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
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Ionian Islands - Paxos
Paxos is the smallest of the seven
Ionian Islands, and consists mostly of a hilly mass
of limestone covered with olive groves. Its chief village
and port is Gaios, on the east coast. The bishop’s
residence, Papandi, stands near the center of the island,
surrounded by several quaint churches and belfries. Its
primary source of revenue today is tourism.
Paxos boasts an islet at the
front of its port; in long ago days, it was very important
to the island, as it hid the small port of Paxos from
pirates. The inlet is a narrow channel through steep cliffs
covered with pine and olive tress, and opens into a small
port area that fronts the town. High above the harbor,
a chapel is flanked by white and pastel townhouses above
a paved square, and it is picturesque both by night and
day, and to all the senses; like so many of the Greek
isles, Paxos is delightful to the smell from its jasmine
and oleander.
Much of the wealth on the island is in its olive trees,
which now cloak the island in cool shade; each tree is
marked, like branded cattle, with identification marks
which are registered in town records. A common gift from
a man to his new grandson is the planting of several olive
trees in the child’s name.
Paxos is a wealth of contradictions; beneath its beauty
and picturesque personality, the islanders say they hid
a Greek submarine in a secret cave; the sub operated right
under the nose of the Nazis during World War II, hiding
during the day and wreaking havoc on the Germans and Italians
at night. Ipapandi Cave is still there, three hundred
feet back with eighteen to twenty-four feet of water.
The Greek navy indicates that the submarine Papanikolis
did indeed operate locally, but only put into Paxos for
repairs; still, the locals love the story, for it appeals
to the Greek sense of independence and courage. Like the
whirlpools that became the wrath of Poseidon and fish
that became monsters, Greek
storytelling lives on today.
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