Lifestyle and Travel: Europe tourist spots

Thassos Marble takes its name from the Greek island which has been quarried since the ancient times. Thassos Island is located seven miles south of the Greek mainland in the northernmost Aegean Sea and has an area of 369 square km (146 sq. Miles).

In classical mythology, Thusus was the brother of Europa who had been kidnapped by Zeus to become the mother of the Cretan king Minos. He is a first settlement, which is why the island is named after him.

However, it appears that the island was originally settled by the Phoenicians who worked the island's gold mines, but in the 7th Century BC Greeks from Paros colonized the island and founded a school of sculpture.

From the 6th century BC, the marble was exported to the Samrace and other islands, the coast of Asia Minor, and to South Greece where it was used to construct temples and other buildings of importance. From the 1st century BC until the 3rd century AD it was also imported extensively by the Romans who had a particular fondness for Thassos white marble.