On July 16, 1850 a group of Danish travellers living in Athens, left the dusty, hot, summer city for a tour of the Greek and Turkish, at that time, Aegean islands and of the coast of Asia Minor . For their purpose they had borrowed King Otto’s small schooner «Λέων». The journey was planned to last five to six weeks and although the demand for this specific ship was high, they managed to sign a contract with its captain Rividis. They departed from Pireus harbour. Members of the group were Asmus Heinrich Liith (1806-1859), vicar to queen Amalia’s court, his wife Christiane F. Fisher (1817-1900) and her sister Hanne Fisher (1819-1910). Both sisters came from Fredensborg, Denmark. The two children of the couple. Damans and Nicolaos, born in Athens in 1839 and 1841, respectively, also went on the trip. The family had lived in Athens, since 1839. Living over ten years in the country, they had learned the language, had a good knowledge of Greek culture and had already toured mainland Greece. Members of the group were also a Danish architect, Laurits Albert Winstrup (1815-1889), studying in Athens and a Danish philologist. Christian Listov (1821-1893), who had arrived in Greece six months ago. The tour started from Aegina island and continued with various stops over Cape Sounion and the islands Melos, Sikinos, Thera, Anaphi and also Kos and Rhodes, at that time under Turkish rule. After a short sojourn on Rhodes they carried on to visit Knidos, Alikarnassus. Didyma. Ephesus and Samos island. The group split up in Koussandasi, because Lutti shot himself by mistake in the arm. Winstrup and Listov continued to Chios and from there they took a steam boat to Smyrna and Constantinople, where they spent eighteen days and returned to Athens in early September.
A tour of the Greek Islands, July 1850
06 Aug 2012
by Archaeology Newsroom
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