![]() ![]() She is an ancient Goddess and was worshipped at a magnificent temple near the town of Pythagorio that was 4 times that of the Parthenon, though practically nothing remains today. Samos was the birthplace of the Goddess Hera, the understandably jealous wife of Zeus. The rest of the island was deserted and stunningly beautiful. I was the only guest in the large hotel I stayed in there, but there was a party with a band every night in the bar downstairs, so it was socially the busiest place on the island. Surrounding the restored chapel are bands of simple pebble mosaics probably dating from the 19th Century.Ĭrude pebble mosaics surround the Katholicon at Nea Moni Monastery on the island of Chiosįrom Chios I took a ferry to Samos, where I spent the Christmas holiday. The last place I visited before catching the infrequent winter ferry south was the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Byzantine Nea Moni Monastery, known for the remnants of its fine religious mosaics. I didn't make it to any beaches while I was on Chios and instead focused on the fantastic villages of hilly interior. The most interesting of these is the fortress like town of Mesta, where I found the main church to be surrounded by pebble mosaic medallions and zigzag patterns. The production is still controlled by a consortium of Medieval villages which were fascinating to visit. It was a prized commodity that gave the people who harvested the resin a special status when invasions took place. Chios is where the Mastic tree, Pistacia lentiscus grows so well and the first chewing gum was made from the resin of this tree. The second island I visited was Chios, south of Lesvos within view of the Turkish mainland. The sun framed by clouds on the island of Naxos, birthplace of Dionysos I figure there is a reason all of these Gods chose to be born on these islands. If there was rain in the forecast it usually meant spectacular clouds in skies that could easily inspire the stuff of mythology. It seemed to work, because when it rained it usually did so at night, and most days were dry or a brief drizzle. ![]() If I was on a beach that had nice stones and I had the time and the inclination, I would set to work gathering and composing a mosaic, usually for Apollo, as I wanted to encourage as much sun as I could conjure in the winter months when I am able to travel for any amount of time. ![]() This got me to obsessing on making mosaics whenever the opportunity arose. My first beach mosaic in Molyvos on the Island of Lesvos Others I've made are dedicated to different Greek Gods and to people I know or have met along the way. It was here that I started the first of what has become a series of temporary beach mosaics, mostly in circular designs dedicated to the idea of Apollo, the God of the Sun. Lesvos has a geologic past and the stones I found on the beach in the beautiful Ottoman town of Molyvos are lovely pastel colors in a variety of nice shapes. The weather has been decent, and there are virtually no tourists, so I have had incredible solitude in places that are mobbed in the summer season.Ī mosaic I made on Komitos Beach on the Island of Syros, deserted on the day I visited This has been one of the most wonderful winter trips I have made out of the 30 or so in my life so far. Rain and autumn light enhances the colors of the completed circuits of the Halls Hill Labyrinth I'll be completing that project when I get home this Spring. I've been collecting handfuls of special stones from historic and sacred places to incorporate in to the the mosaics of the Labyrinth that I am building at Halls Hill Park on Bainbridge Island in Washington. There are bits of Minoan palaces dating back 5,000 years on Crete, mixed with Mycenaean, Dorian, Delian, Ionian, Genovese, Venetian, and Ottoman structures that have toppled in to the sea over the ages. Some even have tumbled remnants of ancient civilizations, tossed by the waves of the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean in to smaller and smaller pieces. The tradition continues to this day, having been influenced by cultures covering several millennium.Īn ornate Ottoman mosaic at the entrance to a mansion in Mytilini, LesvosĪs I made my way from island to island I would visit various beaches for which Greece is justly famous. And there is an ancient tradition of pebble mosaic dating back 2,400 years to the time of Alexander the Great in Greece.Ī pebble mosaic of Dionysos riding a panther at Pella, in Macedonia, Greece Each of them has a different character, varying in their geology, climate, flora, culture, style of architecture, and cuisine. I started on the beautiful island of Lesvos, home to the Muse Sappho, and worked my way down to largest and most breathtaking of them all, Crete via 10 other islands. This winter (2013-14) I am spending 3 incredible months in Greece, island hopping from north to south. A variety of beautiful beach stones combined to make a sunburst mosaic ![]()
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