According to myth, above the Aegean Sea, there was a raging war between the Giants and the Olympian Gods. Poseidon, the god of the sea, chased a giant by the name of Polyvotis. When he finally caught up with him, near Kos, he used his trident to tear off a chunk of the island, which he then threw on Polyvotis. This piece of Kos became the island of Nisyros, trapping the giant underneath... He then became an eternal prisoner of the Olympians, forever groaning and puffing in anguish in his effort to break free.

![DSCN4944.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbMx9dqzwEyfYgNzeRhNDCYTeDXPrJCNNsxtrfMZm92W7/DSCN4944.JPG)

This is how the ancient Nisyrians used to explain both the earthquakes occurring on their island and the fumes that rose from the earth. 

Modern science, of course, has a different explanation about this activity... A volcano that was born underwater, started to emerge from the sea about 150,000 years ago. Over the next 135,000 years, a series of magmatic eruptions formed an island-volcano similar in shape and size to the Nisyros we know today.

This is what Nisyros is famed for.. Its volcano which is one of the few active ones in Greece. It has experienced at least three major eruptions in the past 45,000 years. One of these, around 16,000 years ago, was particularly destructive, covering a wide area with volcanic ash. 

The coolest thing about it is that actually anyone can walk in the volcano, wandering around the 10 hydrothermal craters with their wonderful names: Stefanos, Polyvotis, Alexandros. Stefanos is the largest and most visited of all, being approximately 4,000-5,000 year-old and known as "the volcano". It literally looks like a lunar landscape on earth!

https://i.postimg.cc/N0JrM6qZ/IMG-1291.jpg

Elliptical in shape, with a diameter ranging from 260m to 330m and 27m deep, Stefanos is in fact one of the largest and best preserved hydrothermal craters in the world. Its fumaroles (the holes in the ground) are still puffing hydrogen sulfide and the water under the surface boils at high temperatures.

The rotten-egg stench however doesn't deter visitors from walking in the crater as it is a great way to experience up close the earth’s inner workings.  Nisyros could be described as an open-air geological museum!

https://i.postimg.cc/SKqws97L/IMG-1288.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/PqYY6LB7/IMG-1290.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/76pLjX0M/IMG-1287.jpg

# This is why I love Greece... Because it's a country that combines everything and it is full of hidden gems waiting to be "discovered"...

Source:
http://www.greece-is.com/9-reasons-to-visit-the-volcanic-island-of-nisyros/