Ancient Tower (TUGTII #6)
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 26 Φεβρουαρίου, 2010 Filed under: exploring, hiking, ikaria, photography, stories | Tags: adventure, aegean, Ancient Greece, Dionysos, Drakanon, Faros, Greece, guide, hiking trails, how they build, ikaria, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, photography, the unofficial guide to ikaria island, TUGTII 9 ΣχόλιαThe Unofficial Guide to Ikaria Island #6
ancient tower, originally uploaded by egotoagrimi.
Comments
egotoagrimi says:
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg 
says:
Hello DT – there you are.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg says:
I have wondered about this tower.
What I wonder is, is it the same stonework, from the same time as this wall on the hill above Pythagorion in Samos:
angeloska says:
I am leaving you to play tower to tower fights with Simon. I will be back later. For now…
——————————————-
This beautiful photo was seen in The Ikaria pool! Thanks for adding!
☺☺☺
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )
egotoagrimi says:
The round is a bit later style. Harder to make (more slaves!) but it’s stronger and towers higher.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg says:
You’re not going up higher there I hope!
It’s all very intriguing. I read here:
www.eco-ikaria.gr/html/hist_archeologicalsite .asp?id=1&am…
«Drakanon is an ancient city that is considered to be Dionysus birthplace, built in the 4th century B.C. It is near Fanari (Faros) location on the eastern side of the Island. Relics of the city are found on the homonymous mountain which is also mentioned in Homer’s hymns. The cape of the city is, according to Strabo, W shaped. There can be found remains of the ancient port,
The citadel is on the cape and on the southern side there is a defending tower. On the northern side of the citadel there is a round tower either of the 4th century B.C. or of the Hellenistic times. It has 3 floors and two arched gates. It was used for a system of telecommunication of that time.
The people of the island called it a lighthouse (faros) and this is what gave the area that particular name. To the west of the citadel there is the ancient quarry and a tomb of 5 meters diameter.»
I wonder how people know this?
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg says:
The hymn could be this one
O Insewn God — born from Zeus’ thigh —
some folk say in Drakanon,
some in windy Ikaros,
others say in Naxos,
or by the deep-eddying river Alpheos,
pregnant Semele bore you to thunder-loving Zeus.
Others say you were born in Thebes, Lord,
but all of them lie:
the father of men and gods gave birth to you
far from people, hidden from white-armed Hera.(Hymn to Dionysos by Anonymous, trnsl. Diane Rayor)
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg says:
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
egotoagrimi says:
omg, 2 many questions!
i’ll just answer the last:
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
egotoagrimi says:
p.s. thyme all over around that tower…
It was a delight to trek through
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
simonsterg says:
Google translate : «It smells nice and you have the beginners trails here. Εγώ χώνομαι πιο μέσα, αλλά μην μου δίνετε σημασία. I snuggle more, but I do not pay attention.»
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
egotoagrimi says:
You mean, we are not letting you fall back. We are reducating you.
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
Eleni's Blog in Ikaria 
Great, well-worked reminder entry. It’s the season of towers, it seems…
🙂
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yes, I like these reminders.
«The people of the island called it a lighthouse (faros)» – could it have been? I wonder now. Maybe nobody had to fold a horseshoe shaped bit of roof – it had a fire on top!
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It must have been a beacon in the middle ages during the Byzantine and later the Genoese. If I am not mistaken the tower has 8 large square windows on the top floor, as many as the eight cardinal points. Depending on the direction they wanted to send the signal, they closed seven and left one open. As for the smoke and the fire… -Nana will love this-, no simpler thing: a round hearth in the middle of the floor, a funnel hanging over it and a chimney through the roof!
«I have seen old ships sail like swans asleep…»
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NANA LOVED THIS!
How stupid of me to think we were done with that tower! Ah if we had a drawing…
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I loved it too and I think that my guess is correct.
Ah if I had time there would be a drawing and by a professional too -you know who. A medieval fortress with a tower, smokes and lights and galleons anchored at its feet.
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… and I read in a very old book that there is treasure buried there!
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A haunted treasure guarded by the ghost of a dead Arab pirate! People dag holes, even tried to pull down stones from the tower to find the treasure until the 1940s!
How can we ever thank you Simon for finding the principal source of the history of Ikaria in digital form? This deserves an announcement in the Ikaria Group Flickr. Bishop Georgirenes book was the first travel guide to Ikaria. Not as good as Alexia’s, Nana’s and Eleni’s, of course, but good enough for his time.
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When we come, I don’t think we’ll be bringing spades. There is always the possibility that the old guy was having a laugh. I won’t forget «There is no way to learn the truth from Ikarians». Remember that? http://www.flickr.com/photos/isl_gr/127105273/#comment72057594110739991
As for the digital history – I didn’t have to do any digging – it’s there at the bottom of the wikipedia page on Ikaria!
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(We reknowned Britains do not confine our contemplations to our own
Homes or to our neighbour Nations, but enlarge our Prospect unto the most remote Countries, and with a piercing Eye, diligently pursue the exact discovery of their state and condition.)
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