Tour of the Marine park of the islet of Nissiopi

The islet of Nissiopi encircles the bay of Sigri to the west, thus shaping a safe harbour. Together with its surrounding sea area is the western end of the Lesvos Petrified Forest.

The Marine Park of Nissiopi is the first marine fossil park in Greece.

Nissiopi has a story of destruction to tell us, through which, however, a dense subtropical forest was preserved and remained its eternal witness and narrator.

At the enchanting landscape of the Marine Park of Nissiopi, where the distant past meets the present, you will live an unforgettable experience. You will have the chance to walk where the pines, oaks and tall sequoias have given way to rare lilies and seagrass meadows. Where animals such as the Deinotherium and crocodiles lived, you can now find wild rabbits, seagulls and rare birds. You will hear the sounds of eruptions and you will see the volcanic catastrophe happening in front of your eyes, while you will become observers of the birth of the Aegean Sea upon the unique beaches of Nissiopi.

At the land part of the park you can tour 44 fossil-bearing sites, which are accessible through walking trails of a total length of 4 km. During your visit at the excavation sites, you can find impressive fossilized trunks of fruit-bearing and conifer trees, standing in their natural position but also lying buried in layers of volcanic ash, fossilized root systems of trees, detached parts of tree trunks and branches and leaf-bearing horizons.

You can visit the marine park during the summer months by the Museum’s special boat with a glass bottom. You will have the opportunity to observe not only the unique fossil sites across the coast, but also the ones that are now under the sea, as well as unique landscapes created by the volcanic activity and shaped by the Aegean waves over the years, witnesses of the fascinating geological history of the Aegean.