The Petrified Forest Lesbos

Lesbos a beautiful island in the eastern Aegean where you can find idyllic beaches with a blue and crystalline sea, typical villages where you can stop to eat traditional dishes, has a unique natural monument in Europe, the Petrified Forest.

Lesbos like many other Aegean islands is also of volcanic origin and has undergone a continuous mutation in history. In the Sigri area, the Petrified Forest has a great environmental and geological value and is the testimony of what the territory was like 20 million years ago before the great volcanic eruptions. At the beginning it was covered by a multitude of oaks and trees that made up the green lung of the island which were hidden for thousands of years by lava and which then came to light thanks to the natural erosion of volcanic rocks and for studies done so much that, in 2000 it is included in the Unesco Geoparks.

With a unique ecosystem, it covers about 150 square kilometers of the territory with remains of fossilized plants perfectly preserved thanks to the hydrothermal circulation triggered by volcanic eruptions. The development of this beauty dates back to the Cenozioca era and today we can admire trunks, tree plants, pine cones, seeds and roots that sometimes even exceed two meters in height in their natural position. It is characterized by three distinct areas, the first in the western part which includes the Forest, a marine area near the Nissiopi islet accessible only by boat, where there have been finds of fossilized trees at a depth of thirty meters which suggests that the forest extended up to there and was subsequently submerged by the sea, and lastly the area where the tallest fossil in the world is found of about seven meters with a diameter of eight, considered the ancestor of modern redwood.

To visit it, pedestrian paths have been created, in all they are three to four kilometers to walk on foot in the sun in an area that is very reminiscent of the desert. In this regard, I recommend that you bring a hat, sunscreen and water so as not to dehydrate you.

In the Sigri village, there is also a Museum of the Natural History of the Stone Forest built around fossilized trunks positioned exactly as they were when they were born.

A beautiful excursion that will make you visit a very rare and unique place in the world and will make you discover a side of this mysterious island not yet stormed by mass tourism that offers breathtaking views and where you can breathe a real and different Greece.