Exact replica of Venus de Milo (same material?) near where the original was found. [7078]
Our first port of call on the Sea Cloud having left the Greece mainland was the volcanic caldera of Milos at the south-west corner of the Cyclades island group. in the Aegean Sea. It is SSW of Pireaus. From 15,000 years ago, obsidian (a glass-like volcanic rock) was mined in Milos and shipped far and wide for razor-sharp weaponry and stone tools. Mining maybe that long ago, but it must have been by sea-farers because archeologists think that permanent habitation does not appear to have started on Milos until, maybe, 2000BC when the Bronze Age put an end to obsidian's importance.
Sea Cloud tender heading towards the Milos town of Adamantos. [7040]
Probably Milos' greatest claim to fame is that it is the place where the infamous 2m tall Parian marble statue Venus de Milo was discovered by a Greek farmer, in 1820, and encouraged to excavate it by a French amateur archeologist. The Venus was found in a "niche" in a structure between the ancient Milos city wall, and a stadium. At that stage, Milos was part of the Ottoman Empire, so there were some shenanigans, but in the end it was "bought" and wound up in France where it was installed in the Louvre in 1821 on the order of Louis XVIII. Unusually, the damaged statue was not restored, so it remains armless. The statue is thought to be of Aphrodite, a legendary beauty and the Greek goddess of love, beauty and sex, but the Roman name "Venus" has stuck.
Gemma, one the two, truly excellent, local guides travelling with us on the Sea Cloud. [7097]
The 2nd Century BC Venus de Milo was found and excavated in 1820 by a farmer in a "niche" in this ancient structure. [7088]
We spent a long morning on Milos, being tendered in from the Sea Cloud, not on Zodiacs as we expected, but on the ship's lifeboats. We came ashore at the town of Adamantis, were bussed around to see coastline sights, the Venus' original location, an Hellenic era theatre.
Spectacular white perlite (volcanic glass with minerals) coastline at Sarakiniko Beach on Milos. [7054]
Brilliant white perlite formations at Sarakiniko Beach on Milos. [7061]
A Greek classical era theatre near Trypiti and overlooking the village of Klima within the caldera of Milos. [7104]
Constructed during the Hellenistic Period in the 3rd century BC, this once pristine white marble 5000 seat theatre was later rebuilt by the Romans. [7115]
Our guiding completed, we then had the opportunity to stroll around hilltop towns of Tripity and Plaka, and, down the bottom, the port town itself. We undestand that ancient Greeks built these hilltop towns, despite the difficulty of getting to them, to hide from and better defend from pirates (500BC onwards). Port towns were very susceptible but in the hills, whole villages could hide and build better fortifications.
Colorful facade in the highlands town of Plaka. [7126]
Sun and shade in the Milos town of Plaka. [7128]
Fruit display designed to lure customers into a jewellery store in Plaka. [7130]
Original well in Plaka on Milos. [7132]
Clare's favourite cafe repast on a hot day. [2716]
One of many stone mosaics in public squares in Plaka. [7137]
Shading sails in Plaka on Milos. [7154]
Couple from the Sea Cloud relaxing in a waterfront bar in Milos' port town of Adamanta. [7171]
Colour and structure in the Milos port town of Adamanta. [7177]
Tender taking us back to the Sea Cloud. [7157]
The Milos caldera is evident from this photo map which shows where the pictures in this blog were taken. Obviously we have only scratched the mineralised surface of Milos! The first eruption was millions of years ago, the latest in 140AD. The volcano is classified as "dormant".
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