The white surfaces
Smooth undulating rock running to the sea with no other colour.
dronepicr โ CC BY 2.0 ยท dronepicr โ CC BY 2.0 ยท dronepicr โ CC BY 2.0 ยท dronepicr โ CC BY 2.0
**A wholly white lunar landscape running down to blue sea** โ and the description is not exaggerated: the rock here is **brilliant white, smooth and undulating**, with no plants, no sand and no other colour, so the place looks as though it is not on Earth. The cause is geological: Milos is a **volcanic island**, and the rock at Sarakiniko is white **consolidated volcanic ash** (tuff), **sculpted by wind and waves** into smooth surfaces, curved edges and gullies โ so you walk on terrain resembling bone or ice. Through the middle runs a **narrow inlet** cutting into the rock where the sea comes in, with low cliffs around it that people jump from. โ There is no sand at all here, no shade and no tree โ and the white **reflects the sun hard**, doubling the heat. โ It is **free and always open**, and the most famous sight on Milos.
Smooth undulating rock running to the sea with no other colour.
A cleft where the sea reaches into the heart of the white rock.
The place completely empty, with gold light on the white.
Sarakiniko, 84800 Milos, Greece
**Because it is volcanic ash rather than ordinary stone โ and Milos is entirely a volcanic island.** โ **The formation**: Milos is part of the **South Aegean volcanic arc** โ a chain of volcanoes created by one plate sliding beneath another, which also includes **Santorini** and **Nisyros**. Milos erupted repeatedly over hundreds of thousands of years, **covering itself in layers of volcanic ash**. โ **Why white**: the ash here is **rich in silica and poor in iron** โ and iron is what gives volcanic rock its dark colour (as in Santorini's black lava). So its ash is pale, and pressure and time turned it into **white tuff**. โ **Then came the sculpting**: the rock is **relatively soft**, so salt-laden wind and waves work on it much faster than on granite or marble โ polishing surfaces, rounding edges and cutting gullies. โ **The result**: smooth undulating terrain with no soil to support plants โ **so only the white remains**. โ **Which also makes it fragile**: break nothing off it and carve nothing into it.
**Sunrise โ and that is not only a photographer's tip but a safety point.** โ **Sunrise is far the best**: the place is **completely empty** (and this is the most famous site on Milos, so that means a great deal), the low light gives the white rock shadow and depth instead of flat glare, **and the heat is bearable**. โ **Just before sunset** is the second choice: warm light and gentler air, โ but **crowded**. โ **โ Why avoid midday**: the white rock **reflects the sun from beneath you** as well as what comes from above โ so exposure is doubled, and there is **no tree, no umbrella and no building** anywhere on the site, and no cafรฉ to retreat to. Visitors have suffered heatstroke here. **Add the glare on your eyes** โ sunglasses are not a luxury. โ **A practical point**: bring **more water than you think**, because there is nothing whatever to buy on site. โ **And if you swim**: cliff jumping is dangerous and depths vary โ get in slowly and check first.
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