The islands of the Aegean

Preface

The present work does not profess to be more than a sketch of the subject with which it deals. For fuller information the reader is referred to such comprehensive works as Ross's Reisen auf den griechtschen Inseln, Pashley's Travels in Crete, Conze's Reise auf den Inseln des Thrakischen Meeres, and Mr. Bent's The Cyclades. These (with the exception of the last-named, which was not published when I visited the central islands) were the constant companions of my journeys, and I take this opportunity of acknowledging the service which they have rendered me, both as a source of information in travelling, and as an aid in compiling this book.

The three journeys which are here described were undertaken at considerable intervals, but no great changes have taken place in those regions since the first was made. It is true that most of the ancient buildings in Delos have been excavated, and the great inscription of Gortyna has been discovered, subsequently to my visits to those places ; but as the vi Preface.

object which I have in view in writing is rather to give general impressions and to indicate the objects of greatest interest than to enter into archaeological details, I trust that my narrative will not suffer from this cause. My accounts of the two former journeys have already appeared in the Academy for 1875 and 1886, and these are now republished by the permission of the Editor of that journal with considerable modifications and additions. The description of my last journey, which embraced the northern islands of the Aegean, Lemnos, Thasos, and Samothrace, is now printed for the first time ; and as those islands have been less frequently visited than the others, I have treated them at somewhat greater length.

From a geographical point of view the islands of the Aegean have a peculiar interest, because the group which they form is so typical, that the name of Archipelago has become a descriptive term. Their changeful history comprises many romantic events in ancient, mediaeval, and modern times. In Delos and Samothrace traces still remain of the important seats of heathen worship which they once contained ; and Patmos is indelibly associated with the exile of the Apostle St. John. The marble quarries of Paros and Thasos, the Grotto of Antiparos, and the volcano of Santorin, are all remarkable for their natural features. The tunnel of Eupalinus in Samos is one of the most remarkable works which have lately been discovered by antiquarian research. The scenery

Preface. vii

also of the islands and the neighbouring seas is varied and beautiful. Thus there is no lack of attractiveness in the region which I have attempted to describe, and I shall be glad if by what I have written I succeed in persuading others to visit it.

The map has been constructed so as to mark the position of the chief places that are mentioned in the narrative, and the ancient and modern names have been distinguished as far as possible by differences

of type.

H. F. T.

Oxford, December, 1889.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. — Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos 1-24

Approach to Greece — Syra — First impressions of the islands — Delos — Mount Cynthus — Night in Delos — The Circular Lake — Temple of Apollo — Necropolis of Rheneia — Delos to Tenos — The great monastery — The old Venetian town — Panorama of the Cyclades — Italian influences — A Greek nunnery.

CHAPTER I. Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos

In the forenoon of March 18, 1874, I was rounding Approach Cape Matapan in the French packet, having left *° Greece' Marseilles three days and a half before, the two first of which had been passed in clear and calm weather before we reached the Straits of Messina, but after that time we had been tossing in 'Adria,' as the sea between Sicily and Greece was regularly called by the Greek geographers : this, owing to the meeting of the Adriatic and Mediterranean currents, is usually a disturbed piece of water. The lofty range of Taygetus, which runs northward from Taenarum, and attains its greatest elevation on the western side of the valley of Sparta, formed a conspicuous object from the masses of snow with which its peaks and sides were deeply covered. As we passed between Cythera and the curious promontory of Onugnathos, or the Ass's Jaw, on the mainland opposite, the

B

The Islands of the Aegean.

famous island looked grey and repulsive, and anything but a fitting home for the Goddess of Love. Here we were in comparatively calm water, but from former experience I knew what to expect on the other side of Malea, that headland so justly dreaded by the ancient sailors, as the epitaphs in the Greek Anthology can testify. Nor was I disappointed ; for as soon as we had passed the chapel of the hermit of Malea, which lies at the foot of the promontory, we were met by a furious north-east wind — the rude Kaikias of classical writers, and the Euroclydon or Euraquilo of St. Paul's voyage — which considerably delayed our progress. Away to the south a small island (now called Cerigotto) came in sight, which forms the connecting link between Crete and Cythera; and later in the day we passed Melos, Anti-Melos, and other islands, which wore a harsh and uninviting appearance. It was midnight before we reached Syra, the great mercantile station in the middle of the Cyclades, and the best starting-point for a tour in the Greek Islands. Here I disembarked, and joined my travelling companion, Mr. Crowder, who had arrived from Athens a day or two before, bringing with him, as our dragoman, Alexandros Anemoyannes, who on various occasions had accompanied well-known travellers in Greece, as G. F. Bowen, W. G. Clark of Cambridge, John Stuart Mill, Dean Stanley, Sir T. Wyse, and others. The weather report from Athens told of bitter cold. The steamer which conveyed my friend from the Piraeus to Syra had been obliged frequently to stop, owing

Delos, Rhcneia, and Tenos.

to the danger to navigation from the thickness of the falling snow, and snow was lying in the streets at Syra. We received similar accounts from other quarters. An Armenian gentleman, who was one of my fellow passengers on the steamer, had heard before leaving England that there was deep snow at Constantinople, and that owing to the same cause the communications between that city and the interior of Asia Minor had been broken for some time. Subsequently we learnt that the weather was equally severe at Jerusalem. The prospects of our journey looked most unfavourable, for the islands cannot properly be visited except in a boat of moderate size, which admits of being rowed in a calm ; and this mode of locomotion would have been impracticable in such an inclement season.

The next morning, however, as if by magic, all Syra. this was changed. The wind was from the south, soft and warm, the sky cloudless, and the sea only moved by a gentle ripple. It was a perfect Aegean spring day, the only sign of the previous bad weather being the snow which covered the tops of the loftier islands. Accordingly, we hired a boat with three men, intending to make a trial trip to Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos, and started from the mole of Syra shortly after midday. As we left the harbour, we obtained a fine view of the town, which lies on the eastern side of the island, about half-way between its northern and southern extremities. It is now called Hermupolis, and contains 30,000 inhabitants, the most conspicuous portion being the Roman b 2

The Islands of the Aegean.

Catholic quarter, which rises steeply up the sides of a conical hill ; this was the old town of Syra, whereas the new town, which spreads from the foot of this to the sea, and is the busiest of Oriental stations, has sprung up along with the commercial activity of the place. This is in the most literal sense a creation of the Greek War of Independence, for until 1821 Syra was an insignificant spot ; but when the great massacres of the Greeks in Chios in 1822, and in Psara in 1824, took place at the hands of the Turks, it was resorted to by the refugees from those islands. These settlers became traders, and by their shrewdness in business, aided by the central position of this station, they gradually raised it to its present importance. No trees were to be seen, except a few cypresses, the greater part of the ground being uncultivated, though vineyards appeared here and there, and a great quantity of tomatos are grown. Still the stony mountain-sides have a certain beauty, owing to the extreme clearness of the air, and the contrast afforded by the wonderful blue of the sky. First im- Passing the island of Gaidaro, one of two rocky the^islamh. islets which lie off the harbour, and in ancient times were called Didymae, or 'The Twins,' we gradually saw the Cyclades open out before us. Rheneia lay due east of us, concealing Delos entirely, while Myconos rose above and beyond its northern end ; these, together with Tenos, are visible from Syra itself. Then, as we proceeded, there appeared on the left hand, first Andros, which seems a continuation of Tenos, the narrow strait

Delos, Rlicncia, and Tenos.

that separates them being indistinguishable ; then the promontory of Geraestus in Euboea ; and at last Gyaros, the Botany Bay of the Romans, nearer at hand, and half hidden by a corner of Syra : on the right hand, lying along the southern horizon, were seen Naxos, Paros, Antiparos, Siphnos and Seriphos. This was an admirable island view to commence with, and it was easy to distinguish the highest points by the amount of snow which they bore : far the greatest quantity lay on the south of Euboea, next after which came Andros, and then Naxos, while on the rest none was visible. The forms were broken and yet graceful, and the afternoon sun brought out the beautiful shadows on the mountain sides which are so familiar to the traveller in Greece. The general effect of the islands, especially the more distant ones, is that of long lines on the surface of the sea. The length of Naxos is very conspicuous, notwithstanding its lofty mountains, while Paros forms a single low pyramid, bearing a striking resemblance to the other great source of white marble, Pentelicus. Tenos is distinguished by the numerous white villages which stud its sides, while behind the town of Tenos itself, on the summit of the ridge, there rises a remarkable knob of rock, faced with red : with this we were destined to make further acquaintance. The picturesqueness of the whole scene was enhanced by numerous white sails dotting the blue sea, and by an atmospheric illusion, which lifted the islands out of the water.

We had steered a little south of east, and in Delos

The Islands of the Aegean.

about four hours found ourselves rounding the southernmost point of Rheneia ; from hence the long soft line of Ios was visible between Naxos and Paros on the horizon. The cape is formed of fine masses of granite, curiously honeycombed, and we subsequently discovered that both this island and the sister isle of Delos are entirely composed of this kind of stone, which is not the case with most of the other Aegean islands ; consequently, while the houses of the town of Delos were of granite, as we see from their remains, the materials for most of the public buildings were imported. The two islands are now called the Greater and the Lesser Deli, and run due north and south, divided by a strait about half a mile in breadth, which forms an excellent harbour, with deep water, and sheltered from every wind. There can be little doubt that it was to this feature that Delos originally owed its greatness, for it was the first place where voyagers could anchor in coming from the east, and thus became a natural resort for traders. Rowing up this channel, at the narrowest point we came to an island in mid-stream, now called Rheumatiari or Stream-island, which in ancient times was named the Island of Hecate. It is highly probable that it was here that Polycrates threw across the chain, by which he attached Rheneia to Delos, in token of its being dedicated to Apollo ; and that Nicias when sent from Athens as the leader of a festival procession, having brought a bridge from Athens to Rheneia, and laid it in the night-time, proceeded

Dclos, Rhcncia, and Tenos.

to the temple on the morrow with triumphal pomp. Directly to the east of this rises Mount Cynthus, the highest point in Delos, and in a valley which descends almost from its summit towards the strait in a south-westerly direction is the bed of a stream, the ancient Inopus, which had a legendary connexion with the Nile, for Callimachus says that it was fullest when that river is flooded \ Possibly the link of association which suggested this notion may be found in a temple on the mountain side, in which the gods of Egypt were worshipped. Passing the

Cynthus

<S The Islands of the Aegean.

island of Hecate, we landed on Delos, near where another small island, the lesser Rheumatiari, lies off the coast ; here there were traces of quays, but the sea has retired and left a sandy beach. Mount Within a gunshot of this point the ruins of the

great temple of Apollo were plainly visible, forming a vast heap of fallen blocks of white marble ; but we refrained for the moment from visiting these, our object being to ascend Cynthus before nightfall. Making our way through aromatic brushwood of lentisk and cistus, we directed our steps towards a white wall, conspicuous from below, which proved to belong to a theatre, the cavea of which faces west, and is clearly traceable, the back part being excavated in the hillside, while the ends are composed of masonry of Parian marble. The courses of stones, of which in one place thirteen remain, are skilfully put together, though somewhat narrow. The line of the scena also is well marked. Behind this, and further up the hillside, stood the small temple already referred to, which has been proved by excavation to have been dedicated to the Foreign Divinities, i.e. to the gods of Syria and Egypt. Here among other objects a hieroglyphic inscription was found. The foundations of this show that the superstructure was of white marble ; the pronaos, naos, and an altar are visible, together with a mosaic pavement composed of pebbles. In the neighbourhood of this temple there is a curious gateway, leading into a chamber, which, when seen from a distance, resembles a cavern, but in reality is artificial, the roof being composed of

Delos, Rhcneia, and Tcnos.

granite blocks resting against one another at an obtuse angle ; the sides are the natural granite rock, which originally formed a narrow ravine. This chamber is believed to have been a primitive sanctuary of Apollo1. We then mounted by a very steep ascent to the summit of Cynthus, where are the foundations and fragments of another temple, the pillars being in the Ionic style. Numerous inscriptions which have been discovered on the site show that it was dedicated to Zeus Cynthius and Athena Cynthia. As this mountain is not more than 350 feet above the sea, I had often wondered how classical writers could speak of it as lofty, especially as it is surrounded by so much higher peaks on other islands ; Aristophanes, for instance, describes it as 'the Cynthian rock with lofty horn 2 : ' but from its steepness and rocky character it deserves that epithet, and certainly it is very conspicuous from every point in the neighbouring seas. This circumstance, especially if it served as a landmark to vessels coming from the open sea, may also, perhaps, explain the origin of the name of the island, Delos, or the 'Conspicuous,' which can hardly be otherwise than of Greek origin. The view from this point is very fine, comprehending all the islands we have already noticed— the Cyclades, or ' Circling islands,' of which Callimachus says : ' Fragrant Asterie (Delos), on every side the islands have encircled thee, and formed as 'twere a band

1 See Lebegue's Recherchcs sur Delos, in which views and plans of the chamber are given.

io The Islands of the Aegean.

of dancers round thee 1 : ' while Myconos is full in view to the north-east, separated by a strait about two miles wide. It was natural, therefore, that Virgil should represent Apollo as fastening his island to Myconos, when it ceased to wander on the sea : —

Encircled by a billowy ring

A land there lies, the loved resort Of Neptune, the Aegean king,

And the grey queen of Nereus' court : Long time the sport of ev'ry blast,

O'er ocean it was wont to toss, Till grateful Phoebus moored it fast

To Gyaros and high Myconos, And bade it lie unmoved, and brave The violence of wind and wave a.

But what, except Roman ignorance of geography, or perhaps the preference for a familiar name, should make Virgil attach Delos to Gyaros instead of the nearer Rheneia or Syros, I do not understand. Here, too, the character of the island is well seen, for it is a narrow rocky ridge, between two and three miles in length, with granite knolls and barren slopes; thus justifying the story related in the Homeric Hymn to the Delian Apollo, that Latona visited all the richest spots in the Aegean before giving birth to her children ; but all were afraid to receive her, so that she betook herself to the small and rugged island.

Night in As we were descending the hill on the opposite side from that by which we had approached, we met

Callim. Del. 300, 301.

Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. u

the single inhabitant of Delos, an old shepherd, who spoke a most extraordinary dialect of Greek. He did not offer to accompany us, and this our servant, who was not then with us, attributed to his regarding our sudden appearance as uncanny; the old man, however, did not seem to be superstitious, for the next day when I questioned him as to the existence of ' Vrykolakas ' or Vampires in the island, he replied in the negative. At this I was surprised, for the Cyclades are the homes of innumerable strange beliefs, and it is about the neighbouring island of Myconos that Tournefort relates a marvellous story of the whole population being bouleverse for weeks together by such an apparition. We passed the night in some deserted shepherds huts, lying in a depression to the north of Cynthus, where the ground slopes gradually to the two seas, and has been sown with corn by the people of Myconos : these dwellings were constructed of stones put together with straw instead of mortar, while the doors were of ancient blocks approaching one another towards the top. All around grew the spreading leaves and lilac flowers of the mandrake (Atropa mandragord), forming large flat patches on the ground. This excessively poisonous plant, which has been a favourite with witches in all ages, and is said to utter shrieks when its root is extracted from the ground, is especially common in the Greek islands. As I lay awake part of the night in the extraordinary stillness, I was able to recall, in some measure, the crowds of worshippers, the visit of the Persians, and other romantic glories of the place — things which it is difficult to realise, when the senses are in contact with the material objects. The Cir- The next morning opened with rain, but it had cleared by eight o'clock, and we descended from our night's lodging towards the landing-place where we had left our boat. As we approached the sea, the northernmost ruins that we met with were those of the ancient city, where granite columns were lying among broken fragments of walls. Beyond this was an oval basin, about ioo yards in length, forming a kind of pond, the sides of which were banked in by a casing of stonework ; it is usually dry, but at this season contained a small quantity of water. In ancient times it was kept full, and was called the Circular Lake \ and the swans that were sacred to Apollo used to float upon it. Herodotus compares it to the lake at Sais in Egypt. If, as we are told by Theognis2, it was near this lake that Latona brought forth her two children, then the famous palm-tree of Delos, which is mentioned in Homer, where Ulysses compares Nausicaa's beauty to it3, must have stood here, for we are told in the Hymn to the Delian Apollo4, as well as by Theognis, that the goddess clasped this tree when in the pains of childbirth. Callimachus, however, has followed another version of the story, when he places that occurrence on the banks of the Inopus5.

Near this basin is a copious spring of water, and this circumstance probably determined the position

1 TpoxoaSrjs \i/j.vT], Herod. 2. 170. 3 Line 7, in Bergk's Poetae Lyrici. 3 Od. 6. 162. 4 Line 117. 5 Del. 206.

Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 13

of the temple of Apollo. The temenos of this is Temple of hard by to the south, and within it the ruins of the temple form a confused heap of white marble fragments, columns, bases, and entablatures lying indiscriminately together1. They are of the Doric order, and as many of the shafts are only partly fluted, it would seem that the details of the building were never completely finished. The wreck of so fine a specimen of architecture is a sad sight ; but when we consider that the place has served for a quarry for the neighbouring islanders, and a place of pillage for foreigners from the times of the Venetian occupation to our own days, perhaps the wonder is rather that so much remains. In the south-west part of the area is a large square marble basis, hollowed out in the middle, with the remains of an inscription on one side stating that it was a gift from the Naxians to Apollo (nasioi aiioaaqni) : this pedestal supported a colossus, which was overthrown in ancient times by the falling of a palm-tree of bronze gilt, erected by Nicias in its immediate neighbourhood 2. When Spon and Wheler visited this island in 1675, the statue remained with the exception of its head, and part of the torso, from the neck to the waist, has

1 Since the time of my visit the temple of Apollo has been thoroughly examined by French savants. The results of this and the other excavations on Delos will be found in M. Lebegue's work already mentioned, and in the articles by MM. Homolle and Hauvette-Besnault in the Bulletin de Correspondance helle'nique , vols, i-viii. An interesting summary of these is contained in Prof. Jebb's paper on Delos, in vol. i. of the Journal of Hellenic Studies.

2 Plutarch, Nic. 3.

been seen within the present half century, but we could find no traces of it. A portion of the ruins in the temple area towards the coast, which are in the Corinthian style, seem to have belonged to an entrance colonnade to the temenos ; and not far off, on the other side of a wall constructed by the shepherds, are the prostrate columns of another portico, built by Philip V of Macedon. In Spon's time eleven of these were standing, but without capitals. In the midst of the ruins, anemones of various colours — white, pink, and lilac — were growing, and I dug up some fine narcissus roots to transplant to England. For this proceeding I had good authority. Our servant informed me that J. S. Mill, when he travelled with him in the Peloponnese, besides drying flowers, had an extra baggage mule in his train for carrying plants and roots.

Necropolis Embarking once more, we crossed the strait, and a' landed on Rheneia, at a point somewhat south of the island of Hecate. Both Rheneia and its sister island are absolutely bare of trees. At a little distance from this point, on the slopes which rise above the strait, is an ancient necropolis, containing the graves of those whose bodies were removed from Delos at the time of the Peloponnesian war. It extends over half a mile, and is a scene of wild desolation, worthy of the circle of the Inferno in which Farinata's spirit emerged from its fiery tomb. Broken stones lay strewn about in all directions, mixed here and there with sides and lids of sarcophagi. Usually the graves are only distinguishable by depressions in

Delos, Rhcncia, and Tenos.

the ground, but in some places the areas and walls are traceable. About them were growing the coarse branching stems of the asphodel, a most disenchanting plant, and so rough, that if the lotus-eaters enjoyed lying among them they did not indulge in Sybarite tastes. When we returned to our boat we found the sailors eating raw limpets, which they picked from the rocks. It was now the Greek Lent, which is observed with great strictness by all the sailors in the Aegean, but bloodless fish, such as mussels and limpets, are allowed to be eaten at that season.

We now coasted along the eastern shore of Delos to Rheneia, which stretches for a long distance beyond the northernmost part of Delos. At one point the island is almost divided in two, the northern and southern portions being connected by an extremely narrow isthmus ; in the neighbourhood of this is the cholera quarantine station for Syra. Greece is the strictest of all countries in enforcing quarantine, as I know to my cost, having once had to pass eleven days on a barren island in the Gulf of Volo, which is a frontier station between Greece and Turkey; but the result of these preventive measures is remarkably successful. When we reached the extremity of the island, we were caught by a fresh westerly breeze, and danced across over a tossing sea towards the southernmost cape of Tenos. The town of Myconos was here visible from the sea, its white buildings being clustered together in the recesses of a bay, and many other houses appeared scattered over the hill sides ; Delos too was seen well in profile, with the straits on both sides which separate it from the neighbouring islands, and the conspicuous summit of Cynthus. At the end of Tenos rises a lofty mountain, which in ancient times was called Cycnias, and still retains that name in the form of Tzikniais. Such peaks are nests of storms, and the navigation of the straits which intervene between them and neighbouring islands — as in the similar instance of the passage between Geraestus and Andros — is extremely perilous. Hence Aeolus was supposed to hold his court in the caves of Cycnias ; and our dragoman described how he had seen a steamer, when on her way from Syra to Constantinople, forced in an instant to put about at this point and run before the storm. The wind prevented us from steering direct for the town of Tenos, which lies on the western side of the island ; so when we reached the point, we worked our way along with oars, and rounded a promontory called Gaidaro, or ' Donkey,' from the resemblance of its ridge to the back of that animal, the shape of which has suggested many names both in ancient and modern times, as we see from the ' Oneian ' mountains near Corinth. From this and every other side Tenos presents a wonderful aspect, from the way in which the mountain slopes, from top to bottom, have been formed into terraces, mainly for the cultivation of the vine. The wine, which is held in repute in the Levant, is light and somewhat sweet, and agreeable to the taste. The grape which produces the best is considered to be a lineal descendant of the vines

Dclos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 17

of Monemvasia on the east coast of the Morea, the original Malmsey, and the wine is called by that name at the present day.

The town of Tenos, which is better known as The great Hagios Nicolas, was in former times hardly more than a landing-place, since the Venetian occupants had established themselves on the ridge above ; but now its white houses and campaniles have an imposing effect as seen from the sea; while the monastery of the Evangelistria, which is the most important structure, with the great church in the centre of it, towers over the whole place. We should notice one feature in these islands, which causes them to present innumerable contrasts to other parts of Greece. This is the absence of traces of Byzantine influence. In describing the architecture of the continent of Greece and of European Turkey, it is superfluous to say that it is Byzantine ; every monastery, church, or other building connected with the Greek rite is, as a matter of course, built in that style. Here, on the contrary, it hardly ever appears, and the Italian mode of building and corresponding architectural features are everywhere predominant. So, too, while in Turkey and Greece proper the material of which dwelling-houses are constructed is principally wood, in these islands we find them universally built of stone. When we had established ourselves in a house at the back of the town, we* went up to the monastery, the extensive buildings of which, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, contain a school and accommodation