Mykonos Travel

The Cyclades form a cluster of islands in the south Aegean Sea. They are Mykonos, Delos, Tinos, Syros, Andros, Naxos, los, Paros, Thera or Santorini, Kea, Yaros, Kythnos, Siphnos, Milos, Kimolos, Folegandros, Sikinos, Serifos, Amorgos, Anaphi and several smaller islands.
In addition to this, many small islets are scattered the length and breadth of the Aegean. All are notable for their picturesque scenery, their clean seas and beaches, their small towns and villages, many of which are interesting architecturally, and their historical remains, which cover all periods (prehistoric, classical, Hellnistic and Roman, Byzantine, Frankish, Turkish, and modern). The Aegean islands can offer the traveller a wide variety of types of entertainment, from the noisy international and cosmopolitan centres to the idyllic atmosphere still to be found in isolated villages.

DELOS. Not far from Mykonos lies Delos, the island of light, the rock which was once the most splendid religious, artistic and commercial centre of ancient Hellenism, mythical birthplace of the God Apollo and the Goddess Artemis. Today Delos is a vast conglomeration of ruins. Among them the most interesting are those of: the Agora, the treasuries of the various cities, the Stoa of Antigonos, the theatre, the Terrace of the Lions, the Sanctuary of the bulls, the Sanctuary of the bulls, the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Dean’s house and many houses with the most beautiful mosaic floors, representations of dolphins, a Satyr, and that of Dionysus with a thyrsus in one hand and a cymbal in the other astride a panther.

MYKONOS is one of the most characteristic of the Cycladic islands, with its white-washed houses, hundreds of churches, windmills, and stair-like narrow streets. Since the second world war, Mykonos has become a tourist centre of international fame. Foreigners find the island fascinating, with plenty to do both in the daytime and at night.

Above: Many of the houses which have been built in the traditional style in recent years are the work of qualified Mykonian architects and civil engineers.
Below right: The Venice of Mykonos, the artists1 quarter.
Below left: The Terrace of the Lions in the ruined ancient city of Delos.

Petros the pelican was a White Pelican, who was the official mascot of the Greek island of Mykonos.
In 1958 a wounded pelican was found off the coast of Paranga shore by a local fisherman. The pelican was nursed to health and remained on the island supported by locals. It soon adopted the name “Petros” after the Greek word petras or “semen” resulting from a crude joke by local fishermen. To great disappointment by locals and tourists alike, Petros was hit by a car on 2 December 1985 and failed to recover.[1][2]

Subsequently, three new pelicans reside around the main town of Mykonos. One, honorifically, was given the name Petros.

Santorini (Greek: Σαντορίνη, pronounced [ˌsa(n)do̞ˈrini]) is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from Greece’s mainland. It is also known as Thera (or Thira, Greek Θήρα [ˈθira]), forming the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km² (28 mi²) and a 2001 census population of 13,670. It is composed of the Municipality of Thíra (pop. 12,440) and the Community of Oía (Οία, pop. 1,230, which includes 268 inhabitants resident on the offshore island of Therasia, lying to the west). These have a total land area of 90.623 km², which also includes the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana (all part of the Municipality of Thira).

Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera. Its spectacular physical beauty, along with a dynamic nightlife, have made the island one of Europe’s tourist hotspots.

A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, and measuring about 12 km by 7 km (8 mi by 4 mi), is surrounded by 300 m (984 ft) high steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon merges with the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. The water in the centre of the lagoon is nearly 400 m (1300 ft) deep, thus making it a safe harbour for all kinds of shipping. The island’s harbours all lie in the lagoon and there are no ports on the outer perimeter of the island; the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine and have a notably small presence of hornblende.^[2]

It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled caldera. The name Santorini was given to it by the Latin empire in the thirteenth century, and is a reference to Saint Irene. Before then it was known as Kallistē (Καλλίστη, “the most beautiful one”), Strongylē (Στρογγύλη, “the circular one”), or Thera.

The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions the planet has ever seen: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of feet deep and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km (70 miles) to the south, through the creation of a gigantic tsunami. Another popular theory holds that the Thera eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.