Sailing to Sanctuaries on ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’
I have always found Homer’s description of Aegean waters evocative, and although not necessarily strictly accurate regarding the sea's hue, the deep and consistent tones of colour often appear like a deep ink-like blue wine or perhaps a frothy beer when angry. In June 2024, the crew of Niki, consisting of my supervisor, Dr Giorgos Papantoniou, post-doctoral researcher Dr Francesco Ripanti, and fellow PhD student Giulia Osti, along with local Captain Andreas Afentakis, set sail from Limenas on the north coast of Thasos. The purpose of our week-long cruise was to understand the location of and navigation to remote ancient sanctuaries and to explore the liminal experience of these seascapes as a key part of my doctoral research project, entitled “Locating Sanctuaries as Nodes on Trade Networks and Waypoints on Navigation Routes”.
Thasos made an interesting start to our voyage. It was colonised by the Parians in the 7th century BCE and it developed into an important emporium and port, exporting wine and marble throughout the Mediterranean, and with its own port entry rules recorded in inscriptions
Although a modern sailing yacht, Niki is 14m in length, making it similar in size to the Kyrenia shipwreck of the 4th-century BCE, found off the north coast of Cyprus. We would sail to my case study sites: Aliki on Thasos (No. 1 on the map below); the Sanctuary of the Great Gods at Paleopoli on Samothraki (No. 4); and on Lemnos (No. 5), the Kabeirion above Órmos Hefaistia and the Sanctuary of Artemis at Avlonas, north of Myrina.
Fig 1: Sailing route
On Saturday, June 1st 2024, we set out from Limenas port en route to Aliki, famous for its white marble, on the southeast coast of Thasos, a sailing distance of 16 nautical miles (Nm) (30 km). Captain Andreas briefly diverted into the ancient military port where triremes of the Athenian fleet would have anchored and been stored in sheds. The prevailing winds at this time of year in the North Aegean are generally northerly or westerly and very occasionally southerly, which is what we experienced - making slow progress in 5 knots of wind and requiring an engine to Aliki, enabling us to contemplate how the ancients would have made way. We anchored in good shelter on the western side of the peninsula with a sandy seabed ideal for anchoring in 8m depth, and taking the opportunity to swim and snorkel at the submerged marble quarry.
On the other, eastern side of the promontory lies an ancient sanctuary, established after the arrival of the Parians, c.650 BCE. Inconclusive evidence, including inscriptions and pottery, suggests it may have been dedicated to Apollo or used as a shelter for visiting sailors.
Fig. 2-3. 2a: Submerged marble quarry and 2b: the ancient sanctuary at Aliki; 3: At anchor at Aliki, the crew record their thoughts on our first day with the ancient marble loading area in the background
After the first night's sleep on board, we set out on a 35 Nm (65 km) long sail to Samothraki, using sails on light south-westerly winds and being becalmed close to Samothraki - but rewarded in the still seas with the sighting of shy dolphins.
Tying up at the modern port of Kamariotissa on the north-west coast at 20.00 hrs, we explored the island, including the old capital, Hora, with its Genoese castle, and enjoyed excellent food with the help of Giorgos’ menu choices. The next morning, we sailed to the pier at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods and the ancient settlement of Paleopoli. We anchored offshore at about 16m depth on a rocky seabed with poor hold and a little exposed to the light north-easterly winds. Captain Andreas delivered us to the ancient pier in our dinghy, landing where – reputedly – so did many renowned visitors, including Herodotus and St. Paul. It also helped us consider that this pier was unlikely to have been used in strong north-east meltemi winds. A visitor might best seek shelter at the ancient harbour of Demetrion, 9 km away at Kamariotissa.
The Sanctuary of the Great Gods is where initiation into a mystery cult took place, usually believed to be associated with safety at sea. Mystery cults are a category of ritual that involve mystic rites or initiations; these are often associated with Demeter, such as those at Eleusis, concerned with the afterlife. Some aspects of the rites, processes of initiation and the associated deities remain elusive at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, as indeed they do at other mystery cults, including two dedicated to the Kabeiroi: one near Thebes in Boeotia, and another on the island of Lemnos, not far from Samothrace, which was the next stop on our journey.
We spent most of that day at the sanctuary, discussing and reflecting on its chronological development and the political and religious involvement and investment of monarchs, including Arsinoe II and Ptolemy II of Egypt, and Philip III and Alexander IV of Macedon.
Figs 4-7. 4: Giorgos and Francesco on the bow with Mt Fengari on Samothraki in the background, the home of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods; 5: Niki at anchor near the ancient pier of Paleopoli and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods; 6: Giulia at the original site of the Nike of Samothraki; 7: Dermot takes a crew selfie with the Hieron at the Sanctuary of Great Gods in the background
On Tuesday, we set sail southwards, starting in light south easterlies changing later to 10-15 knot north easterlies, for the 32 Nm (60 km) voyage to Órmos Hefaistia on the north coast of Lemnos, an isolated bay between ancient Hefaistia on the west side and a sanctuary dedicated to the Kabeiroi on the east side. As noted earlier, we cannot say for definite who the Great Gods of the Kabeiroi were: as much to do with fear of the ancients divulging any details of the initiation or, as some scholars believe, because they themselves did not know the names of the god.
A joyful aspect of sailing in the Aegean is finding yourself anchored alone in a safe anchorage with a sandy seabed and, in this case, only 5m of depth with safe and pleasant swimming and snorkelling in clear waters from the boat. One cannot help but imagine ancient sailors also anchoring here, as Jason and the Argonauts did on their way to Colchis. A fragment attributed to Aeschylus in fact suggests an association between the Argonauts, Lemnos, and the Kabeiroi. An interesting aspect of my research is considering the change in sea depth at sites I visit. Generally, around this area of the Aegean, the sea level has risen by c.2m since ancient times. Based on modern navigation charts, I can estimate where the land began and the seashore ended 2500 years ago, and we can thus imagine a narrower bay with easy access by sea and a short walk to the Kabeirion. I attempted a mushroom and pancetta pasta dish for the crew, including two Italians who did have seconds! We had a peaceful night at anchor.
Figs 8-9. 8: Sailing to Lemnos, Giorgos and Francesco; 9: At anchor, Órmos Hefaistia on Lemnos
The next morning (Wednesday), we took our dingy to ancient Hefaistia on the bay's western side. This site was inhabited from prehistoric times with an active settlement from the Archaic period to the late Roman period, including the remains of a theatre and sanctuary quarter.
The Kabeirion is c.8km distance away on the east side of the bay and would have been accessible from the sea if we hadn’t experienced technical problems with our dingy. This illustrated the terrestrial disconnection between the settlement of Hefaistia and the Kabeirion on the other side of the bay, which we visited later with the help of a car rental. The Sanctuary of the Kabeirion, according to local archaeologist Dimitris Plantzos (The Story of Lemnos, Athens: Kapon, 2022), is one of the oldest occupied sanctuaries, having been founded in the late 8th century and with Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period Telesteria where ceremonies were hosted.
Figs 10-11. 10: Ancient theatre at Hefaistia on Lemnos with Pournias Bay in the background; 11a-b: The Sanctuary of the Kabeirion: a view from the sea and the Hellenistic Telesterion
The benefit of road transport was that we could visit the prehistoric settlement of Poliochni on the east coast of Lemnos, villages in the interior and later arrive at the island capital, Myrina, on the west coast. On Thursday, prevailing wind resumed, with brisk 20-knot winds from the north-east, making for an exciting sail to the Sanctuary of Artemis at Avolona.
Although this sanctuary to Artemis, worshipped here as goddess of the skies and protector of Lemnos, is obscured today by a modern hotel, the sea stacks or niscoudia (islets) below the sanctuary would have been a helpful beacon for sailors in plotting a course and finding a safe anchoring point.
Figs 12-13. 12: Beating to windward and heeling on the sail to sanctuary of Artemis at Avlonas on Lemnos; 13: Site of sanctuary of Artemis at Avlonas, viewed from the sea with rocks of the nisoudia (islets) and a view from the sanctuary
After seeing Myrina's local sights, including the Castle of Myrina, our cruise ended on Friday, with each crew member heading in different directions on further adventures. It was a truly enjoyable cruise that added to my research on understanding the challenges and vagaries of weather, navigation, accessibility and visibility of sanctuary sites to ancient sailors. I could not have chosen better crew mates in their enthusiasm, despite having little sailing experience, and their sharp analysis and lively debates on my research.
Dermot Grant is a postgraduate researcher in the Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin.
His research is funded by a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship.