Kasos

Population: 1,084 (2011)

 

ISLAND OVERVIEW

 

Kasos is the southernmost island of the Dodecanese. It is six miles north-west of Karpathos and 38 miles east of Crete. It is very mountainous, its highest mount being Mt. Prionas, which is 550 metres (1,800 feet) high and unlike many of its neighbours, there is fresh water on the island.

Kasos is notable for its lack of large-scale tourism, the quality of its fish, cheeses, and other culinary specialties, and its hospitality toward visitors. The monastary of St. George has a large guesthouse.

Most inhabitants of Kasos are farmers, stockbreeders and fisherman. 

It is one of the driest places in Greece and experiences some of the mildest winters in the country. 

Kasos, Greece town

The Island & Its History

 

Kasos, Greece map
click image to view in Google Maps

The Phoenicians were the first inhabitants of Kasos. Thereafter the island’s history was similar to that of the rest of the Dodecanese and particularly of neighbouring Karpathos. 

Its maritime power was already apparent in 1779 when a French traveller, visiting the island, described it as “a small maritime state, maintained by shipping and trade, particularly with Syria”.

During the revolution of 1821 against the Turks, Kasios provided 22 three-masted warships and 60 merchantmen, most of which were armed. This fleet, which anchored in summer at the islet of Armathia and in winter at Tristomo on Karpathos, began to be a serious harassment to the Sultan and Ibrahim Pasha, who after a failed attempt, succeeded in taking the island on 7th June 1824. Very few of the inhabitants escaped the slaughter which followed, and the whole of Kasos was burned. This was the Holocaust, the anniversary of which is observed every year.

Kasos joined the Greek state in 1948.

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