View of Chora, Astypalaia Astropaliá or Astipaliá as known by the locals. One of the first names given to the island was ICTHYÓESSA. Other ancient names are Astipalaía, Astipáleia and Astipalía. During the Venetian rule the island was known as “Stabália”. According to some, the name “Astipálaia” comes from the words “ásti-palaiós” (ancient town), as…
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It is a small barren island. In ancient times it was called Aegila. Aegila was located at the entrance of the Aegean Sea, at the passage between Kythera and Crete, and therefore it was of great strategic importance. It is not known what the ancient ports of the island were because the sea level changed…
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According to Hesiod, the birth of Aphrodite is placed in Kythera. Cronus, in the “Theogony”, is the only son of Earth who agreed with his mother to avenge his father, Uranus, because she suffered from her husband’s behaviour. Cronus threw his father’s genitals into the sea and from the white foam that formed around them…
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The city of Póros, with its traditional blue and white islandic colours, is very pretty and deserves a walk around. In one of your walks, make sure you end up in the old Clock, on top of the hill around which the town is built. The view is magnificent, especially close to sunset, when the…
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The bay of Róssikos Náfstathmos took its name from the sad happenings of 1831. On its beach there are remains of the Russian shipyard. The bay is popular to yachts because of its natural beauty.
Unfortunately, we have not collected any historic information on Arkioi yet
1800 AD – today In 1821, Greece raised arms against the Turks, after 400 years of slavery and was closely followed by Crete. The Sfakians were the first to join the uprising, which then expanded throughout Crete. The battle was savage on both sides. It was however unequal. The Turks were continuously boosted with forces,…
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1000 – 1800 AD With the fall of Constantinople to the Franks (beginning of the 13th century), Crete was given to Bonifacius (one of the chiefs of the Fourth Crusade) who immediately sold it to the Venetians for 10,000 silver marks. The Cretans did 27 revolutions throughout the approximate 4.5 centuries of domination. Actually, the…
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1000 BC – 1000 AD The colonisation of Crete began in the 9th century BC, especially its western parts, by the Dorians who came down from mainland Greece (Spárti – Árgos). The regime set up on the island was distinctly Spartan (“Politiká” by Aristotélis). That is to say, every town was governed by ten “kósmoi”…
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7000 – 1100 BC Crete was inhabited from 7000 BC and possibly even before that. Its inhabitants were Pelasgens who came from Pelopónnisos. The Neolithic civilisation that developed there was wiped out around 3000 BC and a unique civilisation evolved (2800 – 1100 BC) now known as Minoan (it was so characterised by Evans, the…
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