The wonderful Makares-Islands
Every time I visit the Mákares Islands, I can’t stop wondering about this truly wonderful place. And that’s perhaps no surprise, because the nísói makáron of the ancient Greeks, the ‘Fortunate Isles’, were the place where the successful and happy heroes beloved by the gods resided after their death (the deceased were called makárioi, i.e. the “fortunate ones”, those freed from the hardships and torments of earthly life). According to another view, the souls of good people who had lived without sin also came to the Fortunate Isles, or rather the Islands of the Fortunate. The islands were described as a paradise where the fields bore fruit three times a year. It is believed that the legend refers to the Azores, the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands and Madeira, which are collectively called ‘Macaronesia’. In reality, however, the nísoi makáron are of course here in the Aegean, the Mákares Islands – and indeed, fortunate are those who can visit them!
The Makares Islands are of interest to biologists because of the birds that breed here: seagulls, shearwaters and even the rare, secretive storm petrel, as well as Eleonora’s falcons and the protected Bonelli’s eagle. That is also the reason for my visit: I am accompanying biologists from the NCC (Nature conservation consultants), who want to install microphones near the shearwater nests.
The plants of the islands are also interesting. With only about 200 species, the flora is quite limited – all species have to cope with the proximity of the sea. It is not only of interest which species grow here – and the plants seem to me often strikingly green, fresh, lush and vigorous (as befits a paradise) – but also which species are absent, for example e.g. there are no broom species and no anemones, which are so common on Naxos at the moment. Now, at the end of February, it is still too early for most annual plants – a report on the plants of Makares will have to wait for another time.
While walking across the island of Ágios Nikólaos (the westernmost and largest of the Mákares islands) to preliminarily map the plants, I couldn’t resist taking photos of the landscape every now and then, but above all I was amazed again and again by the wonderful rocks and the unlikely shapes created by erosion.
The Makares Islands are geologically quite different from Naxos: while the central and northern parts are made up of massive limestone and marble (like large parts of Naxos), the southern part consists mainly of lithographic limestone, which is absent on Naxos. The Makares Islands were not subject to the metamorphoses that shaped Naxos, so the rocks here are less consolidated and metamorphosed.
The sandstone-like lithographic limestone in the southwestern part of the island, which is particularly light and so soft that it can be cut with normal saws, was quarried in the past, with the participation of residents of Naxos, e.g. from the village of Kóronos. The stone slabs, called maltesóplakes, like the similar limestone from Malta, were sold to Athens, where they were used for pavements and roof insulation. Some of the quarry workers lived on the island for long periods and even grew grain here. Drinking water is available in a water tank, which is filled by rainwater via a long gutter. This tank was built about 200 years ago, when the Makares Islands, like other small islands in the area, belonged to the Monastery of Chozoviotissa on Amorgos, which sent people to the islands to farm and settle them as far as possible. After the end of the stone quarrying, goat herds from Amorgos, who now own the island, kept their flocks here, which were taken from the islands some decades ago.
But enough talk! Let’s look at some photos.
We disembark at the old quarry on the large bay in the south-west of the western island which is Agios Nikolaos, where the boat can moor easily. Some stones are still lying around in the quarry.
The lithographic limestone display these beautiful patterns.
I first head to the western part of the island, from where you can see the westernmost cape, known as the Pyramid; Naxos is visible in the background.
Every few steps I come across beautiful, eroded stones – here a few examples.
Now I return across the narrow section between the north-western and south-western bays to the main part of the island.
more stones…
A little further on lies this old quarry.
The water tank is located here.
This channel directs the water running down the slope into the water tank.
I continue towards the south-east.
The south coast is very steep and mostly inaccessible. In the background you can see Strongyle (the ‘round one’), the southernmost of the Makares Islands.
Looking back towards the western cape
View along the steep south coast to the west
At the south-eastern corner, the view opens up to the eastern island, Prasíni (the ‘Green’) or Ágia Paraskeví. The rocks here are 30 meter high, with a very steep drop below us.
Looking back at the hill where we were just standing. In this part of the island, slightly taller shrubs grow, mainly Phoenician juniper and mastic trees.
View from the highest point of the island towards the north-western bay and the northern part. The highest area of the island is fairly flat at around 90 m; to the north, it is bordered by a 50 m high, almost vertical cliff.
View from the top towards the west
To get to the northern part of the island, you have to climb down a narrow stair in the cliff – although it is very impressive, it is not exactly my favourite activity.
Here you can see the cliff with the stairs from below.
Adjacent lies a flatter region, the livádi (the ‘meadow’), where the quarry workers grew grain.
Here you can find the most beautiful pebbles! They come in all colours. The rocks here consist of peridotite and serpentinite-rich deep-sea sediments, similar to those found in a narrow zone at the cape near Moutsoúna.
Our boat is anchored in the eastern bay. Under the large boulders that have fallen from the cliff, shearwaters are breeding, which the NCC staff with whom I came here are studying – here they are installing microphones and cameras.
View of the bay and Prasini Island in the evening light.
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