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| Astypalea (Αστυπάλαια) |
But. I have just realised that in one week from now Summer will be officially over and this post is still sitting in my drafts!! I better do something!
So, little butterfly island won't you open your wings for me, fly and press Publish. Please!
Astypalea is not exactly famous among the international crowd. Most of the tourists that go there are from mainland Greece.
The reason why it's been dubbed as "the butterfly of the Aegean" is due to its butterfly shape!
This blue gem of the Dodecanese seems to be a very ancient island. According to Wikipedia, its first inhabitants, the Dorians, apparently named the island after "asty" (city) and "palea" (old) which could justify the long history of the island.
I quote from dodekanissaweb.gr
Astypalea has a long history, ranging from the Protocycladic times, to the Golden Age and the Athenian Alliance, to the Roman times, the Byzantine times and lately to the Venetian rule, the Turks and the Italians, where in 1948 it was reunited with the rest of Greece.
And...the reason for this post is ....
This lovely mosaic floor featuring the Zodiac. It's situated in the Baths of Tallara, late Roman Baths in the Analipsi area on the island. Among other finds of this site, there are two other mosaics depicting the four seasons and Cronus holding the earth.
I really hope for the best as far as far their conservation is concerned and I will try to find more information in the near future. I have done some googling but not much about the mosaics. I think I want to go there. Actually.
Well, that's all!
I hope you enjoyed this little voyage.
Wishing you a great September! A presto!
Image credits: astypaleaholidays.gr, myphotopic.blogspot.it, el.wikipedia.org, 12tetragonika.gr, ethnos.g
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