The largest islands of Greece. The best islands in Greece

Greece is a paradise in Europe. The country has become widely known for its rich history, no less interesting it presents as an international resort. Consider the largest islands in Greece.

general information

There are more than a thousand four hundred islands to the country. Many of them are uninhabited, their sizes are very small. The largest islands in Greece, which number two hundred and twenty, are man-made. However, many live not more than a hundred people.

The most densely populated islands in Greece are Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Kefalonia. They are also the largest in terms of area. Each of them is famous for its richest history, numbering more than one thousand years. They had to go through the blossoms and fall of empires, from which at present there are unique ruins of temples, palaces, defensive structures, gardens.

Crete

The largest island of Greece is like a fog enveloped in myths and legends. It represents the extreme point of the whole of Europe. Crete inhabits 550 thousand people, its area - 8.336 km square. The peculiarity of the island lies in the fact that it is located at the junction of sea routes between Africa, Europe and Asia Minor. The main Cretan ports are Agios Nikolaos, Heraklion, Chania and Rethymno.

The islands in Greece are famous for their amazing natural beauty, and Crete is no exception. Its southern coast is steep and steep, and the northern coast is sandy and sloping. The maximum height of the mountains is 2400 meters, with an incredible number of caves - more than three thousand! According to legend, Zeus was born in one of them. Deep canyons, fertile plains and villages, drowning in the greenery of olive groves - all this island of Crete in Greece. On its territory you can admire the chestnut, oak, cypress, cedar and palm groves. Mountain slopes cover carpets from medicinal herbs and flowering shrubs.

Gifts of nature

The best islands in Greece yield up to three times a year. For example, Crete grows oranges, peaches, potatoes and peppers. Each free piece of land is occupied by a greenhouse, inside of which one and a half-meter carnations or clusters of bananas are adorned. The most common oil-bearing trees.

Euboea

On the second place in the list of "Major Islands of Greece" is Euboea. From the shores of South Thessaly, it is separated by the Trikkerian Strait, to the west of Lokrida, Attica, and Boeotia - by the straits of Talakti and Eurip. In the narrowest place of the last bridge is thrown to the mainland Greece, after all the distance is only 38 meters.

The rise of Euboea occurred during the period of antiquity, now it is of interest as a beautiful resort area. The total area of the island is more than 3600 square kilometers, it has a mountainous terrain. The climate is Mediterranean (dry subtropical), the soil in the valleys is fertile. The river network is poorly developed. The main products are wine, honey, wheat and oranges. Very common are peaches and mulberry trees (mulberries).

The population of the island

The largest islands of Greece are as much as possible mastered by people. So, in Euboea already in 1889 lived slightly more than ninety thousand people. According to official sources, the Greeks constitute the main population of the island.

After the turmoil in connection with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the invasions of the Crusaders, large groups of immigrants came to the island, whose origin was not Greek. In the southern regions of Euboea settled Venetians, and after - the Albanians-Arnauts and Turks. In the Middle Ages the north-west was filled with nomadic roman-lingual shepherds by the Wallachians. Chalcis inhabits the Gypsies. The beginning of the nineteenth century was marked by a mass migration of caracacans to Euboea, nomadic Greek-speaking groups of unknown origin, adhering to the Orthodox faith.

Today, among the inhabitants of Euboea the most popular is the modern Greek language, but in some villages it is still possible to hear the Albanian dialect.

Lesbos

This island is located in the north-east of the Aegean Sea. He is third in the ranking "The largest islands of Greece" and the eighth in size in the Mediterranean (more Lesbos only Sicily, Cyprus, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Euboea and Mallorca). Its area is 1632.81 km square. The main city is Mytilene.

An excursion into the past

The first settlements, which are known for certain, appeared on Lesbos in the beginning of the third millennium BC. The oldest famous native of the island is Terpandra, a poet who created in the eighth century BC.

At the end of the seventh - at the beginning of the first half of the sixth century BC Lesbos was the place of life of such famous poets as Arion, Alkey and Sappho. Thanks to the creativity of the latter, the name of the island became the source of the appearance of a new term - "lesbian love", which meant women's homosexual relationships.

For some time, the island was home to Aristotle (before he received a court rank from the king of Macedonia, Philip). It is assumed that in the second century Tatiana Long lived on Lesbos, a writer who glorified the island in the pages of his novel "Daphnis and Chloe."

In the Middle Ages, Lesbos was captured by the Genoese. The power over the territory was in the hands of the Gattilusio clan. Its representatives took the title of archons (heads) of the island. They ruled from 1355 to 1462, until the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Mehmed the Second came to Lesbos. Only at the end of 1912 the Greek troops conquered the island in the course of the liberation operation. According to the Sevres Peace Treaty, concluded in 1920, Lesbos became part of Greece.

Rhodes

Which islands in Greece are the largest? Above, we have already mentioned Crete, Euboea and Lesvos. Now consider the fourth largest (1398 km²) island called Rhodes. It is located in the south-eastern part of the country and is part of the Dodecanese Islands group , which is in the Aegean Sea. From Rhodes to the capital - Athens - two hundred and seventy nautical miles.

The island is often called the pearl of the Mediterranean. On its territory there are a lot of natural beauties and archeological monuments. By decision of UNESCO, the historical part of Rhodes is included in the list of world cultural heritage.

Climatic features

The best islands in Greece can boast of fresh summers and mild winters. And Rhodes is the brightest example of this. The climate there is Mediterranean, the average temperature is 18-20 degrees Celsius. There are many sunny days on the island - about three hundred a year. The warmest months are July and August (+29 on average), and the coolest are December, January, February and March (+ 9-11 degrees).

Culture and Art of Antiquity

For many centuries Rhodes played the role of an important trading port in the east of the Mediterranean. The island had a significant impact on the history of the whole region, during its heyday, art and literature developed in a special way. His apogee reached painting, philosophy, physics, astronomy, geography and sculpture.

Unfortunately, to this day masterpieces of Rhodes painting have not reached. The only source of information is the ancient script. They can find references to the work of many talented artists.

Much more is known about ceramics. The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes presents the brightest examples of this art. The characteristic artifacts of that time are vessels that depict wild goats, griffins and deer, alternating with garlands of flowers and anemia.

Sculpture also reached a special level of development in Rhodes. Local masters used in their work a password, rather than marble. In the fifth century BC an independent sculptural school was formed on the island. In the Hellenistic period, it became the most significant in the East and one of the most famous in Greece. In this era on the island worked about one hundred and thirty masters of their case from thirty cities. Among the most illustrious of them include Briaskid from Athens and Lysippos from Sicyon.

In Rhodes, the poet Apollonius lived and worked, as well as Aristippus of Cyrene, a philosopher, a disciple of Socrates. A speaker from Athens, Eshin founded an oratorical school on the island. Many Rhodians achieved success in philosophy. Among them are Panetai, Evdem.

"Frozen Music"

The architectural appearance of any locality is directly dependent on the morphology of its territories, the historical past and geographical location.

The settlements of Rhodes are subdivided into the islands located in the interior and the seaside. Among the latter include the cities of Rhodes and Lind. They are built in the form of an amphitheater, from which amazing views are opened up on the endless water surface.

As for settlements on the interior territories of the island, by their appearance they are obliged to protect the local population from constant attacks of pirates in the Byzantine period and after Constantinople was captured by the Turks. Thus, people have chosen to live areas that can not be seen from the sea, small plains, slopes of hills and mountains, valleys and places on the banks of rivers. Most of the new settlements were fortified. The stone, earth and wood used to build houses and fortresses, but the island was enough.

Kefalonia

This island is the largest of the Ionian. Its name came from the name of Kefal, the hero of ancient Greek myths. There is another version. So, it is believed that the word "Kefalonia" can be translated as "an island with a head", and it is associated with the name of the rock Kefalus.

Geographical information

The nearest neighbors of the island are Zakynthos and Levkas. Mount Enos - the highest point of Kefalonia (1628 meters), the area - 781 square kilometers. The administrative center and the largest city are Argostoli. Kefalonia is located on an earthquake-prone area. Most of all, the island suffered from the earthquake of 1953. As a result, most of the villages and all the cities were destroyed. Survived only the most northern settlement - Fiskardo.

A bit of history

All the largest islands in Greece, the names and descriptions of which we presented above, were founded many thousands of years ago. Thus, historians and archaeologists have established that people began to master Kefalonia during the Paleolithic period. The first known inhabitants are the Greek tribe of leleges. They came to the island in the fifteenth century BC. Currently, this territory is home to thirty-five thousand people. The patron and defender of the island is St. Gerasim of Kefalonia.

Transport network

On the island there is an airport with a 2.4 km runway. It is located ten kilometers from the town of Argostol. The main route is "Kefalonia - Athens". In addition, the airport accepts many charter flights from all corners of Europe.

From the ports on the east coast, ferries regularly depart to the continent. Thus, from the port of Poros, a ferry to the west of the Peloponnese is made, and from Sami to Patras.

Kefalonians have long been engaged in shipping. Many centuries ago it brought a good income. As confirmed by the exhibits of the Ethnographic Museum, the inhabitants of this island were wealthy people. From travel they brought home fashionable expensive furniture, dishes, clothes and art objects. Some modern large shipping companies are organized by the Kefalonians.

Wonders of nature

The island is famous for geological phenomena, which can be observed due to the earlier tectonic processes. So, a truly unique phenomenon occurs in a place called Katavores: tons of sea water are continuously hidden beneath the ground, pass along a kind of underground tunnel seventeen kilometers in length and break out onto the surface, getting into the Melissani and Karavamilos lakes.

Concerts are held in the Kefalonia cave of Drogarati. Thanks to good acoustics, eight hundred people can enjoy the sounds of beautiful music among stalagmites and stalactites.

The Enos mountain range is a national reserve. On its territory you can see a lot of rare plants listed in the Red Book, including rare species of violets and orchids. The reserve mountain is mostly covered with dark green firs, the wood of which used to be used for the construction of ships.

Fauna

The island is inhabited by animals of rare species. One of the largest turtles - Caretta - is under state protection. Representatives of the endangered species lay eggs in the sand of a reserved beach in the town of Munda.

Conclusion

The largest islands in Greece, listed above, are of exceptional interest to historians, archaeologists and ordinary travelers who want to simply soak under the gentle sun on beautiful beaches.