The Ancient Lands: The island of Delos
The island of Delos (/ˈdiːlɒs/...: The island of Delos The island of Delos ( / ˈ d iː l ɒ s / ; Greek : Δήλος , [ˈðilos] ; Attic Δῆλος , Doric Δᾶλος ), near Mykono...
Sunday 24 August 2014
The island of Delos
The island of Delos (/ˈdiːlɒs/; Greek: Δήλος, [ˈðilos]; Attic Δῆλος, Doric Δᾶλος), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites inGreece. The excavations in the island are among the most extensive in the Mediterranean; ongoing work takes place under the direction of the French School at Athens and many of the artifacts found are on display at theArchaeological Museum of Delos and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. From its Sacred Harbour, the horizon shows the two conical mounds (image below) that have identified landscapes sacred to a goddess in other sites: one, retaining its pre-Greek name Mount Kynthos,[1] is crowned with a sanctuary of Zeus.
Established as a culture center, Delos had an importance that its natural resources could never have offered. In this vein Leto, searching for a birthing-place for Artemis and Apollo, addressed the island:
Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple –; for no other will touch you, as you will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.—Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo 51–60
History
Investigation of ancient stone huts found on the island indicate that it has been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC. Thucydides identifies the original inhabitants as piraticalCarians who were eventually expelled by King Minos of Crete.[2] By the time of the Odyssey the island was already famous as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. (Although there seems to be some confusion of Artemis' birthplace being either Delos or the island of Ortygia.) Indeed between 900 BC and AD 100, sacred Delos was a major cult centre, where Dionysus is also in evidence as well as the Titaness Leto, mother of the above-mentioned twin deities. Eventually acquiring Panhellenic religious significance, Delos was initially a religious pilgrimage for the Ionians.
A number of "purifications" were executed by the city-state of Athens in an attempt to render the island fit for the proper worship of the gods. The first took place in the 6th century BC, directed by the tyrant Pisistratus who ordered that all graves within sight of the temple be dug up and the bodies moved to another nearby island. In the 5th century, during the 6th year of the Peloponnesian war and under instruction from the Delphic Oracle, the entire island was purged of all dead bodies. It was then ordered that no one should be allowed to either die or give birth on the island due to its sacred importance and to preserve its neutrality in commerce, since no one could then claim ownership through inheritance. Immediately after this purification, the firstquinquennial festival of the Delian games were celebrated there.[3]
The island had no productive capacity for food, fiber, or timber, with such being imported. Limited water was exploited with an extensive cistern and aqueduct system, wells, andsanitary drains. Various regions operated agoras (markets).After the Persian Wars the island became the natural meeting-ground for the Delian League, founded in 478 BC, the congresses being held in the temple (a separate quarter was reserved for foreigners and the sanctuaries of foreign deities.) The League's common treasury was kept here as well until 454 BC when Pericles removed it to Athens.[4]
Strabo states that in 166 BC the Romans converted Delos into a free port, which was partially motivated by seeking to damage the trade of Rhodes, at the time the target of Roman hostility.
Italian traders came to purchase tens of thousands of slave captured by the Cilician Pirates or captured in the wars following the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire. It became the center of the slave trade, with the largest slave market in the larger region being maintained here.
The island was attacked in 88 BC by the troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus, a staunch enemy of Rome, who killed some 20,000 of the resident Romans and Italians. Another devastating attack was by pirates in 69 BC. Before the end of the 1st century BC, trade routes had changed; Delos was replaced by Puteoli as the chief focus of Italian trade with the East, and as a cult-centre too it entered a sharp decline.
Due to the above history, Delos - unlike other Greek islands - did not have an indigenous, self-supporting community of its own. As a result, in later times it became uninhabited.
Since 1872 the École française d'Athènes ("French School of Athens") has been excavating the island, the complex of buildings of which compares with those of Delphi and Olympia.
In 1990, UNESCO inscribed Delos on the World Heritage List, citing it as the "exceptionally extensive and rich" archaeological site which "conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port".
The Ancient Lands: Trip to DelosTrip to Delos, the sacred island no...
The Ancient Lands: Trip to Delos
Trip to Delos, the sacred island no...: Trip to Delos Trip to Delos, the sacred island no one is allowed to live on. According to ancient Greek mythology, Apollo and his sister ...
Trip to Delos, the sacred island no...: Trip to Delos Trip to Delos, the sacred island no one is allowed to live on. According to ancient Greek mythology, Apollo and his sister ...
Trip to Delos
Trip to Delos, the sacred island no one is allowed to live on. According to ancient Greek mythology, Apollo and his sister Artemis were born on this island... What is left from ca. 500 B.C. are the remains of a once glorious city - in those times, about 30,000 people, from different religious backgrounds, all lived in harmony (as well as thousands of slaves...). Until Delos was attacked and looted by pirates and gradually abandoned.
Trip to Delos, the sacred island no one is allowed to live on. According to ancient Greek mythology, Apollo and his sister Artemis were born on this island... What is left from ca. 500 B.C. are the remains of a once glorious city - in those times, about 30,000 people, from different religious backgrounds, all lived in harmony (as well as thousands of slaves...). Until Delos was attacked and looted by pirates and gradually abandoned.
The Ancient Lands: History of TinosOriginally Tinos was called Ophio...
The Ancient Lands: History of Tinos
Originally Tinos was called Ophio...: History of Tinos Originally Tinos was called Ophiousa because it had a lot of snakes (not anymore, don't worry) and also Ydrousa b...
Originally Tinos was called Ophio...: History of Tinos Originally Tinos was called Ophiousa because it had a lot of snakes (not anymore, don't worry) and also Ydrousa b...
History of Tinos
Originally Tinos was called Ophiousa because it had a lot of snakes (not anymore, don't worry) and also Ydrousa because it had a lot of water. (It still does, by Cyclades standards anyway). In Koinia there was a temple to Poseidon who had sent a flock of storks to get rid of the snakes (See, I told you). Tinos has been populated at least since the Bronze age and its history can be traced back to the Mycenaean period. The main town of the island was the big stone mountain of Xobourgo, the most defensible spot on Tinos. By the 5th Century the town had moved to the location of the present day Hora and the Temple of Poseidona was built in Kionia where its ruins can still be seen. To a lesser extent than nearby Delos, Tinos was an important religious center during the pre-Christian era and attracted many pilgrims who came for the ceremonies known as the Poseidona held in January and February. In the third century the worship of Amphitre, the wife of Poseidon became popular and the temple was renovated and enlarged. As many others were, it was destroyed by the Christians in the 4th Century AD.
During the Persian wars the Tinians were subjects of the Persians. A Tireme commander from Tinos named Panaitios Sosimenous deserted the Persian fleet to inform the Greeks of their plans enabling the Greeks to prepare and win the greatest naval battle in ancient history and stop the advance of the Persians. Were it not for Sosimenous we might all be speaking Farsi today. Tinos fought against the Persians in the great battle at Plataea and became a member of the Delian alliance before becoming part of the empires of Macedonia, the Ptolemies and finally the Romans in the 2nd century AD.
During the Byzantine period once again the islanders moved back to the defensible interior to avoid the raids of Arab and Saracen pirates who preyed on all the islands of the Aegean. In 1203 the European Christians of the 3rd Crusade on their way to liberate the Holyland, decided to liberate their Christian neighbors in Constantinople of their wealth instead and in the process burned down the city. They tortured and massacred their fellow Christians, destroyed churches, palaces, monasteries and even sculptures made by Phedias and Praxiteles. They stole icons, relics and anything of value and they burned countless ancient Greek manuscripts. Tinos and the other islands of the Cyclades fell into the hands of the Venetians Ghizzi dynasty which ruled the island until 1390 when Tinos and Mykonos fell under the direct jurisdiction of Venice and were sent a governor. Tinos remained a part of the Venetian empire until 1715 long after the rest of Greece had fallen to the Turks and maintained a society that was far more advanced than what was found in the other islands in terms of art, culture, food production, agriculture, pottery and even the production of silk. It was also a place of refuge for people trying to escape the other parts of Greece which were occupied by the Turks.
When Tinos finally passed from Venetian into Turkish hands they were allowed rights and privileges which were unheard of on other islands under Turkish occupation. They were the only people in the Ottoman empire not required to wear the red stockings, could wear local dress and were allowed to build churches and schools. The Turkish fleet was not permitted within 12 miles of Tinos and there were no permanent Turkish residents. Even the representatives of the Ottoman government were rarely around. Though Turkish rule was almost non-existent compared to other parts of Greece, Tinians still left the island for the cities of Constantinople, Smyrna and Alexandria with their large Christian populations and economic opportunities. With all these Tinians in business in foreign ports the island became quite wealthy and was known as 'Little Paris' with a population of almost 30,000. During this period the fortifications of Xobourgo were dismantled and people bean to move to the present day Hora, known as the Limani (harbor) of Agios Nikolaos, named for the small church there. From 1770 to 1774 the Russians occupied Tinos and built the Church of Agia Katerini and the Kechrovouni Convent was renovated. But as the Ottoman empire began to decline the privileges of the Tinians began to disappear and Tinos joined the Revolution of 1821 on April 20th.
The people of Tinos with their wealth, culture, education and seafaring abilities played an important role in the Revolution giving ships, sailors, and heroes. Over two thousand of them died in the war. The island became something of a refugee center with as many as thirty thousand of them finding shelter there from the vengeance of the Turks. It was on January 30 1833 when icon of the Panagia (Virgin Mary ) was discovered and seen as a blessing for the success of the revolution. Many of Greece's greatest heroes of the revolution came to Tinos to pay respect to it including Kolokotronis, Kanaris, Miaoulis, and Makryiannis and after the war the town was established as a Pan Hellenic religious center. Many of the marble workers moved to Athens to build the new capital of Greece.
On August 15th 1940 during the Panagiri (religious festival) for the Virgin Mary, the Greek light cruiser Elli, which was anchored outsider the harbor of Tinos for the festivities, was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Delfino. 9 sailors were killed and 24 were wounded. It was the beginning of Greece's involvement in the Second World War. Though there was much suffering during the occupation and many people died from hunger, Tinos played an important role in the resistance as a passageway out of the country for evacuating soldiers and as a source of information on German ship movement.
Since then Tinos has become the capital of Religious Tourism in Greece. This increase in tourism drew people from the villages into the Hora for a period of time though now this seems to have reversed and villages which had been mostly deserted are again prospering as not only foreigners discover the island but the Greeks themselves many who have become bored with the decedent style of mass tourism found on the other more popular Cyclades islands. As more people return to the villages, more businesses open, farmers can plant more because they can sell more, craftsmen return because they now have a market for their goods, tavernas open or re-open because once again there are people to eat in them. Because of its size, agricultural areas, and beauty the island of Tinos seems to have a great future, if they make the right decisions.
For more on Greek History see www.ahistoryofgreece.com
During the Persian wars the Tinians were subjects of the Persians. A Tireme commander from Tinos named Panaitios Sosimenous deserted the Persian fleet to inform the Greeks of their plans enabling the Greeks to prepare and win the greatest naval battle in ancient history and stop the advance of the Persians. Were it not for Sosimenous we might all be speaking Farsi today. Tinos fought against the Persians in the great battle at Plataea and became a member of the Delian alliance before becoming part of the empires of Macedonia, the Ptolemies and finally the Romans in the 2nd century AD.
During the Byzantine period once again the islanders moved back to the defensible interior to avoid the raids of Arab and Saracen pirates who preyed on all the islands of the Aegean. In 1203 the European Christians of the 3rd Crusade on their way to liberate the Holyland, decided to liberate their Christian neighbors in Constantinople of their wealth instead and in the process burned down the city. They tortured and massacred their fellow Christians, destroyed churches, palaces, monasteries and even sculptures made by Phedias and Praxiteles. They stole icons, relics and anything of value and they burned countless ancient Greek manuscripts. Tinos and the other islands of the Cyclades fell into the hands of the Venetians Ghizzi dynasty which ruled the island until 1390 when Tinos and Mykonos fell under the direct jurisdiction of Venice and were sent a governor. Tinos remained a part of the Venetian empire until 1715 long after the rest of Greece had fallen to the Turks and maintained a society that was far more advanced than what was found in the other islands in terms of art, culture, food production, agriculture, pottery and even the production of silk. It was also a place of refuge for people trying to escape the other parts of Greece which were occupied by the Turks.
When Tinos finally passed from Venetian into Turkish hands they were allowed rights and privileges which were unheard of on other islands under Turkish occupation. They were the only people in the Ottoman empire not required to wear the red stockings, could wear local dress and were allowed to build churches and schools. The Turkish fleet was not permitted within 12 miles of Tinos and there were no permanent Turkish residents. Even the representatives of the Ottoman government were rarely around. Though Turkish rule was almost non-existent compared to other parts of Greece, Tinians still left the island for the cities of Constantinople, Smyrna and Alexandria with their large Christian populations and economic opportunities. With all these Tinians in business in foreign ports the island became quite wealthy and was known as 'Little Paris' with a population of almost 30,000. During this period the fortifications of Xobourgo were dismantled and people bean to move to the present day Hora, known as the Limani (harbor) of Agios Nikolaos, named for the small church there. From 1770 to 1774 the Russians occupied Tinos and built the Church of Agia Katerini and the Kechrovouni Convent was renovated. But as the Ottoman empire began to decline the privileges of the Tinians began to disappear and Tinos joined the Revolution of 1821 on April 20th.
The people of Tinos with their wealth, culture, education and seafaring abilities played an important role in the Revolution giving ships, sailors, and heroes. Over two thousand of them died in the war. The island became something of a refugee center with as many as thirty thousand of them finding shelter there from the vengeance of the Turks. It was on January 30 1833 when icon of the Panagia (Virgin Mary ) was discovered and seen as a blessing for the success of the revolution. Many of Greece's greatest heroes of the revolution came to Tinos to pay respect to it including Kolokotronis, Kanaris, Miaoulis, and Makryiannis and after the war the town was established as a Pan Hellenic religious center. Many of the marble workers moved to Athens to build the new capital of Greece.
On August 15th 1940 during the Panagiri (religious festival) for the Virgin Mary, the Greek light cruiser Elli, which was anchored outsider the harbor of Tinos for the festivities, was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Delfino. 9 sailors were killed and 24 were wounded. It was the beginning of Greece's involvement in the Second World War. Though there was much suffering during the occupation and many people died from hunger, Tinos played an important role in the resistance as a passageway out of the country for evacuating soldiers and as a source of information on German ship movement.Since then Tinos has become the capital of Religious Tourism in Greece. This increase in tourism drew people from the villages into the Hora for a period of time though now this seems to have reversed and villages which had been mostly deserted are again prospering as not only foreigners discover the island but the Greeks themselves many who have become bored with the decedent style of mass tourism found on the other more popular Cyclades islands. As more people return to the villages, more businesses open, farmers can plant more because they can sell more, craftsmen return because they now have a market for their goods, tavernas open or re-open because once again there are people to eat in them. Because of its size, agricultural areas, and beauty the island of Tinos seems to have a great future, if they make the right decisions.
For more on Greek History see www.ahistoryofgreece.com
Tinos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tinos (Greek: Τήνος [ˈtinos]) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa (from ophis, Greek for snake) and Hydroessa (fromhydor, Greek for water). The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of approximately 194 square kilometres (75 sq mi) and a 2011 census population of 8,636 inhabitants.
Tinos is famous amongst Greeks for the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, its 80 or so windmills,[1] about 1000 artistic dovecotes, 50 active villages and its Venetian fortifications at the mountain, Exobourgo. On Tinos, both Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic populations co-exist, and the island is also well known for its famous sculptors and painters, such as Nicholaos Gysis, Yannoulis Chalepas and Nikiforos Lytras.
The island is located near the geographical center of the Cyclades island complex, and because of the Panagia Evangelistria church, with its reputedly miraculous icon of Virgin Mary that it holds, Tinos is also the center of a yearly pilgrimage that takes place on the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (15 August, "Dekapentavgoustos" in Greek). This is perhaps the most notable and still active yearly pilgrimage in the region of the eastern Mediterranean. Many pilgrims make their way the 800 metres from the ferry wharf to the church on their hands and knees as sign of devotion.
History
Following the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, Tinos was one of several islands ruled by private Venetian citizens and belonged to Geremia Ghisi, whose heirs held it until 1390 when the last member of the family branch bequeathed both Tinos and Mykonos to Venice.[2][3] It was ruled by Venice until 1715, when Tinos was captured by theOttoman Empire (see Ottoman–Venetian War), and became known as İstendil. The Ottomans held Tinos until 1821 when the inhabitants joined in the Greek War of Independence.[4]
The tumult of the period gave raise to an increase in piracy in the region. In 1825 HMS Cambrian was lead vessel of a small squadron in anti-piracy operations in the Archipelago, at Alexandria, and around the coasts of Syria. On 27 July 1826 Cambrian's boats captured a pirate bombard and burnt a mistico on Tinos. Five pirates were killed and several wounded.
The date of 15 August also commemorates the 1940 sinking in Tinos's harbour of the Greek cruiser Elli by an Italian submarine during peacetime, while she rode at anchor, by the Italian submarine Delfino near the island of Tinos. The Elli was participating in the celebrations of the Feast of the Dormition. One of the three torpedoes fired hit the Elli under the one operating boiler and she caught fire and sank. Nine petty officers and sailors were killed and 24 were wounded. The same submarine attempted to torpedo the passenger ships M/V Elsi and M/V Esperos anchored in the port. This attempt failed and the torpedoes only damaged only a section of the port's wharf.
Geography
Tinos has a varied landscape. From the shores of Panormos and Kolimbithra on the North Shore to Kionia, Agios Yannis O Portos, and Agios Sostis on the Southern Shore, Tinos has many beaches, just to name a few. Tsiknias is the highest mountain on the island at 750 meters and hides the quaint village of Livada. The mountain of Exobourgo is quite distinct, and unlike its more rounded Cycladic neighbors, has a more jagged appearance that would be more at home in the Alps. Between Tsiknias and Exobourgo lies the fruitful plain of Falatados. This area is unique on the island as its relatively flat (yet with an elevation of ~ 300 metres) terrain is rare on the island. This made it a strong candidate for an as yet unbuilt airport on the island. The Meltemi winds and valid concerns of local villagers of the towns of Falatados, and Steni have all but halted the project. The area around Volax is a surreal and very unusual landscape with giant boulders some the size of multistory buildings. The village of Volax lies at the center of this amazing landscape. To the west, the mountains surrounding Pyrgos are full of some of the most beautiful green marble in all of Greece.
All around the island of Tinos, the islanders have made the most incredible things out of stone. The hills are all terraced with stone walls; every little village is connected to its most proximate neighbors by stone walkways set between a parallel set of stone walls.
The Ancient Lands: Voyage à Tinos, Journey to Tinos, Ταξίδι στην Τήνο...
The Ancient Lands: Voyage à Tinos, Journey to Tinos, Ταξίδι στην Τήνο...: Voyage à Tinos, Journey to Tinos, Ταξίδι στην Τήνο - Tinos - Τήνος
The Ancient Lands: Tinos, Religious Greece
The Ancient Lands: Tinos, Religious Greece: Tinos, Religious Greece
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