Cyclades Islands : Amorgos, Andros, Folegandros, Ios, Kea, Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Antiparos, Santorini, Sifnos, Serifos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos

Northern Aegean Islands:
Chios, Ikaria, Limnos, Lesvos, Samos, Samothraki, Thassos

Ionian Islands:
Corfu (Kerkyra), Ithaki, Kefalonia, Kythera, Lefkada, Paxos, Zakynthos

Saronic Islands:
Aegina, Angistri, Poros, Hydra, Salamina, Spetsis

Sporades Islands:
Alonissos, Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros

Dodecanese Islands:
Astypalia, Halki, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kassos, Kastellorizo, Kos, Leros, Nisyros, Patmos, Rhodes, Symi, Tilos

Other Islands:
Crete, Evia, Cyprus

Dodecanese Islands - Kastellorizo (Castelrosso or Megiste)

 

Kastellorizo was originally named after the castle, built of the native red rock, once inhabited by Crusades era knights; the medieval Knights of Rhodes, who became the Knights of Malta, named it Chateau Roux, or Red Castle, after the color of its rocks; this was corrupted into Kastellorizo. Its single village is Kastellorizon, on the eastern side of the island. Its population is tiny, only a little over two hundred inhabitants, and the primary trade of its people, as with most of the Dodecanese islands, is sponge fishing. Grapes and olives are also grown on the island, but severe deforestation has led to relatively infertile soil that does not allow for much food to be grown here.

Kastellorizo has a precipitous and inaccessible coastline of reddish rock on all sides except the east, which is where Kastellorizon is located. The island is about three square miles in size.

In medieval times, the island was occupied by the Knights of St. John, and later by the Sultan of Egypt and the King of Naples. Later, the Turks occupied it until about 1915. It was the only island of the Dodecanese not ceded to Turkey in 1918, but it was later given to Italy by the French. It shared the history of the rest of the Dodecanese Islands thereafter.

Kastellorizo may not be the best place to visit unless necessary; this is because of its limited harbor area. It’s not that it’s full, but rather that because of the squalls that blow down so often off the Greek islands, it is possible to run your boat up against the rocky and precipitous coastline that dominates Kastellorizo rather than managing to find your way into the single relatively small harbor on the eastern side of the island. Its white houses, starkly contrasting with the red stone of the harbor, are said to outnumber the inhabitants.

Unmarried girls of Kastellorizo have a May Day tradition of fetching water from the cistern outside the town, as all the young men of the village gather to watch; the girls get the water, remaining completely mute until they cross the threshold of their homes with the “mute water,” bringing good luck to the household.

Kastellorizo may have archaeological treasures undiscovered, but due to its tininess and relatively inaccessible harbor, it has never been examined closely.