Discover the secrets of Earth’s time on a scale you’ve never imagined. Although volcanic activity has been identified with destructive connotations, a volcanic eruption can also be highly creative. The beautiful island of Nisyros, for example, is the result of volcanic activity taking place over the last 160,000 years and is divided into 5 distinct eruptive cycles, starting from before Nisyros had yet to emerge, up to the present day.
This island of the Dodecanese has a special character, carved out of volcanic rocks. Its flora and fauna have been decisively influenced by its volcanic nature. The successive layers of lava and ash have given it a unique geological character, which at the same time constitutes a unique landscape, full of colors and unique geomorphs. The caldera has been preserved, making it possible to observe the internal structure of the volcano. At the bottom are craters with intense hydrothermal activity.
Everything leads to the volcano
The Ancient Greeks knew how the island was created. Strabo in his “Geographics” reproduces the myth of the inhabitants, who believed that Poseidon used his trident to break off a piece of rock from Kos and hurled it against the giant Polyvotis, thus creating Nisyros. So, they knew that Nisyros and Kos came from similar rocks, while their belief that the giant still lay beneath Nisyros was symbolically alluding to the intense volcanic activity.
The whole landscape, from the smallest rock to the impressive caldera can be considered a wider open volcanological museum! All the more so when the museum itself has been made in the old school in Nikia, on the rim of the caldera. The location is ideal, as it offers a panoramic view of the volcano’s caldera with stunning views of the hydrothermal craters.
The main areas of the museum host the following thematic modules:
• Genesis and structure of volcanoes.
• Volcanic processes and products.
• The volcanoes of Greece.
• The volcano of Nisyros.
• The other active volcanoes of Greece.
• Volcanoes-Environment-Man.
In the Information, Observation and Experiments area you can observe the rocks with microscopes. The library has a rich collection of books and articles on volcanology and more. Experimental devices are operating for the “little” visitors presenting simulations of volcanic eruptions.
Visitors are able to navigate in an environment that mentally transports them into the volcano itself. Even the lighting points in the same direction.
Characteristic volcanic rocks, maps, maps, sections, diagrams, volcano models, photographs, 3D animations and computer simulations reveal the geological history not only of Nisyros, but of the entire volcanic arc of the Aegean.
Enjoy a unique journey through time…
The relativity of time is the basic feeling one immediately gets from visiting such a museum. A sense of time very different from that in, for example, a historical or archaeological museum. Here you will have the opportunity to discover the secrets of Earth’s time on a time scale you have never imagined. The creation of successive geological layers measured not in centuries, but in thousands and millions of years.
Location:
Nikia, P.C. 85303, Nisyros
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday from 08: 30-14: 00
Closed on Sundays
Entry fees:
General Admission: 4 €, Reduced Ticket: 2 €
