Dodecanese
is a group of islands in southeastern Greece in the Aegean Sea, It is located
between the southwester coast of Asia Minor and the island
of Crete, south of Samos, and Fourni, and east of the Cyclades.
Although its name means ''12 (dodeca) islands'', the group consists of
about 50 islands and islets. Only 18 of these islands are permanently inhabited.
Of
these the most important are Rhodes, Kos
, and Karpathos. Rhodes, on which Rhodes,
or Rodos, capital of the group is located, has the largest area and population
of all the islands. The other inhabited islands are Kalymnos,
Leros,
Nissiros,
Patmos,
Kastelorizo
(Megisti), Astipalea,
Kassos,
Halki,
Tilos,
Pserimos and Lipsi. The total population
of all the islands is about146,000 inhabitants .
Agriculture
is the chief occupation of the Dodecanese, the leading crops being olives,
grapes, oranges, and other fruits and vegetables. Sponge fishing is locally
important (especially in Kalymnos), but of major economic significance
to the island is tourism, which flourishes during the Summer months.
Several
islands of the Dodecanese, especially Rhodes, were settled by the ancient
Greeks and figured prominently in Hellenic civilization for many centuries.
The islands subsequently became Roman dominions. Following the division
of the Roman Empire, the belonged to the Byzantine Empire. In 1522 the
Dodecanese were seized by the Ottoman Turks, who retained control until
the successful invasion of Rhodes in 1912 by Italian armed forces. During
World War II, in 1943, German troops occupied the Dodecanese, and in May
of 1945, the island were relinquished to British forces. The Dodecanese
was formally ceded to Greece in 1948.
Nowardays,
Rhodes and Kos are among the most popular and cosmopolitan islands in the
Mediterranean. Kalymnos is the island of the sponge divers, while Halki,
Nissiros, Kassos, Tilos and Pserimos are still kept away from the massive
tourism , retaining their traditional character. Symi is a picturesque
small island which becomes popular, wild and mountainous Karpathos is dramatically
beautiful, Agathonisi and Kassos are hilly and difficult to reach. Patmos
is the island where Saint John the Divine wrote the prophetic Revelations
while the visitor has to make an excursion to the nearby islets of Fourni,
Lipsi, and Agathonissi where he will find his own totally private beach.
Leros is relatively quite, while Astipalea has a magnificent geographical
location and the architecture matches Cyclades. Last but not least Kastellorizo
or Megisti is the destination at the ''edge'' of Greece. You can
not get any further.
Direct charter
flights are available from European cities to Rhodes, Kos and Karpathos.
Daily flights
operate from Athens to Astypalea, Leros, Kos, Rhodes and Karpathos, while
inter-island flight service operate between Karpathos and Crete, Kos and
Leros, Rhodes, Karpathos, Kastellorizo, Crete, Santorini and Mykonos. |
