Again Therma

I mentioned Therma recently. Today I made my way there again as it was almost windless at noon.

It actually feels in the water at the right spots as if you were sitting in a bathtub. One reason for my decision to go there today was a tension in my neck that I picked up yesterday at the beach of Nas, and it has now vanished without a trace.

The phenomenon of the hot, radioactive springs arises from special circumstances that prevail here. On one hand, the core of the island is largely composed of granite. Granite always contains traces of uranium and radium, which decay over millions of years. During the decay, the radioactive noble gas radon is produced. On the other hand, Ikaria is located in a tectonically very active area, and the island and its surroundings are crisscrossed by deep fissures in the earth. Sea and rainwater seeps into these fissures down to near the mantle of the earth, where it is heated and thus rises back up under high pressure. In this process, it washes radon out of the granite (as the trained physicist would say). So when the water emerges from the ground in Therma, it is very warm and rich in minerals and radon.

However, this is not dangerous since radon dissipates very quickly and does not settle in the tissues of living beings or the environment. Nonetheless, it is advised not to linger in the springs for longer than 15-20 minutes.

It is documented that the springs were already used as a spa in the 4th century BC. Remains of the ancient bathing facility can still be seen today, including an aqueduct and even broken bathtubs made of marble.

The ancient city was called Thermai, which means “hot springs.” And it gets exciting again, as records from the tribute lists of the Athenian-dominated Delian League indicate that Thermai was a tax-paying and voting member of this league. Health tourism seems to have already been an important economic factor back then.

Presumably, in the 2nd century BC, a strong earthquake destroyed Thermai, but a new spa was practically built right next door.

And of course, there is also a local connection to mythology and the Icarus myth: In his fall, Icarus brought the energy of the sun and heated the sea around his place of descent.

Unfortunately, I was too careless to take any photos. I will make up for this on my next visit.