Karpathos and Symi

As predicted, we had fairly strong wind and a confused sea on our trip across the Kassos and Karpathos straits. Our autopilot was not coping, so we hand steered all the way. We anchored just outside the little  port of Karpathos, to the sound of children’s laughter coming from the nearby beach.  We were on our own out there and there were only two other yachts within the little port.  Land tourists were more numerous, as a ferry arrives fairly regularly.  From our deck, we could see the little village of Menetes hanging precariously off the side of the mountain behind us.  We rented a car and drove around the island.  Locals in Menentes told us that the villages was built this way as protection from the regular Arabic, pirate and Saracen raids in the old days. Many other villages in Karpathos are built in similar fashion.  We went to the  little village of Olympos, also hanging precariously off high  hills.

Olympos, Karpathis Island

Olympos, Karpathos Island

 Locals still wear their traditional dress here and the remains of many old windmills can be seen.  This village used to be a centre for wheat milling, now sadly lacking on the island.  Only 556 inhabitants remain. The scenery on Karpathos is beautiful and the island sports fairly high mountains with hair-raising hairpin bends giving access to several  lovely  little beaches.

Time was running out on our EU visas so we left for Symi, our last stop in Greece. Symi is a tiny little island, in a large bay, surrounded on three sides by the Turkish mainland.  It has  a very cute village, tumbling down the hillside to the little port. Interestingly, many colourful neoclassical mansions are to be seen.  These stem from the period of prosperity when Symi was an important way-point, on the main shipping trade route, before the advent of steam ships.  The population of the whole island is just 2,500 souls. At its peak at the end of the 19^th century when Symi was  known for  shipbuilding and sponge diving, the population was 22,000.  We arrived late in the afternoon with the little harbour  filling up fast with charter boats.  We tied up alongside the quay but were asked to move to the opposite side of the harbour.  We did this but were again told to move to the opposite side! After protests, it was agreed that we could stay where we were.  That night we had a delightful dinner with friends on a taverna terrace overlooking the little town.  Excellent food, wine and company – that’s what cruising in the Mediterranean is all about.

Symi Harbour

Panoromitis Monastery, Symi Island

On the southern end of the island, in a beautiful well protected bay, is the famous monastery of Panormitis, which received its current form in 1783A.D.  It has an unusual bell tower which is a mix between Baroque and Renaissance architecture. It is a very large monastery, although just four monks remain.  We woke to the sound of church bells early on Sunday morning and later, the sounds of the Sunday morning service drifted across the water to us.  The church has beautiful frescoes and  the monastery also has a lovely little museum.  In the museum is a room with a desk and old radio station.  We wondered about that was about and were interested to hear that during WWII the monastery was converted into a centre for counterintelligence with a covert radio station.  Sadly when it was found in 1944, the abbot, his steward and the radio operator were executed.