June 18 2011: A Scientist Day of Rest .

After a grueling day in the field we took a day off from traveling and working to do a bit of exploration.

Our wonderful host at the Hotel Mylemi, George, told us about a Monastery located about 4km NW of Kalloni Bay and we decided to check it out. The Monastery of Limonos was established in the 13th century in dedication of Micheal the Archangel. It sat vacant for one century, due to the Ottomans capturing the Island in 1462. In 1526 it was re-established by Saint Ignatius who built the main church and founded the Limoniada school. 

The monastery is still used to this day and has about 200 small one room "churches" with the goal of having one for every day of the year, many people who can afford to sponsor a church can do so in the hope of their contribution appealing to a higher power. 

Limonos was very peaceful and surprisingly in good condition for such an ancient place. We took a small walking tour through the halls and the corridors and could hear the faint sound of monks singing. Women weren't allowed into the main part of the buildings (due to centuries old traditions), so us gals could only visit the outlying areas of worship. 

The monastery is home to a collection of about 5,000 rare 15th Century books, manuscripts, art, iconography, and distilleries. ( I have to thank my travel buddy Amanda Barnett for these pictures, I forgot my camera when we went to the monastery!)

 HOLY HONEY

 The northern Aegean region was characterized by intense volcanic activity about twenty million years ago. 

Huge amounts of lava and ash were spewed into the atmosphere and covered extensive areas. The volcanic eruptions and volcanic ash were followed by heavy rainfall resulting in huge mudflows of pyroclastic material (superheated gas and rock materials moving at very fast speeds), which moved from east to west covering a dense rich forest, that existed on the western part of the Island. These pyroclastic materials covered tree trunks, branches, fruits and foliage of the forest trees. This allowed for perfect petrification of plant tissue.

Organic plant material was replaced with inorganic material of the hydrothermal fluids and the characteristics of the trees such as the bark, annual rings and wood internal structures were preserved.

Petrified trunks are scattered over an area of 15,000 hectares and are called the ''Petrified Forest'',  there is nothing else like it in the world. Some of these still standing stumps are dated to be 20 million years old. It is not just a group of trees but an entire ecosystem fossilized in site.Petrified trunks were preserved standing with their root systems intact in a full stage of development attest and were petrified in their natural location, along with their fruits, branches and leaves. The Petrified Forest can give insight as to what constituted the flora and climate in the Aegean during the Miocene Era! Freaking cool!


First, lets have a look at Kalloni Bay before out drive to Sigri, Greece.

 It was a Beautiful drive through Sigri

 I know from a picture you really cant tell how big this is...but it was huge!!

 I SPY a praying mantis!

Don't let this fool you. The park was HUGE..we didn't even walk all of it. It descends rapidly and walking back up nearly killlled me! I hated that part! But it was well worth it!
After the strenuous hike down and back up the mountain we went to the beach in Sigri! Finally! The water was cold and refreshing and just what the group needed after a hike in the sun. Here are some pictures of the town.

<3 M