Karpathos
Karpathos had fascinated the ancient Greeks and they believed that many mythical characters were hosted here. Based on a mythical interpretation the first inhabitant of the island was the Titan Impetus, son of Uranus and Gaia and brother of Saturn the father of Jupiter. Another interpretation wants all the Titans living on the island before the great battle of the Titans took place as narrated by Isiodos, during which the Titans, had all gathered at the peak of mount Orthi, were defeated by Zeus and the twelve gods that had as their base mount Olympus of Thessalia.
Nevertheless Karpathos did not only host the Titans, but also the Giants , that were also the children of Gaia. Between them was Nightmare (Efialtis), the twin brother of Otos. This is why the well-known location of Afiarti at the south part of the island seems like a paraphrased word of Efialtis (meaning nightmare in Greek) . Prometheus , son of Impetus that stole the fire from Zeus to offer it to the plain people also lived on the island.
There are various versions associated with the origin of the name of Karpathos. One of these connects the name of the island with the plant Karpasos that flourished in Karpathos. The same plant although has given its name to Karpasia a city of Cyprus.
The island based on various findings was inhabited during the Neolithic era and this comes in conflict with the version that first the Minoans inhabited the island. Indisputably Crete highly influenced Karpathos.
The oldest findings are dated back since approx. 2.500 B.C. The influence of the Minoans starts to become more evident around 1600 B.C. During the 14th century the Mycenaean's made their appearance , they conquered the island and constructed the acropolis of Potidaios. A lot of pottery were found revealing their presence on the island. Homer refers in the Iliad , that Karpathos participated in the Trojan War by sending vessels.
Another population that inhabited the island were the Phoenicians, a shipping population that during those times use to cross the Mediterranean with their vessels, carrying their goods to various countries , expanding commerce this way. Apparently they also used Karpathos as one of their stations.
A characteristic activity of the inhabitants of Karpathos during the ancient times was the collection of the red seashells and boiling them to create colours that were used in the dying of fabrics. From this red colour of the seashells, the island received the name Porfiria (porfiro- means royal red in ancient Greek) . Something very characteristic of the presence of the Phoenicians on the island, is the name of the small harbour of Phoiniki, which is situated in the west coast of the island and today is a centre of attraction for the visitors especially during the summer season.
After the Mycenaeans and the Phoenicians , the Dorians came to the island around 1000 B.C. The Dorians brought the largest prosperity to the island. During those times four fortressed cities prospered and this is why Karpathos was named Tetrapolis during the Dorian reign. These cities were Potidaio or Poseidio, Arkesia, Vrikous and Nisiros , which is a small rocky mountain north of Karpathos.
Karpathos participated in the first Athenian Alliance, which took place on 478 B.C. During the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 B.C.) found Karpathos being an Allie with the Athenians, but after the defeat of the Athenians in 404 B.C. they succumbed to the Spartans and returned to the Athenian alliance in 397 B.C., that rendered to the island its independence. During the Hellenistic period, Karpathos belonged to the neighbouring island of Rhodes.
After Christ in the middle of the first century, it was inhabited by the Romans under the reign of Emperor Dioclitianos. Before that general Loukoulos governed the island He used to send a special boat to fish the special fish that lived in these waters. In 330 A.C Constantine the Great legalised Christianity and in 395 Theodosius the 1st divided the Roman Empire to the Eastern and Western side. Karpathos belonged to the Eastern side. This is when Christian churches started getting built such as Agia Fotini, Agia Anastasia and others.
During the 5th century after Christ, Karpathos was plundered many times by the Arabs, Sericucians, Mauritanians and many other invaders. Thus the inhabitants fled to the mountains and created villages there. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204, Leon Gavalas and later his brother John took charge. Later from 1282 to 1306 the governing of the island was taken over by the brothers Andrew and Loudovikos Maresko from Genova and the island during that time was named Scarpanto.
After the Genouates came the Venetians. In 1306 Andrew Kornaros conquered it and in 1311 the Knights of Rhodes finally conquered it, up until 1315 when the Venetian sovereign seized it. During the reign of the house of Kornaros that lasted until 1537, many fortresses and churches were built, when Haiderin Barbarosa plundered the island and handed it over to the Turks, which were never interested in its improvement or even its maintenance.
The Turks never inhabited the island, they just sent Tax officers to collect the taxes and leave. This is why we do not have evidence the remind of the Turkish occupation on the island. It is evident that the Turks avoided inhabiting the island , because it was a target for pirates that become the threat and fear of those times.
When the time came for the revolution of April 1821, Karpathos like the other islands put up the Greek flag. The island during the revolution offered refuge, money, supplies and even repairs for the Greek ships in battle. Its independence came in 1823 when Karpathos joined up with Greece and was instated in the province of Santorini. But in 1830 with the London protocol, the Dodecanese islands were given back to Turkey and finally in 1912 the Italians took over.
The Italian Administration building was built on a high rocky coast on the west end of the harbour at Pigadia and it is today's Provincial building. During the 2nd World War in 1943 the German troops arrived on the island and joined up with the Italians. The Germans left on the 4th October 1944. The Karpathians started a revolution against their conquerors on the 5th October 1944, in the village Menetes were the men of the village turned their weapons against the Italians.
The village of Arkasa followed and in three days the villages of Mesochori and Olympus were also free. Because of the bad weather conditions the Allies did not arrive on time and hunger came over the island. Then seven brave men started out and arrived in Alexandria after 5 days, were they asked for help from the Greek government. They returned to the island on October 17th 1944 with two allied destroyers and this is when the official liberation of the island took place. On the March 7th , 1948 Karpathos joined up with Greece. http://www.greek-tourism.gr/karpathos/historyuk.htm
Potideon or Posideon was the ancient name given to Pigadia, the capital of the island of Karpathos. The ancient city of Potideon was founded by the Mycenaean people who conquered the island of Karpathos during the 14th century B.C. The Mycenaeans built an acropolis on a rocky hill, 23m high, above Potideon and there they left a lot of traces of their presence on the island, such as pieces of pottery and coins.
After the Mycenaeans, the Phoenicians and the Minoans occupied the island of Karpathos. The city of Potideon was deserted around 1,200 B.C due to continuous raids on it. The fortune of the city revived after the Dorians came to the island somewhere around 1,000 B.C. During the Dorian rule, the fortified city of Potideon was said to have been one of the most prosperous cities of the area.
Archaeological findings have shed light on the important role of Potideon for the prosperity of the island. This was probably due to its strategic situation as a flourishing port city. The ships sent by Karpathos to assist the Greeks during the Trojan War, according to Homer, probably sailed from Potideon. It is also said that a sanctuary dedicated to Athena Lindia was there during the Classical Times.
http://www.visitkarpathos.com/history/
http://www.greeklodgings.gr/eng/karpathos/eng_karpathos.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpathos
