ALIKI: A 'DIVE' INTO THE PAST

16:33:00

Spending my summer holidays in the emerald island of Thassos, I discovered a real treasure! Where the Aliki beach stops, it begins a secret passage to the archaeological site of Aliki, an ancient quarry of the famous thassian marble. The visitor can see the huge marble rocks under the surface of the Aegean sea. The half finished blocks still show the tool marks and confirms how they where choped and cut free from the bed-rock. It is like a new world opening in front of us...

The quarry was operated from the ancient to byzantine years and its marble was widely used by the Greeks and the Roman artists. Thanks to the location of the quarry by the sea, the marble of Thassos was easily and quickly spread across other parts of the world. Various sculptures and buildings have been constructed with thassian marble famous for its bright white colour.

As concerns thassian marble, there are several references in ancient records. Seneca, who visited the mansion of Scipio Africanus in Rome, appreciating the character and simple living of the man, mocks his fellow-citizens for their extravagance "Who in our time could afford such a n old-fashioned bath like the one that Scipio has? We consider ourselves poor and miserable if our swimming pool isn' t made of thassian marble."