Joyce, our visiting cousin, Karin and I took a one day excursion to Naxos. We have travelled around quite a bit on previous visits yet I was surprised how much mining activity I saw this time. Some of it current; some obsolete.
Included in our wanderings was Moutsouna, a beach town on the nearly uninhabited east side of the island. The mining history visible there reminded me of Crete as told in Zorba the Greek. At one time this was the world center of emery mining and export. Now you can get excellent fresh fish dinners surrounded by historical artifacts. Like this ski lift, . . . I mean ore tramway.
While Paros is known for the ancient marble used in many famous statutes, Naxos is a major source of construction quality marble to this day. Can you imagine the vast tons that are sawed out of this mountain? We also saw another mountain being dismantled but couldn't get close enough for a picture.
Included in our wanderings was Moutsouna, a beach town on the nearly uninhabited east side of the island. The mining history visible there reminded me of Crete as told in Zorba the Greek. At one time this was the world center of emery mining and export. Now you can get excellent fresh fish dinners surrounded by historical artifacts. Like this ski lift, . . . I mean ore tramway.
While Paros is known for the ancient marble used in many famous statutes, Naxos is a major source of construction quality marble to this day. Can you imagine the vast tons that are sawed out of this mountain? We also saw another mountain being dismantled but couldn't get close enough for a picture.
Look closely for the large piece of machinery in the bottom center of the close-up photo for perspective as to the size of the pit. (It is on the first level of white.)Update: This is a cropped and enlarged photo from what was originally posted.)
1 comments:
- At June 02, 2007 12:38 PM nelanj said...
-
Cool website! My husband loves Greece and we really want to go. Some day he'll get back and I'll experience it for the first time!
Hey, your photo of the large machinery in the marble mine ... it's so small I can't see it. Can you PhotoShop a red circle around it? Seriously. You've caught our curiosity.
Oh, found you on MyBlogLog.
annieo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
