Thursday, May 30, 2024

The Greek Islands

With all that Greece has contributed to the world we might expect that it would have a population about that of India or China. The question is how a nation of ten million people could accomplish all of this.

Greece is renowned for it's Islands. A dream vacation for people across the world is a tour of these scenic islands. The islands are not only beautiful but have the same kind of history as mainland Greece and Crete.

Let's start with the islands to the west of Greece, in the Ionian Sea.

On the island of Corfu there is the ruins of the ancient city of Korkyra. The island has also been controlled by Byzantium and Venice, both of which left behind castles. The old fortress in the city is Venetian and their perpetual rivals, the Ottomans, never captured the island. The following three images, from Google Street View, are of the Venetian Castle on Corfu.




There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking on the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.6209004,19.9241359,3a,75y,233.39h,107.11t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNmHzQFOu3c8GyUsc7wSYzkH-exi32d_z1N1m_4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNmHzQFOu3c8GyUsc7wSYzkH-exi32d_z1N1m_4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-17.10611-ya175.38585-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian islands. It's local capital city is Argostoli. The long history of this island includes the Byzantines, the Ottomans and, the Venetians. Nearby is Ithaca Island, the legendary home of Odysseus, about whom the Odyssey was written, with a city in eastern New York State named for it. The first image, from Google Street View, is of a beach on Kefalonia.








https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8300801,24.0309696,3a,75y,144.12h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNz4VNxO4yzinALx0yoQvoQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNz4VNxO4yzinALx0yoQvoQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D150.25648%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Santorini still has it's Venetian name. It also has a history with the Minoans and Phoenicians. Santorini was actually formed by a tremendous volcanic eruption in ancient times. The first two scenes, from Google Earth, are of architecture on Santorini. 



https://www.google.com/maps/@36.4205255,25.4320754,3a,75y,340h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNt8-FD_bONLxh7_OWD8iD-Fs-CoLmpIn64Ys1-!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNt8-FD_bONLxh7_OWD8iD-Fs-CoLmpIn64Ys1-%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya311.66394-ro-0-fo100!7i13312!8i6656

Patmos is one of the Dodecanese Islands, to the southeast of the Cycladic Islands. It is known as the place where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation, while in exile there. The first image, from Google Street View, is of the cave where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation.


There is a long line for access to the cave. 


https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3091639,26.5475786,3a,75y,352.29h,109.24t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP3ntuJeWTILAX0vlGka1rN_ImLViE3ik8i13-F!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP3ntuJeWTILAX0vlGka1rN_ImLViE3ik8i13-F%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-19.244373-ya125.28938-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

Rhodes is a large Dodecanese island, from where the U.S. state of Rhode Island got it's name. In ancient times, there was a giant statue, the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue was about the size of the Statue of Liberty. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World but was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C.

The first three images, from Google Earth, are of the Castle of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes.



at

No comments:

Post a Comment