Day 23
How to start the day with a bang?
I woke up around 6 am. I listened. Now and then I could hear bangs in the distance. As I was preparing myself to get out to pee, I noticed a ute parked behind us. I dressed up. It was still dawn. Without the insulation of the cocoon, the bangs were a big louder. I got out of the van. I went around the van with the intention to give a concentrate of nitrates to a huge cactus nearby. Instead of executing the final phase of my simple plan, I put my back to the van and listened more intently. Before long, someone fired a riffle close to me. Swiftly I climbed back in the van, I urged the second captain to strap up, and we left.
On the road, as the sun was rising, we saw more than a dozen of hunters posted around the dry fields where their ancestors used to grow their food. They were as surprised as we were.
After this escape we didn't try to find a place to prepare a breakfast from the van. We didn't dare. We went to a bakery, we had a coffee, a couple of pastries, and a potty-stop. And then we felt better. Not 100%, but better. That plug of energy got us to the archeological site of Akrotiri.
This site is extraordinary. No. It is formidable. This is the best presentation of an archeological site I have seen so far.
While the entry fee of this site is the same as for the other sites we have visited, it is the first time I feel that that money is used to its best. At last, the archeologists have designed something that goes beyond the 4 dimensions I kept expecting and neither eventuated in Athens, in Delphi, nor in Epidavros: the 3 dimensions of the buildings, and a personable relation to time. Here, in Akrotiri, I got these four dimensions and more.
First, the removal of the ashes allows the visitor to see how tall the buildings were before the earthquake and how narrow the streets were.
A part of the exhibition (unfortunately closed since January) actually allows the visitor to go through the city, between walls that are still up to two storeys high, and to peep through the windows!
Several artifacts (whose originals are in Athens) were set in their physical context, such as the beds above, and the amphoras below.
The signage consistently provides 3 levels of zoom: where we are in the city, the structure of this building, what conservation steps were taken beside getting it unearthed, and finally examples of the artifacts found within.
And finally a video shows a virtual
visit in one of the buildings reconstructed with what could be a very simple architecture software. Simple yet efficient.
Last but not least, the whole site is covered by a bio-climatic roof and surrounding walls, that allows to manage the temperature and the humidity throughout the site. Clever.
And more if you feel like it...
We're expecting a quiet night. We've tucked ourselves in a nice place close to the sea. More news tomorrow.