Shaped like an 's', like the stories it tells you

The first thing that strikes you about Tilos is the S-shape of the island. But of course you cannot see it, except on a map or flying over it from above. So when you arrive, the first thing you notice are the terraces, quite similar to those you see in Brianza, which they call 'ronchi' there. They were built over 2,500 years ago during the Persian wars. "It is said that a fleet of ships arrived from which hundreds and hundreds of slaves disembarked; they created the terraces carved into the mountain. On these they planted grain to support the army that was to invade Greece. The islands, the twelve islands, which we have called the Dodecanese were then subject to the king of Persia. Then Rhodes, the largest, rebelled and the army from the East had to besiege it'. I explain to Michael what little I have learned in so many years. "Are you sure of what you say? I have not found much historical information about Tilos. It was once called Piscopi, which means bishop'.

We climb up to Mount Profitis, 651 metres high. It is very hot. It seems impossible that someone shaped this mountainous terrain to feed thousands of fighters, but even back then, logistics were important. The reason they came here is that the island has water. It gushes into some springs that the others around it do not have. "So why are there no trees here?", Michele asks me as we look around for shade. Only shrubs and a few rare trees. "Like on Easter Island, the trees have been cut down by men." The islands, like that distant piece of land in the middle of the Pacific, were all forested, or almost. Except for the directly volcanic ones. Here all were born that way, or were generated by a telluric gesture: it is the land of the gods. They cut to make boats, but also because trees were the only sure wealth. "Another legend," I tell as we take a drink of water from our flasks, "is that after the end of the Second World War they cut down the last tracts of forest. They sold the timber and emigrated far away, to Australia, so they say'.

Today, at the beginning of June, it is hot. The best time to come to Tilos is during the spring, because, although it now seems that it should never rain here, everything barren and parched, in that season it comes down in different ways, so the surface of the mountains, the hollows in the interior, and even the steepest places by the sea, are covered with flowers and fragrant plants. Michele searched, without finding it, for a book on medicinal and healing plants, about which he had heard tales. He explains: 'The name Tilos comes from a deity of the same name who came here to seek natural remedies for his ailing mother. There she found. Have you ever tried to pick wild sages with a scent similar to incense?". He cuts them with his small knife and then makes small bundles which he wraps with sewing thread. They are not to be eaten, they are useful, he says, against moths in the cupboards; moreover, this way he can smell Tilos at home in winter, and this is a form of soothing consolation in the milky grey of the Plain.

Many legends circulate here, as do all islands, which are factories of tales. One tells that the Germans in the Second World War landed here to take control of the island. The inhabitants climbed to the top and delegated it to the papas to come down to meet them. He came down dressed in rags and holding a leper's staff with rattles. They believed it and retreated. Who knows if this is true. The truth is that here in 1912 during the war in Libya against the Turkish Empire, Italy occupied the islands and held them even after the end of the First World War. In 1922, a governor arrived and Italian began to be taught. It did not seem real to Fascism to have a colony in the Aegean Sea. But the most curious story is that this was a piece of Asia.

Six million years ago it was joined to the continent. There was also an animal, an elephant, but smaller than the African and Asian ones. "A descendant of the Mammoths?" asks Michele. "Maybe. The fact is that after the telluric detachment and the birth of the island, elephants thrived here. I read in a guidebook that, given the absence of predators, selection did not force them to grow as it did elsewhere; then in 4600 years B.C. they became extinct." "How come?" "It is not known. They found the bones in a cave, Harkàdio, along the straight line that connects the port of Livadia with Megàlo Hòrio, the ancient village built behind the back of the mountain so that it would not be visible from the sea.