Island Series: Mykonos and Santorini

A history of trading ideas. The third blog of this series about island travel adventures.

The alarm was unforgiving in its insistent buzzing at the time reluctantly entered the night before. I jerked awake as it sounded at 3:50 am. I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, waiting for my heart to quit pounding after such an abrupt start to the morning. I had rehearsed in my head a mad rush for this morning. Is it morning if it’s this dark outside? I had 10 minutes or less with my toothbrush, comb, sunscreen, and pajamas. My suitcase had to be outside my door at 4 a.m.

Once the suitcase was outside, I had roughly 20 minutes to finish dressing in clothes laid out the night before and meet the group in the lobby, preparing to board a bus. This was the launch of my journey from Athens to two Greek Islands. The islands were worth this ridiculous start to the day.

At the Port of Piraeus, 30 minutes from our Athens hotel, I watched the lights on various vehicles preparing to load people, cars, and cargo onto the ocean-going ferry. The scene was of a practiced ballet, with everyone trying to get to the loading zone as quickly and orderly as possible. Our tour group of 22 folks was only part of the 1,000 souls queuing up for the ride as pedestrians or in their cars. Our group was trying to navigate the traffic on foot with our luggage after being dropped off where the buses were allowed to stop. The challenge was to keep moving without being run over in the dark while following instructions from the tour director and officials checking for identification and tickets.

In Greece's heyday, in the 5th century BCE, Piraeus was the most important trading center in the Mediterranean. I imagine the commotion of loads of trade goods, people, carts and wagons, arriving ships, and officials was much the same in those days, minus some of the technology. It’s good to contemplate that view anyway. It was still dark as we sailed, and I saw little of this modern port’s infrastructure.

That morning, the ride on the Aegean Sea was so rough that the glass doors of the chillers for bottled drinks flew open when the contents shifted violently, dumping the plastic bottles across the floors as a large wave hit. The drinks rolled in all directions as the ferry pitched up and down. Some passengers had their heads between their knees, fighting nausea. One woman trying to return to her seat was embarrassed when she fell into a stranger's lap, who thought it was funny.

This rough ride was rewarded about 30 minutes later as I stepped outside to the still-

pitching deck with other passengers. I viewed the sunrise behind another island that we bypassed on our day’s journey. The sky was a vivid red with a glowing white-hot sun peeking behind the mountain that defined the island. The sky appeared to be on fire.

If we had flown from Athens to Mykonos, I would have missed the adventure at the port, the experience of some very rough water, and the unforgettable sunrise on the Aegean Sea. We flew back after completing our trip to Mykonos and Santorini, but I’m glad we didn’t fly both ways. 

Greece embodies antiquity, with the Parthenon, Agora, and countless historical structures from the country’s Golden Age. Alexander the Great and Greece ruled the world before the Roman Empire rose to dominance. The ancient marvels I visited in Athens set the stage for my excursions into the Aegean Sea.

Of course, the history of these two Greek islands is more extensive than I experienced on this short visit, but these are my observations. Parts of each island’s history, the 1600s in Mykonos and the 1600s BCE in Santorini reinforced the idea that trade was and still is a vehicle for progress. Travel for trade or exploration builds understanding and generates fresh ideas. Travel experiences work both ways–you give, and you get. Two islands in the Aegean Sea southeast of the mainland gave me a sense of timelessness and a glimpse into the world of older civilizations.

The island of Mykonos is known for its clubs and party scene, where I attended a new friend’s birthday celebration—the evening of music provided by a DJ finished with cake, giant sparklers, and Greek dancing–oompah! Earlier, I explored the hillside warrens of homes and churches and viewed the Venetian windmills.

In Mykonos, I saw the lasting impact of the Venetians who colonized the island between the 14th and 18th centuries. Among the tourist stops is an outcropping of five of the remaining windmills visible on the top of the mountain. Mykonos is one of the windiest areas of the Mediterranean, contributing to the windmills’ vital part in the history of the island’s economy. The thatched-roof buildings with rotating, circular support frames and spokes stood against a brilliant blue sky above the hillside of white homes, churches, and stores. The windmills were used for the island's production and export of grains for trade. They remained operational into the 20th century but are no longer in use, and one has been converted into a museum.

The windmills were intriguing, and I conflated their importance with the architecture of a section of the island known as Little Venice. The designation Little Venice comes from the architecture of the buildings that line the seafront, some with wooden balconies that hang over the water. Most of the three-story buildings were constructed during Venetian control and were originally owned by wealthy individuals, such as merchants and sea captains. 

To those images, I added the 17th-century Church of Paraportiani, named after the adjacent small gate, or the "paraport" of the medieval wall of Mykonos. It is a two-story structure of five churches, four on the ground floor and one above. As our guide explained, it began as one small church in 1425, and over the years, other churches built on to the existing structure, each intended to be the last addition. The fifth and final church was added above the four original churches. Paraportiani is an arresting sight and architectural anomaly encountered through that small gateway opening as you wander the waterfront.

As I think of Mykonos, I envision the end of the Renaissance era and the Venetians rule of the island. I consider the ideas their sailors and merchants brought with them and new ideas gained and taken back to Venice from experiences in this region of the Mediterranean. We walked the charming streets and alleys around the island, noting the old doors and churches. The lintel on one door that I photographed said 1661. The island has the look and feel of a time from centuries ago.

The Venetians weren’t the only people who colonized the island, but they left a lasting, visible mark. As I reflected on the Venetian era, I conjured an image of a thriving trading site four centuries ago to take with me. However, Mykonos' history with the Venetians in the 1600s was recent on a timeline that includes the destruction of the Minoan’s Akrotiri settlement on the island of Santorini about 1600 BCE–on the older side of history’s Common Era marker. 

In Santorini, I hiked to the top of a hill and posed with the sweeping background view of the famous, blue-domed white buildings trailing below into the sea. Greek dancing at sunset on a Catamaran in the island’s caldera followed the next evening.  Despite this beauty and fun, in Santorini, Akrotiri caught my imagination.

The island of Santorini is a semi-circular caldera that surrounds the water of the Aegean, where the volcano remains active underwater. The volcano is still being monitored for increased activity. The eruption forming the caldera occurred circa 1627 BCE, about 1,100 years before the Golden Age of Greece, from 508 BCE until 323 BCE (Cline, p 125). The Minoans flourished during this era. Their culture is known from the archeological discoveries in Crete and other Aegean Islands, including those at Akrotiri on the island of Santorini.

On our second day in Santorini, our group explored the Akrotiri Archeological Site. The settlement of Akrotiri was occupied during most of the Bronze Age until a volcanic eruption covered the town with ash and pumice, which preserved the village until discovered by a farmer in the late 1800s. Only a small percentage of the overall site has been excavated. The town’s ruins reminded me of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, except that the Greek volcanic eruption was 1600 years before Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.   

The Akrotiri Site is rich in cultural discoveries despite the absence of human remains. Archeologists believe earthquakes before the volcanic explosion caused the inhabitants to flee, taking most personal possessions with them. Large pots, likely used for trade, remained behind with other artifacts. The most valued find is a stone tablet thought to be used to record trade information. This tablet predates other types of written records.  The Minoans on Santorini traded with other Minoans on Crete and other Aegean Islands. They also traded with other peoples of Greece, Syria, and Egypt.

The site's infrastructure, with a well-developed sewer system, was advanced. Europe didn’t achieve the same level of waste management for hundreds of years (Doumas, 27). Some buildings were multi-story, and many had timber frames and wooden pier-and-door partitions. Many buildings had windows in the front looking out to the road. Our guide shared that windows in buildings of this age were not usually found because construction capabilities could not support a roof with a cutout in the wall. The homes and commercial structures had art, pottery, and frescoes.

My favorite cultural trait of the island was females' powerful role in the Minoan culture. Although it is believed that Akrotiri was not a true matriarchal society, frescoes tell of women’s positions of power and authority. Processions and gifts are depicted as honoring the Goddess of Nature. There is a fresco known as “The Young Priestess.” I thought it might have been a good place to be alive as a woman. This last Greek island excursion contributed much visual imagery from the archeological site to fuel my speculation. 

My too brief time in the Greek Islands was filled with old and new friends, Greek dancing, bold landscapes, and unforgettable sunsets and sunrises. It brought insights into ancient worlds from 1600 BCE to 1600 CE. Both ends of the time spectrum reflected the leaps in imagination and progress that come with trade and exchanging ideas. Societies led or inspired by women, where women were celebrated, enchant me. I am inspired by the creation of beautiful pottery, art, and frescoes, and I wonder at the engineering advances before writing existed to record such accomplishments. The cerulean seas and frothy white clouds were echoed in the islands' white buildings and blue domes. 

New experiences bring growth. Whether through trade or exploring new places, travel creates opportunities to connect new ideas within your personal framework. Travel creates space for a more expansive existence. Even the ferry ride was a thrilling new mode of travel. Mykonos and Santorini illustrate the value of exchanging goods and ideas to build vibrant, creative societies. Through my limited travel, I hope to give something in small measure and, in turn, receive something from each place I visit.

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Sources:

• Cline, Diane Harris. The Greeks: An Illustrated History. National Geographic. Washington, D.C. 2016.

• Doumas, Christos G. Akrotiri: The Archaeological Site and the Museum of Prehistoric Thera. Society for the Promotion of Studies on Prehistoric Thera. Athens 2017. Translated by Alexandra Doumas.

• Mykonos’ government website: https://mykonos.gr/en/ 

• Santorini’s government website: https://www.santorini.gr/en/ 

• EF Go Ahead tour guides.