Thásos, Alikí

The morning tasks were the usual preparations for leaving but Nicky also went ashore for some last minute supplies. As a bonus she found a fishmongers and bought some fresh prawns; we’d be able to see if the Thásos prawns are as good as the Samothráki ones. Once back on board we slipped our lines and motored out of the harbour. Despite the forecast, Thursday 19 May started off with a very light wind from the east, far too light to sail, so we motored and streamed a couple of fishing lines, very much in hope rather than expectation.

However, around midday the wind built sufficiently to sail so we beat gently down the remainder of the east coast of the island and around the south-east tip. Typically, here the wind bent to follow the line of the coast and instead of being able to bear away we continued hard on the wind.  Rather irritating!

Ormos Alikí   

Ormos Alikí, which is where we were headed, is a small inlet on the south coast of Thásos, protected from the south by a headland with a long tail of off-lying rocks. We gave the boulders a good offing as we rounded and when the inlet opened up we saw there was a sailing yacht and a motor yacht anchored inside. We anchored to windward of them and, as the afternoon drew on, the motor yacht moved off and was replaced by 2 more sailing yachts.

Thásos prawns   

It was a lovely evening with a gentle wind to hold our bows to the slight swell working its way around the headland. The light breeze also wafted the smell of our barbecuing prawns down onto the nearer of the anchored yachts – much to their interest as they peered at us through their binoculars! We rather suspected that we were in for an uncomfortable night, rolling in the swell, but we didn’t like to lay a kedge anchor to hold our bows towards the entrance of the bay just in case the wind picked up and went round and the other yachts swung into us in the night. However, true to our prediction, overnight the wind died away completely and we had a disturbed and rolly night sitting beam on to the waves.

Clearly the other yachts had just as disturbed a night as all the crews were up and off remarkably early the following morning. In a fit of enthusiasm, we inflated the dinghy and rowed ashore to view the village, which our guidebook told us was effectively under a preservation order due to some nearby ruins. Certainly, what we could see of the village from the sea was attractive: honey-coloured stone built houses and tavernas with green stone tiled roofs.

Roman sarcophagus, double sanctuary to Dioskouri (lower right) and (top left and right) the Paleochristian basilicas   

The ruins, however, were far more interesting. There has been continuous human habitation at Alikí since the 7^th century BC. The first signs (of cult and habitation) are in a cave close to an ancient double sanctuary but the cave entrance is very small and we were not permitted to enter it. However, the double sanctuary, which it is thought was dedicated to Dioskouroi, the protector of sailors, has been well-excavated and dates to the archaic and classical periods. During the 5^th century BC, Christianity came to Alikí and 2 palaeochristian basilicas were built on the cliff-top. Interestingly, as in Thasos city, these 2 basilicas also faced to the south, rather than to the east.

Marble quarries   

Part finished column base   

However, the most interesting part of the ruins is the remains of the marble quarries around the base of the headland. As we had motored past the previous day we had commented how the rock formations looked more man-made, ‘almost like a quarry’ – how right we had been!

Unfinished column beside the quarry   

Marble quarrying took place on the site for 12 centuries continuously, starting from the 6^th century BC and information boards around the site showed the various methods used to quarry the stone through the ages. In a couple of places the remains of part completed columns and column bases have been found, abandoned in or at the edge of the quarry. In the museum at Thasos a caption about carving the kurous had said that the initial work on the huge blocks from which such statues (and columns) were carved was carried at the quarry itself. This was partly so that the excess of the block did not have to be transported and partly so that the sculptor could confirm that the block did not have any hidden faults that would affect the statue/column. Clearly, the fault in the part-finished kurous at the museum was not found until the in-progress statue had been moved to the city for detailed work. Presumably the column and the base we saw at the quarry had faults within them and were discarded where they were.

Headland quarry and drawing showing how it would have looked   

The end of the headland, what is now the ‘long tail of off-lying rocks’ of which we had kept well clear the previous day, had been one of the main working areas of the quarry around, we think, the 2^nd century BC. At that time the sea-level was somewhat lower than it is now and an information board overlooking the area gives an impression of what the working area would have looked like back in the day. There are still holes in the stone where the workers based their tripods and hoists to lift the huge blocks and move them across to the vessels waiting on the headland’s western shore. It was quite something to stand on the ancient spoil heap and imagine the quarry in action 2000+ years ago, with everything being extracted, lifted and transported to the ships using human (and perhaps animal) muscle power alone. Yet again we were amazed at what the ancients achieved.

BV anchored off the ancient western loading dock   

And so, somewhat grounded by what we had viewed, we returned to BV. Keen to not spend the next night rolling around, we decided to move on around Thasos to find a more settled port or anchorage.

Thásos, Alikí, Greece