Mia Travels: Delos Edition
MIA TRAVELS TO DELOS
Delos has one of the most important archaeology sites in Greece, which inspired one of MIA PAPA's latest SS'21 Resortwear Collections. That is why, a visit to this island was a must for me to feel in person the strong energy of the island with such a cultural and historical significance for the whole world.
The entire island is designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s an ark of history, floating lazily on the waters of the Aegean Sea, just a few miles away from cosmopolitan Mykonos. Even though a small (350.64 ha), rocky island in the centre of the sea, is considered the head priest of the Cyclades, the birthplace of the immortals. It’s Delos.
According to the myth, it was there that Leto gave birth to Apollo, god of daylight, and his twin sister Artemis, goddess of night light, both children of Zeus.
Delos is not a museum; Delos is not there to tell a story. Delos is history itself.
And here is mine on it!
One can only approach Delos via other neighbouring islands. Therefore, our journey started sailing off from Syros Island on a small traditional wooden boat, kindly given to us by the Hermoupolis Heritage cultural organisation. After two hours of sailing, the smooth waters led us to Rineia Island, a small uninhabited island between Mykonos and Delos, for a quick refreshing stop into the crystal clear blue sea.
Sailing off again, we approached Delos in the late afternoon hours where the strong summer heat gave space to a cooling Cycladic breeze and the sun has started its way down, gifting the sky above the island the most beautiful sunset colours.
Although, I knew already a lot of things about the history of the island, as part of my design research for the Delos Resortwear Collection, nothing could beat the immense knowledge and ability to set you back in time and experience the space in the best possible way, other than our most talented tour guide Christina.
Wearing my intense red Leto silky caftan, we found ourselves strolling around the small Sacred Harbour, where there are still leftovers of the merchant guilds, then passing through the several squares of the Hellenistic Agora, leading to the The House of Dionysus', a luxurious 2nd century private house named for the floor mosaic of Dionysus riding a panther.
Further down, we see the Temple of the Delians, dedicated to Apollo, a classic example of the Doric order followed by the House of the Dolphins, named from its atrium mosaic, where erotes ride dolphins. A true masterpiece!
After admiring the now-left dry Sacred Lake, we passed the Doric Temple of Isis, which was built at the beginning of the Roman period to venerate the familiar trinity of Isis, the Alexandrian Serapis and Anubis.
Starting slowly our descent back to the harbour, the "Terrace of the Lions", dedicated also to Apollo, felt like the perfect closure to our magnificent trip, as the raw of lion sculptures stood proud, waving us goodbye.
As the sun had almost touched the horizon, we started sailing back to our starting point, with a small delicious gourmet dinner stop on Mykonos.
Because, after experiencing this unique God-like trip, we felt like we were in need of something mortal, very mortal!
Until next time,
xxx
Mia