The petrified forest on the island of Lesbos is situated in the west of the island at the end of a side road (about 5 kilometer long) between the villages of Andissa and Sigri. The forest is a protected nature area and the trees are twenty milion years old. They are so-called mammoth trees (Sequoia dendrum giganteum). The petrified forest was created after a vulcanic eruption when all the trees were covered in vulcanic ashes. It's situated in a valley and there are wide stairs leading down along the laying trees and the leftover trunks that are still standing. In May there were also lots of butterflies. The taverna at the entrance has seats made of slices of trees. The sight is surrounded by a fence and the entrance fee to the petrified forest is 2 euro (in 2006). On an island in front of the village of Sigri (Nisiopi) there are thousands more petrified trees, some on the island itself, but also some half in the sea.