A Rockhound in Greece

{published May 1999, Rock & Gem}

“Nowhere on Earth has God been so lavish with rocks as Greece.” - Henry Miller
 
Greece, from the window of an airplane, is an expanse of white in counterpoint against the sapphire blue sea and the endless blue sky. Is it any wonder the Greek flag is white and blue? It’s a wondrous display of geology in a setting where people have used stone for thousands of years for ornamentation and building. The place that brought us the first mineralogical text: “The Book of Stones,” by the philosopher Theophratus, student of Aristotle, who, around 300 B.C., grouped minerals into the categories of metals, stones, and earths. Classic geology abounds: the fabled mines of Laurium; the rising pinnacles of the Meteora; the volcanic caldera of Thira (Santorini). Where better for a rockhound to spend a vacation?
 
It is my good fortune to have a sister in permanent residence in Greece. Family matters called me overseas, so my sightseeing time was limited, but my sisters and my brother-in-law did their best to acquaint me with the geologic wonders of their region. I returned with a deeper appreciation for this mysterious land.
 EXPLORING ATHENS
Athens is a monstrous city, filling the bowl between the mountains and the sea with an endless stretch of white buildings. My sister Susan, with her knowledge of the city, found us a neighborhood to stay in within walking distance of the great structures of old Athens. We had twenty-four hours in which to explore. On the top of my agenda, of course, was the Acropolis.
 
Athens seemed a mix of Miami Beach and New York. Palm trees waved in the breeze, and citrus trees dripped lemons and oranges onto the pavement from the tiny patches of earth. Most plantings were relegated to balconies and rooftops, where the day’s washing hung to dry. Incessant traffic, jumping curbs and making the world unsafe for pedestrians, was the norm. From our hotel, Sue led us in the general direction of the Acropolis. I saw few rocks at the National Gardens, an oasis of greenery near the seat of government, but found myself quickly distracted by my first glimpse of the Acropolis. This cave-riddled hill rises high over the city, with the Parthenon capping off the top. An awesome site. We first paused to take in the Temple of Olympian Zeus, its pillars taller than any other temple in Greece. The site was riddled with white rock - limestone, marble, alabaster - but, as an archeological site, off limits to touch. Excavated Roman baths sat in one corner. Hadrian’s Arch stood nearby, marking the ancient bounds of the city of Theseus.
 
Despite the assurances of our guidebooks, the Acropolis closed at 2:30 pm for siesta and did not reopen. I clambered up Areopagos Hill, a nearby slippery rock cliff. It afforded a view down on the Ancient Agora and out towards the airport, near Glyfada. This natural stage was once used for a sermon by the Apostle Paul. Carved steps, slippery as ice, led back down. Walking through the old city, into the Plaka, I realized that the persistent slippery stones everywhere were the result of centuries of polishing, from the feet of millions of people that had passed this way. While a few of the shops in the Plaka boasted exquisite lapidary art, none seemed to deal in specimens.
 
Rain washed the ever-present smog from the sky, and the sun re-emerged, so our ascent to the Acropolis the next day was spectacular. Walking a circuit around its crest, you can see all of Athens: the other hills look like islands in a frothy sea of white. An underground museum in front of the Parthenon displays treasures from within the famed structure. Carved stone figurines, bowls, cups, cornices, entire scenes with exquisite detail: a most impressive array of sculpture, indoors and out. While pausing at some ancient benches in the underbrush below the Propylaia, the gateway to the Acropolis, we spied large radial sprays of calcite crystals filling vugs in the limestone cliff behind us. Collecting by camera, I left Athens satisfied with my first Grecian mineralogical find.

 EXPERIENCING  IOANNINA
As a side trip during my stay, my sisters and I took the overland route to Ioannina (pronounced Yah-na-nah), two hours by bus from the port of Igoumenitsa. The capital of Epirus and the third largest city in Greece, Ioannina evokes the ghosts of the Ottoman Empire. Our bus ride into the Pindus Mountains followed a scenic road hovering well above deep gorges carved by the Thiamis River. The dramatic, mostly barren mountains gleamed white; the road ahead looked as if someone had dropped a rope on the mountainside. After settling into our hotel, we headed for the most fascinating edifice of stone in the city: the Fortress. Once the stronghold of Ali Pasha, these crumbling stone catacombs stir the imagination. A flashlight is helpful, since you can wander in and out of the deep, dark stone chambers on your own. Within one shadowy hall, we caught a glimpse of a freestanding, curved stone staircase that might have been an inspiration to M.C. Esher. Indeed, we were the only English-speaking tourists amid crowds of Germans. Walking on the ramparts of the fortress, you get a stunning view of the high, bald mountains that rise around the city, particularly in backdrop against the deep green waters of Lake Pamvotis. An outer wall encloses the old city, with its narrow streets and crumbling mosques. The inner walls preserve a library, a cookshop, two mosques, and the tomb of Ali Pasha. Each end of the Fortress entertains a museum: a folklore museum in a well-preserved mosque, and a museum of Byzantine art in the Royal Pavillion.
 
One rocky island crowns Lake Pamvotis: Nisi. A short, inexpensive ferry trip drops you off in a delightful cacophony of tavernas and shops that edge the island’s only village. Walk in either direction through the village, and you’ll find the island’s hidden treasure: stunning displays of ancient Byzantine art. The island once hosted numerous monasteries, whose chapels are now open prior to siesta for viewing. Photography is not permitted, and a donation is expected. These frescoes and icons date back to the rule of the Emperor Justinian, and are striking in their vivid color and their depiction of the persecution of the early Christians.
 
The marl and limestone that makes up Nisi also is riddled with small caves and crevices, used as hiding places during times of war, and incorporated into some of the monasteries to serve as monk’s cells. Views of the mountains are even grander from the northern shore, where you can pause over a glass of the clear village wine and enjoy freshwater specialties of the province: eel and trout. Shops on Nisi, and on the streets of the city proper, show off exquisite metalcrafting: from jewelry to platters, in every type of metal. Ioannina is a city of metalsmiths, relying on the mineral wealth extracted from lead, zinc, gold, and silver mines in the mountains of Epirus.
 
A trip to Ioannina is not complete without a visit to the largest horizontal cavern in Greece: Speleon Perama. It’s at the northern end of Lake Pamvotis, under a large and distinctive hill that rises like a green hump from the shore. It’s open until 8 pm, and taxi drivers will drop you off at the entrance in the middle of the village. Our guide spoke no English, and our tour companions were German, but we still thrilled at the natural wonders within this grand set of caverns. Immediately inside the cavern entrance, formations overwhelm. Stalagmites outnumber stalactites; both are frequently coated with cave coral. The trail is narrow, rugged, and extremely steep in place; excepting the 163-step exit, there are no guardrails. Lighting is muted. Nevertheless, the cavern delights with an outstanding number of unusual formations: nineteen distinct types. Imagine chambers larger than a baseball field, filled with rolling hills covered with tree-like totem poles in all shapes and sizes. A maze of stone pendants, nearly touching the floor. Delicate pools with calcite lily pads and cave pearls. A natural cross, and shields that look like jellyfish suspended in the cool, dark air. It felt surreal. There are many show caves in Greece, but Perama receives more accolades than any other, and impressed me more than any of the many caverns I’ve visited in the Eastern U.S.
  COLLECTING ON CORFU
My sister’s home is on Corfu, the northernmost of the Ionian islands, closer in its heart to Venice than Athens. Corfu Town, its only city, is a delightful jumble of architectural styles reflecting the many waves of invaders over the centuries: Roman, Norman, Venetian, French, German, and British. Nestled between two massive Venetian fortresses, the city invites you to lose yourself in a maze of streets where the upper stories of buildings nearly touch. While exploring the city, I discovered one mineral dealer: a shop named Gaia, down a street directly across from the old fort, at the end of the Liston. He dealt mainly in lapidary, but had a few shelves of minerals for sale, and a few specimens from Greece. He suggested I visit Laurium - “the mine tunnels are dangerous, but minerals are to be had off the ground” - and I settled on several pieces: massive icy blue aragonite and glossy smithsonite from Laurium, and an assemblage of galena and quartz points from Epirus.
 
Unlike the barren, rocky isles that comprise most of Greece, Corfu is verdant, lushly planted with olive trees. Not far beneath the soil lurk interesting minerals. Over the course of a month, with the help of relatives, I collected a few pounds worth to take home. They led me to a crumbling hillside thick with delicate hemispheric gypsum crystals, and pointed out calcite sprays on the slopes of Mt. Pantokrator. We combed the beaches in Corfu Town and Gouvia to find large chunks of polished agate. An olive grove in Gastouri yielded an assemblage of calcite and other minerals that, to my delight, fluoresce white, cream, and purple with an extended phosphorescence. The island’s many pebbly beaches are a fine place for oddball finds, like a rounded chunk of graphite, or smoothly polished obsidian.
 
Only 30 miles long and ten miles across at its widest point, Corfu has many breathtaking geologic features. On its northern tip, the famed “sandstone” formations at Sidari, wave-washed sculptures along the shore, turned out to be a massive outcrop of thick kaolin clay, bluish in places, slippery where wet. I was surprised: perhaps no guidebook writer had ever ventured out on the slick slopes to see what they were really made of? On the northeastern coast, the town of Kassiopi lies within sight of the massive mountains of Albania. Its natural beaches are huge, flat blocks of marl. The western outpost of Paleokastritsa is a delightful jumble of secluded coves carved by pounding waves and punctuated by sea caves, sparkling with gypsum crystals. A birds-eye view of its jagged seaside peaks and ancient monastery is available from the ruins of Anglokastro, a Norman fortress built by the Crusaders on a promontory beyond Lakones. Rocky coves with sand beaches extend southward along the western shore, through Ermones, Glifada, and Agios Gordos: all lay claim to the shipwreck of Odysseus. On the calmer eastern shore, rocky beaches gleam with agate from Ipsos to Benitses; these are the tourist beaches, with hotels crowding the shoreline. The south of the island is flat, with marshes and salt pans. Yet the southerly beach at Issos is surreal, a place of canyonlands in miniature: low, long sandstone formations up to ten feet high, parting the sand dunes between the bird refuge at Lake Korission and the sea.
 
Will I return? Absolutely. The cultural gulf is vast, but entrancing. “Greek time” is measured in afternoons, not hours. Businesses close for siesta at 2:30 PM, and only reopen certain days of the week. The evening meal begins around 9 PM and can go on for many hours, with plenty of village wine passed around to all. It’s a relaxed lifestyle, giving up many of the conveniences we take for granted: air conditioning, central heating, standard plumbing, reliable utilities, and fast food. But it’s a wonderful venue for contemplating geology - and humanity.
 
###
 
SIDEBAR: MUST-SEE GEOLOGY
Because of the nature of my trip, I was not able to see all the sights on the “hit list” I’d developed. While in Greece, I consulted more people - and more guidebooks - to develop this more comprehensive list. Enjoy!
 
MAINLAND
Kiffisias - At the one end of the metro (subway) from downtown Athens (12 miles), the suburb of Kiffisias contains the Goulandri Museum of Natural History. According to residents, it is the only site in Athens where minerals of Greece are on permanent display.
 
Lavrion (Laurium) - home of the most famous mines in Greece, dating back to 1500 B.C. The city is snubbed by most guidebooks. In one book that did bother to mention the town, the vast devastation left by millennia of smelting was pointed out. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I spoke with several Greeks and many Europeans who pointed out the value in driving down through this region (about 40 miles south of Athens) to comb the dumps for minerals. “You can find beautiful specimens right on the side of the road!” one fellow boasted. Beware of the literally thousands of unmarked open pits riddling the countryside. There are ostensibly two private mineralogical museums in the region (a rarity in Greece): at Kamariza and at Lavrion (Mineralogical Museum on Leof. Andrea Kordela, open Wed, Sat, Sun).
 
Lousios Gorge - three miles long, 984 deep at the narrowest point, with hiking trails. In the middle of the Peloponnese.
 
Meteora -  these unusual towering pinnacles of rugged sandstone, capped with monasteries, soar up to 2,044 feet above the plain. Between Ioannina and Thessaloniki.
 
Vikos Gorge -  a 3,000 foot deep, 8 mile long gorge decorated with rock pinnacles and boulder-strewn ravines. A walking trail takes 6-7 hours. 25 miles NW of Ioannina, in northern Epirus.
 
 
ISLANDS
Most of the islands of Greece boast sea caves and rugged, rocky terrain. These islands are notable for their unusual geology or mining history.
 
Crete - The largest island in Greece, home of the ancient Minoans and the notable excavations at Knossos. The Gorge of Samaria, 11 miles long, 1000 feet high, and as narrow as 10 feet. Many significant caverns throughout the island. Gypsum, alabaster quarries at Agios Triada; ancient mining center at Malaxa.
Evia - early bronze mining at Chalki, quarries for Cipollino marble, Kleisoura ravine, numerous caves.
Halki - ancient copper mines at Skala.
Hydra - home of the Marmaropita marble, “gray and red, hard as steel”
Ikaria - Therma boasts the “the most radioactive baths in Europe.” Thermal springs at Loutra.
Kalymnos - Vathi fjord, sea caves of Kastelli, radioactive springs at Thermapiges.
Karpathos - iron and silver mines at Assimovorni. Many caverns.
Kephallonia - swallow holes of Katavothri. Numerous well-decorated show caves.
Kythnos - active iron mines through the 1940s. Thermal spa at Loutra. Katafiki cave at Dryopis.
Lesbos - petrified forests at Sigri and Megalonissi. Hot springs at Therma, Pirgi, Eftalou, Polichnitos.
Limnos - island of volcanic origin, high sulfur content in soil, astringent hot springs. Numerous caves.
Milos - dramatic geology from its volcanic past. Hot springs, vivid colored rocks, steaming fissures, caves; mines for obsidian, sulfur, barium. Coastline boasts basalt pillars, fantastic rock formations, and hot springs bubbling into the sea.
Nissyros - an “extinct” volcano that continues to show signs of deep activity around its caldera: geothermal pools, fumaroles. Pumice fields and black sand beaches.
Paros - the world’s finest translucent marble was quarried at Profitis Elias. Ancient abandoned quarries can be walked through at Marathi (bring a flashlight!). Bizarre wind-sculpted rocks at Kolimbithres.
Paxos - 40 sea caves to be explored along a 5 km coastline.
Samos - a paleontology museum at Mytilini, and six intriguing caverns.
Serifos - iron and copper deposits mined in antiquity. Remains of ore loading docks at Megalo Livadi.
Sifnos - ancient gold mines, sunken under water at Agios Mina.
Thassos - marble quarries at Mt. Ipsarion, ore mining at Limenaria.
Thira (Santorini) - remains of a massive volcano, possibly the one responsible for destroying the Minoan culture. White and black volcanic rock, black sand beaches, pumice mines. Active fumaroles on islands in the caldera, which forms the island’s bay.
Zakynthos (Zante) - rock formations at Lagana. Natural pitch wells at Keri, Pissa Tou Keriou. Sulfur springs at Xinthia, Blue Cave at Kianoun.