Monday, August 25, 2008
Symi City on Nosis Symi (checking out of Greece & the European Union) - We actually didn't sail to Symi City. Instead opted to take a seemingly high speed and most adventurous bus ride through the very narrow streets of Pethi, over the summit and down into Symi City. Symi has the most beautiful harbour in Greece. On either side of a steep-sided fjord rise tier upon tier of houses, some white, some pastel yellow, but virtually all with Neo-Classical pediments - a reminder that 100 years ago this was one of Greece's most prosperous islands. There has been virtually no modern concrete construction here and now these fine old houses are being resurrected for visitors. The spirit of the island remains intact.
The main town of Symi is divided into the upper and lower town. The lower town is called Yialos, the upper town is known as Chorio. Most of the houses are painted in warm pastel colours, with balconies in the center and red tiled roofs. The highest point of Chorio is capped by the usual castle of the Knights of St. John. The town of Symi alone has thirteen major churches and dozens of chapels, some dating back to the Byzantine era.
There are a number of beautiful beaches, many reachable only by "water taxi" from the harbour or from the jetty at Pedhi, or by walking. There are numerous guided walks, these being by far the best way to see the beautiful interior of the island.
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Today we arrived and anchored at Pethi (Pedhi) on Nisos Symi. Symi island has no big sandy beaches, but there are plenty of pebbly stretches at the heads of the deep, protected bays which indent the coastline. Pethi retains some of it's former identity as a fishing hamlet, with enough water in the plain behind - the island's largest - to support a few vegetable gardens. The beach is poor though and patronage from yachts and the giant, overpriced Pethi Beach hotel has considerably bumped up prices at several local tavernas.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Arrived and anchored at Panormittis on Nisos Symi island. The bay is attractive in a sparse sort of way and the monastery on the SE side complements it, being a sparse sort of place itself. Like most of Symi's monasteries, Panormittis is of recent (eighteenth century) vintage and was thoroughly pillaged during World War II. When the ferries and day tripper boats arrive the bay is transformed into a noisy crowded place for a few hours, but outside that it is a peaceful spot. The highlight for me was finally finding an island that has some vegetation (Pine & Juniper) growing on the mountain side rather than the normal arid and barren rock islands.
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Today we arrived at and anchored off the Town of Khalki on Nisos (island) Khalki. Lying off the W coast of Rhodes, this island has always been dependent on it's large neighbor. Khalki has a small dwindling population - nearly all of it living around the harbour. Although many of the houses are in ruins the village on the slopes around the bay is attractive. The fort on the precipitous rock behind the village (cone-shaped and 670m high) was a watchtower for Rhodes.
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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Anchored at Tristoma on the island of Nisos Karpathos. Entered through a cliffed narrow channel. This long sheltered inlet on the NW corner of Karpathos offered us the best shelter on the island. We anchored at the head of the inlet just next to the ruins. Someone was trying to restore a long deserted village. The winds coming down off of the mountains were so fierce our anchor was slipping so we moved back near the entrance behind one of the islands at the entrance. With the strong "meltemi" (wind) that was blowing when we left, heavy seas piled up at the entrance making for a pretty exciting exit through the "notch".
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Saturday, August 16, 2008
Arrived and docked at Ayios Nicolaos. Ayios Nicolaos is set around a supposedly bottomless salt lake (though it is apparently 67 meters deep) and is an old volcanic crater. It is now connected to the sea to form an inner harbour. It is very picturesque and has some style and charm, which it exploits to the full. The lake and port are surrounded by restaurants and bars. Ayios Nikolaos may once have been a small fishing village. Now it is a booming tourist resort festooned with large hotels. The staff were excellent and very knowledgable and the showers & laundry were close by albeit the dryer was not working.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
We arrived and anchored across from the island of Spinalonga.
According to Venetian documents, the name of the island originated in the Greek expression "STIN ELOUNDA" (meaning "to Elounda"). The Venetians could not understand the expression so they familiarized it using their own language, and called it SPINA (thorn) LONGA (long), an expression that was also maintained by the locals.
The Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli reports that Spinalonga was not always an island, but was once linked with the adjacent peninsula of Kolokitha. He mentions that in 1526, the Venetians cut down a portion of the peninsula and thus created the island. Because of its position the island was fortified from its earliest years in order to protect the entranceway of the port of Ancient Olous.
Olous, and accordingly the wider region, were depopulated at the middle of the 7th century because of the raids of the Arab pirates in the Mediterranean. Olous remained deserted until the middle of the 15th century when the Venetians begun to construct salt-pans in the shallow and salty waters of the gulf. Consequently, the region acquired commercial value and systematically became inhabited. This fact, in combination with the Turkish threat to use gunpowder for warlike purposes, particularly after the occupation of Constantinople in 1453, and the continuous pirate raids, forced the Venetians to fortify the island.
In 1578 the Venetians charged the engineer Genese Bressani to plan the island's fortifications. He created blockhouses at the highest points of the northern and southern side of the island, as well as a fortification ring along the coast of the island that closed out any hostile disembarkation. In 1579, the General Previsor of Crete Luca Michiel put the foundation stone of the fortifications. There are two inscriptions that cite this event: one on the transom of the main gate of the castle and the other on the base of the rampart at the north side of the castle. In 1584, the Venetians, realising that the coastal fortifications were easy to conquer by the enemies attacking from the vicinal hills, decided to strengthen their defence by constructing new fortifications at the top of the hill. The Venetian fire would thus have bigger throw, rendering Spinalonga an impregnable sea fortress, one of the most important in the Mediterranean basin.
In addition, in 1579 the Venetians built a fortress on Spinalonga over the ruins of an acropolis. They kept control of the island until the Ottoman Empire took possession of it in 1715.
Following the Turkish occupation of Crete in 1669, only the fortresses of Gramvousa ,Souda and Spinalonga remained in Venetian hands; they would remain so for almost half a century. Many Christians found refuge in these fortresses to escape persecution. In 1715, the Turks came to terms with the Venetians and occupied the island. At the end of the Turkish occupation the island was the refuge of many Ottoman families that feared the Christian reprisals. After the revolution of 1866 other Ottoman families came to the island from all the region of Mirabello. In 1881 the 1112 Ottomans formed their own community and Later, in 1903, the last Turks left the island.
The island was subsequently used as a leper colony, from 1903 to 1957. It is notable for being one of the last active leper colonies in Europe. The last inhabitant, a priest, left the island in 1962. This was to maintain the religious tradition of the Greek Orthodox church, in which a buried person has to be commemorated 40 days, 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years after their death. Other leper colonies that have survived Spinalonga include Tichilesti in Eastern Romania, Fontilles in Spain and Talsi in Latvia. As of 2002, few lazarettos remain in Europe.[1])
There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the lepers' entrance, a tunnel known as Dante's Gate. This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived. However, once on the island they received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete's leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area's caves, away from civilization.
We were a little nervous about our anchor being ripped out of it's holdings as we had incredible gusts of wind off of the mountains. The anchor held.
Click here for the pictures.
High resolution panorama, West side of the island - 2.4 megs
High resolution picture, S.W. corner - 1.8 megs
Monday, August 11, 2008
Arrived in Gouves. Gouves is a village about 15 kilometers, by road, east from Heraklion. There is a small traditional village (Gouves) built on the hills but there is also the touristic part of Gouves (Kato Gouves) by the sea with long sandy beaches, hotels restaurants and shops. Gouves is a purpose-built resort with an artificial and yet, friendly village atmosphere. It is small and centred around one main tourist street with minimum facilities. There is very little of interest in the immediate vicinity so the main attraction is the beaches. Some authentic architecture has survived the growth of tourism and there are moves afoot to preserve what is left. The marina is owned by the hotel located behind it and aptly named Marina Hotel.
This was not a joyful stop. The marina was very windy and rolly and the help to tie up was at best inexperienced. We ended up scraping large gouges in the side of the boat and drove the passerelle (gangway) into the box on the doc containting the electricty and water hookups. It smashed through the plastic cover breaking the water pipe and badly bent one of the legs of the passerelle. The Canadian next to us apparently has had problems with the manager of the marina for several months. This same manager tried blaming first the fellow who brought us in, then blamed the Canadian then it was our own fault. We were never even offered an apology. For some reason the waves came right into the marina causing incessant rocking. We have anchored "out" at places that were much calmer than this. There is just nothing nice to say about this place except "good riddance" (I did manage to get into a volleyball game on the beach one day).
Click here for the pictures.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Today we arrived in Rethymno. Rethymno remains one of the most beautiful of Crete's major cities (only Khania is a serious rival) with an enduringly provincial air. A wide sandy beach and palm-lined promenade border a labyrinthine tangle of Venetian and Turkish houses lining streets where ancient minarets lend an exotic air to the skyline. Dominating everyting from the west is the superbly preserved outline of the "Fortezza" (fortress) built by the Venetians after a series of pirate raids had devastated the town. The massive Venetian fortress is said to be the largest Venetian castle ever built. This was a response, in the last quarter of the sixteenth century to a series of pirate raids (by Barbarossa among others) that had devastated the town. Inside is now a vast open space dotted with the remains of all sorts of barracks, arsenals, offices' houses, earthworks and deep shafts, and at the center, a large domed building that was once a church and later a mosque. It was designed to be large enough for the entire population to take shelter within the walls. Although much is ruined, it remains thoroughly atmospheric, and you can look out from the walls over the town and harbour, or in the other direction along the coast to the west.
Here we met and made excellent friends with a British couple, David and Linda Hitching. They had sold everything in England and were temporarily living on their boat, S.V. Symphony II, while having their new home built a few miles west of Rethymno. David happened to spot us coming in and both he and Linda were most gracious in directing us to a berth and helping us get docked. We invited them over for drinks a couple of times and they reciprocated. David and Linda had heard a band practicing in a park a couple of weeks before we arrived. They then heard the same band playing at a local restaurant. They said the band sounded excellent and invited us to join them for dinner at the restaurant where the band was playing. It was an excellent evening and the band was fantastic. This was one of the most enjoyable evenings of our entire trip. Thanks David and Linda!
Click here for the pictures.
Click here for a night panorama of Rethymno. Melissa's photos, Greg's stitching. (caution: 4 megs)
