the nearby island of Naxos to the gods of Delos. The money that was given was eventually used by the Athenians to build the Acropolis.
After the tour we returned by boat to the capital of Mykonos, Hora. We walked through the narrow winding streets which are paved with small stones, outlined in white paint. The streets wind in and out and it is very easy to get lost, but great fun finding your way out. During our rambles we met an Australian Greek man named Jonothan. He runs a hotel in Mykanos. We were looking for a place to have a late lunch. He directed us to Tula's place, a small eatery with only four small tables. Tula's husband was ex navy and could not believe that we had been married to the same person for 36 years. When Valerie and Tom said that they were married for 48 years I think he thought we were pulling his leg. He told us he had been married four times and each wife had thrown him out. But the present wife, Tula, was the best. She seemed to be doing all the cooking ad cleaning while he, George, talked to the customers.
We returned to the hotel for a late siesta. We could really get used to these siestas. We then had a 5.30 pm swim and a lie in the late afternoon sun to dry off. We met up with Valerie and Tom for drinks at 7:30 pm and wandered down to our Ornos beach restaurant to listen to the sound of the waves lapping the shore as we ate dinner on the beach. We cannot believe Tom's adaptation to this late dinner hour, he being a man who thinks 6:30 is late enough for dinner. Another great day in paradise.
We saw the remains of a bank and of boutiques where such things as jewellery were sold. These shops all had solid marble steps at their entrance. We saw the remains of a house that had been dedicated to the god, Dionysius, the god of wine. This house had a mosaic floor with the head of Dionysius, the wine cup and a tiger. This seems to evidence that the Greeks of 200 BC had been to India because there are no tigers in Greece. Another house, called the trident house has been reconstructed with its high pillars, coloured walls, a wooden roof and a trident in the mosaic floor. We saw the cistern that brought water to the city. This cistern had a roof that was supported by dry stone arches that were the precursor of the Roman arches. The Greek arches were there on the interior for support, rather than being external for show. We also saw the remains of the theatre which seated 5000 people on marble seats. Only the front two rows had backs on the seats. We walked down the colonade that existed in 600 BC. This grand walkway led to the temple of Apollo. The colonade originally had pillars supporting the roof, which has now collapsed, but with the roof remaining on the ground. The original Greek etching on the roof tells us that the colonade was erected to honour Apollo and was a gift to him from Phillip IV, the son of Democrates. It is amazing to hear that the inscription written in Greek about 600 BC can still be read by the Greeks today because their alphabet and words have not changed.
People came to the island of Delos from 600 BC to give gifts to the gods. The statues of the lions were a gift from the people of the nearby island of Naxos to the gods of Delos. The money that was given was eventually used by the Athenians to build the Acropolis.
After the tour we returned by boat to the capital of Mykonos, Hora. We walked through the narrow winding streets which are paved with small stones, outlined in white paint. The streets wind in and out and it is very easy to get lost, but great fun finding your way out. During our rambles we met an Australian Greek man named Jonothan. He runs a hotel in Mykanos. We were looking for a place to have a late lunch. He directed us to Tula's place, a small eatery with only four small tables. Tula's husband was ex navy and could not believe that we had been married to the same person for 36 years. When Valerie and Tom said that they were married for 48 years I think he thought we were pulling his leg. He told us he had been married four times and each wife had thrown him out. But the present wife, Tula, was the best. She seemed to be doing all the cooking ad cleaning while he, George, talked to the customers.
We returned to the hotel for a late siesta. We could really get used to these siestas. We then had a 5.30 pm swim and a lie in the late afternoon sun to dry off. We met up with Valerie and Tom for drinks at 7:30 pm and wandered down to our Ornos beach restaurant to listen to the sound of the waves lapping the shore as we ate dinner on the beach. We cannot believe Tom's adaptation to this late dinner hour, he being a man who thinks 6:30 is late enough for dinner. Another great day in paradise.
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