Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1184

 1160 THERA. the reicn of Claudius, a. u. 46. This event, with the ditiereuce of only a single year, is mentioned by several writers. (Senec. Qa. Nat. ii. 26, vi. 21; Dion Cass. Ix. 29; Aurel. Vict. Cues. 4, Kpit. 4; Oros. vii. 6; Anim. Marc. xvii. 7; Georg. Cedreu. i. p. 197, ed. Par.) Moreover Pliny hiuaself, in another p;issage (iv. 12. s. 2.3), says that Thia ap- peared in our age (" in nostro aevo "), which can hardly apply to the consuLihip of Silanus and Balbus, since he was not born till a.d. 23. In A.D. 726, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian, Hiera, or the Palaea Kammeid, received an augmenta- tion on the NE. side. (Theoph. Chrouogr. )). .338, ed. Paris.; Ceiiren. i. p. 454, ed. Paris.; Nicephor. p. 37, ed. Par.) There have been several eruptions in modern times, of which a full account is given by Lieut. Leycester and Ro.ss. Of these one of the most important ^vas in 1573, when the Mikra Kammeni is said to have been formed. But as we have already seen from several authorities that an island was formed in the reign of Claudius, a.d. 46, we must suppose either that the last-mentioned island sunk into the sea at some unknown period, and made its appearance a second time as the Mikra Kammeni in 1573, or that there was only an augmentation of the Mikra Kammeni in this year. The latter sup- ])osition is the more probable, especially since Father Richard, who records it, was not an eye-witness, but derived his information from old people in the island. There was another teirible eruption in 1650, which Father Richard himself saw. It broke out at an entirely different spot from all preceding eruptions, outside the gulf, off the NE. coast of Thera, about 3j miles from C. Kulumbo, iu the direction of los and Anydros. This submarine outbreak lasted about three months, covering the sea with pumice, and giving rise to a shoal, which was found by the English Survey to have 10 fathoms water over it. (See map, A.) At the same time the island of Thera was violently shaken by earthquakes, in which many houses were overthrown, and a great number of persons and animals were killed by the pestilential vapours emitted from the volcano. The sea inundated the flat eastern coast of the island to the extent of two Italian miles inland. The ruins of two ancient towns at Perissa and Kamari were disinterred, the existence of which was previously unknown, and which must have been overwhelmed by some previuus eruption of volcanic matter. The road also, which then existed round Cape Messa-Vouno, was sunk tieneath the waters. For the next 50 years, or a little longer, the vol- canic fires slept, but iu 1707 they burst forth with redoubled fury, aud produced the largest of the three burnt islands, the Xea Kammeni. It originally con- sisted of two islands. The first which rose was called the White Island, composed of a mass of pumice ex- tremely porous. A few days afterwards there ap- peared a large chain of dark rocks, composed of brown trachyte, to which the name of the Black Island was given. These two islands were gradually united; and iu the course of the eruptions, the black rocks became the centre of the actual island, the Xea Kammeni. The White Island was first seen on the 23rd of May, 1707, and for a year the dis- charges of the volcano were incessant. After this time the eruptions were less frequent ; but they con- tinued to occur at intervals in 1710 and 1711; and it was not till 1712 that the fires of the volcano became extinct. The island is now about 2h miles in circuit, and has a perfect cone at its SE. side, THEEA. which is 351 feet high. From 1712 down to the present day there has been no further eruption. There are several thermal and mineral springs at Thera and the surrounding islands, of which Lieut. Levcester gives an account, and which are more fully described by Landerer in the treatise entitled riepl Twv iv @T]po, (^avTopriv)]) bepix&v vdaTuiv. Athens, 1835. The most important are the iron springs in a bay ou the SE. side of Nea Kammeni. There are springs on the NE. side of Palaea Kam- meni, likewise near CajJe Exomiti in the south of Thera, and at other places. Fresh water springs are veiy rare at Thera, and are only found round Mount Elias springing from the limestone. The inhabitants depend for their supply of water upon the rain which they catch in the tanks during the winter. The principal modern town of the island is now called Thera, or P/iira. and is situated in the centre of the curve of the gulf. When Tournefort visited Thera, the capital stood upon the promontory Skaru, a little to the N. of the present capital, and imme- diately under the town of Merovouli. The pro- montory Skaru projects about one third of a mile into the sea; and upon it are the remains of a castle built by the dukes of Nasos. The chief town in the island, after the capital, is Epanomeria, on the NV. promontory, and directly opposite to Therasia. As space is of the utmost value in this small i.sland, all the principal towns are built upon the very edge ■ of the cliffs, and present a very singular appearance, perched in some cases more than 900 feet above the sea. Wood being very scarce, the houses are excavated in the face of the vast beds of pozzo- lana. In order to make approaches to the towns upon the cliffs, the inhabitants have cut zig-zag stairs or roads in the sides of the precipices. The road upou the summit runs along the edge of the preci- pices, and, in many cases, over the habitations, which are built in the face of them. The population of the island in 1848 was about 14,000, and, including Thera.sia, about 14,380. In the time of Tournefort there were 10,000 inhabitants, so that the increase has been nearly a third in about 150 years. The island is carefully cultivated ; and the chief produc- tion is wine, which is mostly exported to the Russian ports in the Black Sea. The antiquities of the island have been explained at length by Ross and Lieut. Leycester. There are remains of an ancient city .situated on the SE. point of the island, upon the summit of Messa-Vouno, a mountain about 1100 feet above the level of the sea, connected with Mount Elias by the ridge of the Sellada. The mountain of Messa- Vuuno slopes sud- denly off to the precipices on the NE. side, which rise perpendicularly 600 feet above the water and form the cape of the same name. The walls exhibit masonry of all ages, from the most ancient Cyclopean to the regular masoury of later times. The walls may still be traced, aud enclose a circuit of only seven-tenths of a mile ; but the houses appear to have been built terrace-fashion upon the side of the hill. Several inscriptions, fragments of sculpture, and other antiquities, have been discovered here. The name of this city has been a subject of some dispute. In an inscription found below Messa-Vouno, at Kamari, in the church of St. Nicholas, the name Oea occurs, which, as we have already seen, is one of the two towns mentioned by Ptolemy. But in an inscription upon some steps cut out of the rock of Messa-Vouno we find &iipa iroKis. Ross, however, does not consider this to be a proof that