Near the foot of Sypil Mountin in Manisa, Turkey sits a stone ediface that has been written about for ages and which has inspired some of the world’s greatest art and music.
Just a short walk from the Manisa city center in the Karakoy part of the city is the natural stone monument variously known as Niobe Rock or The Crying Rock. This simple outcropping has inspired literature, music, and painting through the ages. For those interested in historical tourism, Ancient Greek tourism, or cultural tourism – the Niobe rock is something that should be seen, touched, and meditated upon.
The rock itself resembles the head of a wavy haired crying woman complete with eye sockets which have been carved by the natural processes of erosion.
First written about by Homer, the story of this tragic lady has it’s roots in the ancient Greek Mythology of the region. Niobe, the daughter of the great king, Tantolos (Tantalus) was a proud woman who had seven beautiful sons and seven beautiful daughters. In a moment of ill conceived conceit, she bragged of her fortune to the goddess mother of Artemis and Apollo, Leto (Not to be confused with Judge Lance Ito).
Soon after, in a terror of motherly rage, Apollo and Artemis were dispatched to kill all the children of Niobe with poisoned arrows. They succeeded in their task and Niobe was destroyed with sorrow and remorse, she sat on the slopes of Sypil Moutain surrounded by the corpses of her children and cried until the Gods took mercy and turned her to stone. The water which still seeps from her eyes is the tears she still sheds.
Pausanius wrote “I saw the rock known as Niobe when I went to Sipylos Mountain. This rock resembles neither woman nor rock when looked at from near, but when it is looked at from far, a person dreams that it is a crying woman with bended head.”
Homer wrote in the Iliad “Today on Sipylos Rockies over desolate summits, along with the banks of the Akheloos River where there are beds of elves. Just there Niobe has become a stone on the orders of the Gods and she digests her sorrows still, deep in her heart.”
Sophocles wrote of her, Shakespeare mentions her in Hamlet’s Soliloquy “like Niobe, all tears” and she was the inspiration for renaissance painters, classical composers, and even today continues to inspire and bring forth music and art which is tinged with sadness.
While the sailing in the Gulf of Volos is wonderful, it would be a shame to miss out on the beautiful views of the Gulf from the villages which sit on the slopes of Mt. Pelion, home of the Centaurs and wise and noble Chiron in Greek myth.
While there weren’t any mythological battles or sacred schools that I saw, it was still a very pleasant way to spend a morning while some maintenance was being done on the yacht. ( Which by the way is a shocking statement since the idea of me talking about maintenance to a yacht was something I never expected to hear)
It was in Mount Pelion, near Chiron’s cave, that the marriage of Thetis and Pelius took place. The uninvited goddess Eris, to take revenge for having been kept outside the party, brought a golden apple with the inscription “To the Fairest”. The dispute that then arose between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athene resulted in events leading to the Trojan War. Read about our visit to ancient Troy here.
To get to the villages of Makrinitsa and Portaria, I went to the Volos bus station and bought a ticket for about one and a half Euro. The busride was about 20 minutes winding up the mountain and on the bus were some young couples, school kids, and a few villagers bringing things back from Volos.
As the bus wound up the mountain, I was struck by the change in vegetation. Lots of streams, thick forest of beech, oak, chestnut and what looked like maple (but why don’t they have maple syrup anywhere but North America?) Springs and rivers, stone caves and of course typical Greek village architecture and more than a few monastaries, churches of Saints and a park where there were statues of Centaurs. Okay, so I did see one centaur after all. The rooftops were made of grey slate on the older and the newer buildings – obviously traditional is back in fashion. Those that were built during the past fifty years or so seemed to have mostly red clay roofs.
Here’s a bit from wikipedia on the typical architecture of the region
Pelian tradition calls for three-level houses, with the ground floor used for work (tools, kitchen, storage, washing, weaving), the middle floor used for socializing (common rooms), and the top floor for private rooms (bedrooms). Heat is provided by fireplaces, the chimneys of which run through the walls to provide heat to the upper levels, whereas the top level, being well ventilated, provides for summertime cooling. Interior construction is usually of chestnut timber, stained dark brown and often elaborately carved. Many of the larger Pelian mansions (the archontiká or “lordly mansions”) have been converted into boutique hotels and hostels.
As we went upward the climate seemed to shift from that of California and the Med to that of the Pacific Northwest with plenty of apple trees and lots of blackberries. There were also lots of walnut and fig trees and I figured that for my walk down I would dine al-Frescoe natural.
My first stop was Makrinitsa which meant taking the bus all the way to the turn around point. Nicknamed by locals the balcony of Mt. Pelion, the name is well deserved since no village sits higher and no view of the Gulf of Volos is better. As I walked through the cobblestone streets to the village square, I couldn’t help noticing how similar Greek Orthodox priests and Muslim Imams look to one another. But even older than the priests were the trees in the square. Ancient walnuts that must be 600 years old if they are a day. Massive things. The nearby water fountain seems to keep the atmosphere calm and tranquil and in the coffeehouse there is a fresco by the famous greek painter Theofilos. This is obviously a big tourist destination since nearly every shop was oriented to sell tourists trinkets or specialty Makrinitsa food items, but in fact, there were probably only ten tourists in the entire village while I was there and despite that, there was no one trying to hustle us.
Still, as I looked upward, I thought I could actually see the peak of Mt. Pelion. It seemed like about a mile of hiking would get me there and since I hate to be near the top of a mountain without topping it..I set out walking upward. Leaving the shelter of the trees it instantly became hotter and as I walked on and on, I realized that it was more than a mile…but I kept going. I reached what had looked like the top…and realized there was another top further on…when I reached that one, I saw a further one. And finally, realizing that this could go on for quite a long time I gave up on my idea of seeing both the Gulf of Volos and the Aegean though it should be possible from the top of Pelion – in theory. Reaching some woodcutters and a small shrine to the Virgin, I figured it was time to go back since the woodcutters told me that the top was on and on and on. Slightly disappointed but invigorated by the hike and the view of the Gulf of Volos I walked back to Makrinitsa and on to Portaria.
Along the way I ate tons of blackberries, drank from an artesian spring, ate walnuts, figs, and even had an apple. Plus, I bought a delicious bar of chocolate before I left Makrinitsa. It wasn’t a terribly long walk, just a few kilometers and I was in Portaria which is like Makrinitsa but more developed. After a few more km, I caught the bus and headed back down to the yacht waiting in Volos.
The rock itself resembles the head of a wavy haired crying woman complete with eye sockets which have been carved by the natural processes of erosion.
