Sights on Fourni

Fourni has not much to offer concerning sights, so you can disconnect the part of your brain that are interested in history. But if you, like me, are interested in old marble quarries, you will have as much as you wants of it at the pebble beach of Petrokopio south of Kambi beach. You can go on foot to Petrokopio if you like to walk, if not, you just rent a scooter, you can go by scooter almost all the way to the quarry.

Petrokopio beach where the marble quarry is located.

In one corner of the beach is an ancient marble quarry. The slope below the quarry - and the beach - are covered with marble stones and parts of columns and Ionic capitals, the largest column is just over 2 meters in diameter. There is even something that looks like an altar, or possibly a sarcophagus.

There is no information about the marble quarry at Fourni. I have asked locals but no one knew anything. I've searched online but I haven't found anything that answers the questions: when, where, how, why? Another question is why these ancient creations are not in museums?

The ancient marble quarry at Petrokopio beach.

I even asked Chat GTP, and the response I got was this:

“Unfortunately, I have no information about the specific marble quarry above Petrokopio beach. It is possible that it may be a lesser known or recently discovered location that is not yet documented in publicly available sources."

Parts of columns and an altar, or sarcophagus.

You get a lot of questions. When was marble quarried here? Who broke the marble? Who were the stonemasons who created these perfect columns? What would they be used for? Why are remains left on the beach? Now if it was the case that other parts were actually used to build a temple, where is that temple? If so, how were the marble blocks shipped? Well, to such questions there are no answers.

Do you collect on pictures of Roman sarcophagi that have gone from grave to litterbin, you can take a photo of one on the main square in Fourni village. You really wonder how it got there, and why no one seems to care about it. Shouldn't it also be in a museum? The Sarcophagus Litterbin is just over 1 metre wide, 1 metre high, 2.40 meters in length and is decorated with reliefs.

The Roman sarcophagus in Fourni village.

The sarcophagus was found on Fourni in 1927. Unclear where on the island. Where was it found, and how did it end up here? One more question: was the sarcophagus also made at Petrokopio beach? As I said, there are many questions. Next to the sarcophagus is a cafe where you can sit down and recover from your sarcophagus experience.

The cosy cafe on the square in Fourni village. The sarcophagus rests behind the tree on the right.

The main attraction in Fourni is to sit at a bar or taverna down in the port and enjoy the evening.

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