Olous.

It's been bright and breezy today. A little on the cool side but not bad for a British summer's day.

I spent the morning working in the back garden which included some rough and ready cementing. I also re-arranged the acers which are growing in large tubs. The trees have grown so large they were blocking the way to the oil tank and to the new compost bin. One has had to go down to the other end of the garden where unfortunately it won't be as sheltered but I didn't have much choice.

I had to stop gardening in the afternoon so that I would be fit enough for choir tonight.

Now back to much warmer Crete.

On one of our earlier trips to the island we stopped to look at the ruins of the drowned city of Olous. You can read about its history here. I haven't found a specific event that caused it to be submerged just vague references to earthquakes which are relatively common in that part of the world.

The submerged ruins reach as far as the island itself and back to the town of Elounda.

A canal ran through the city and is still used by small boats today.

We found ourselves a shady spot under a tree from where Peter watched me venturing out on a low wall.

Straight walls plus plenty of fish and sea anemones could be seen in the clear water which was only a couple of feet deep. 

More foundations could be seen on the land behind us. I will admit to having a poke around in the stones and many pottery fragments and finding a bit with a section of rim and the start of a handle. Who knows how old it is. Everywhere we went even the roads and car parking areas were were littered with bits of terracotta, many from roof tiles but also pottery so some might have come home with me. 

Looking at this photo from the web I see that there are even more ruins to see along the causeway. I think that when we were driving along the causeway we were too busy watching out for pedestrians and hoping we wouldn't meet a car coming in the opposite direction. Next year maybe.