GREECE TRIP - DAY 5b - 1st June 2008

We first visited Panormitis monastery. This is a grand monastery built around the church of the Archangel Michael Panormitis (St-Michael-On-the-Bay). It contains many cells in which some monks stay, but also hosts many visitors largely Greeks and Cypriots who come here on a pilgrimage to adore the miraculous icon of the saint and who have a religious obligation to fulfill. Around the monastery are a few tourist shops and taverns and there are always a few fishing boats around that sell their freshly caught fish and shellfish.

We went into the church where a stream of pilgrims and tourists filed by the icon of the Saint and we lit a candle in a neighbouring chapel. Most Greek churches now forbid lighting of candles within them as the smoke damages the icons and frescos that decorate the interior. We were given phials of blessed oil for anointing and a small icon of the Saint. A shop on the monastery grounds sells icons and religious goods.

There are two very interesting museums associated with the monastery. A religious one containing a wealth of old manuscripts, old printed gospels and hymnals, priestly vestments, religious vessels and jewellery. The other is a folk museum with many implements and every-day objects of times of yore, arranged in a way more or less replicating how they would be found in a house of the era. All in all a very good place to visit with much to see.

We got back into the boat and thirty minutes later we were approaching Symi Harbour. The view was simply stunning. The town is built around a bay where the steep hillsides form an amphitheatre-like hollow on which the houses are precariously balanced. Needless to say there are sharply rising steps that connect these terraces on the multiple levels of the town. As soon as we got out of the boat, we walked along the esplanade and took in the general ambience of the place. A very typical cosmopolitan feel about the place with numerous tourists from all parts of the world walking around.

We immediately started climbing up the steps that led upward and soon we left the tourists behind and went to the upper part of town, towards Horio. The houses are traditional and generally well preserved with quite a few grand mansions here and there that have been renovated. We walked up towards the castle and the Museum of Symi. The steps seemed endless as we climbed ever upwards and the heat of the day increased. This is not for the faint-hearted or those with health problems or disabilities!

We finally reached the museum, which is housed in a traditional Symian mansion that originally belonged to the Gianneski family. The neoclassical elements of the mansion were added back in 1875. The house is a donation to the Greek state by Ariadni V. Farmakidi and Sevasti N. Farmakidi. A representation of the inside of a Symian house with the dining and the sitting room (furniture, settings, paintings and photographs of that period), along with some traditional local costumes, comprise the exhibition of the folk museum. The Museum also includes the following collections: Archaelogical gleanings dating back to classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods and a Byzantine collection including some excellent icons.

Coming out of the museum we decided to go down into the harbour via another road and we got rather lost. We ended up on the road tat is used by cars and which bypasses the older part of Horio. We walked down the road in the heat and followed the signs for Yalos, passing by the road that led to Pedi. It was rather a long haul, but finally we came back to Horio and climbed down the steps that led to Yalos. We walked around and saw some more of the town and then stopped and had a refreshing drink in one of the cafés. Before not too long, the time came for our departure and 50 minutes later we were back in Rhodes.

GREECE TRIP - DAY 5a - 1st June 2008

“The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.” - Chinese Proverb

We had bought tickets yesterday for a trip out to Symi, another Dodecanese island close to Rhodes. There are many ferries and ships that regularly sail out to neighbouring islands such as Telos, Castellorizo, Kos, Nisyros, Carpathos, Halki, etc. We chose to take the rapid Flying Dolphin service which takes about 50 minutes to get to Symi.

The history of Symi begins in ancient times when it was known by a variety of names, including Kirki, Aigli and Metapontis. The island got its current name from the nymph Symi, who according to Greek mythology became the lover of the god of the seas Poseidon and brought to life Chthonios, who became the leader of the islands inhabitants. Homer mentions Symi in the Iliad, as a participant in the Trojan war, its troops led by the Symiote King Nireas.

Thucydides writes that during the Peloponnesian War, there was a Battle of Syme near the island in January 411 BC in which an unspecified number of Spartan ships defeated a squadron of Athenian vessels. Little is known of the island until the 14th century but archaeological evidence indicates it was continuously inhabited, and ruins of citadels suggest it was an important location. It was first part of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire until its conquest by the Knights of St John in 1373.

A period of prosperity began for the island with the development of shipping, sponge commerce, boat building and other industries. In 1832 Symi came under the Turkish dominion which was followed in 1912 by Italian rule. Symi confronted poverty at that time: the replacement of sailing with motor ships occurred, sponge diving decreased and a little later World War II began resulting in a great migration wave of Symiotes abroad.

From 1943 when the Italian domination ended, Symi changed hands several times between the English and the Germans, with the English taking over the island for the third time in 1944. On May 8th 1945, the Germans signed the treaty of the Dodecanese surrender, while on April 1st 1947, the British military command handed the island over to Greece. At last, it was on March 8th 1948 that the Protocol of integration of all Dodecanese islands to the Greek state was signed.

Symi belongs to the Dodecanese islands complex and lies 24 nautical miles NW of Rhodes and 255 nautical miles from the port of Piraeus. The highest point is Mountain Vigla at 616 metres. The island is very close to the coast of Asia Minor, just 5 miles from Alopos in Turkey. It is not a very big island, only 67 square kilometres. The majority of the land is covered in rocks. Two settlements form the town of Symi: Chorio (Village) and Yalos ( Harbour). Pedi, found in the bay of the same name and Nimporios in the bay of the same name, have a few inhabitants. There is also a big monastery complex, Panormitis, where around 30 people live and take care of the monastery.

At Yalos one may find a medical centre, a post office, the police station, the port police, the town hall, telephone service (OTE), banks, hotels, rooms to let, restaurants, tavernas, fast food outlets, goldsmiths, bakeries, tourist shops, supermarkets, confectioners, bars, tourist agencies, fruit shops, corner shops, a fitness center, a flower shop, bus and taxi terminals.

At Horio, one may find a medical centre, hotels, rooms to let, restaurants, tavernas, bakeries, tourist shops, supermarkets, bars, fruit shops, corner shops, a flower shop, bus and taxi stations.
In the interior of Symi there is road that leads from Yalos to Panormitis and one may go there by car, by bike or even on foot. The road goes through areas forested with pine, cypress and holm-oak. When walking, you can go alone or with the help of guides, who are appointed by tourist offices. There are a number of islets around Symi, such as Nimos, which is the largest one, as well as Sesklia, Artikonisi, Koulountro, Troubeto, Chondros, Plati, Oxia, Diabates, Marmaras. All these small islands can be visited with caiques, or small boats.

Half of the current active population is engaged in the building industry, as well as in commerce and tourism. At present, tourism in Symi is dependent on daily visitors who come from Rhodes and visitors who stay in Symi for a couple of days. Symiotes who live abroad visit Symi for their vacations during the summer months as well. The duration of the tourist season lasts 7 months (April - October). High season lasts three months July - September. A few of the locals are engaged in agriculture, farming and fishing. Boat building and wood carving (furniture, decorative motifs of interior architecture) flourished in the past. Nowadays two small boat-yards are operating, mainly for the construction and repair of the fishing boats.

Symi Festival is organised every summer, first starting out thirteen years ago. The idea is based in the voluntary participation of artists and organizers. There is neither ticket for attending the cultural events nor is there payment for the participants. The Town Hall covers the travel and accommodation expenses of the participants. The Symi Festival has to do with several cultural activities like classical and modern music concerts, dance, theatre, cinema, literature evenings, conferences. All these take place in buildings with traditional architecture of 17th, 18th, 19th century like the famous manor house of Chatziagapitos, the courtyard of Saint John and the monastery of Panormitis.

Near Horio, there are two fortification enclosures from the Historical age and these as signposted as “Castro” (= castle). The castle proper was built by the Knights of St. John as an expansion of a Byzantine castle on the same site, many parts of which are still visible. The remnants of the ancient citadel on which the two later castles were built are also visible here. At Yalos, Pedi and Panormitis, there are relics or traces of paleochristian basilicas. At Nimporio can be found some traces, including burnt remains of a paleochristian basilica. In addition, there are architectural parts made of marble (reclaimed from ancient monuments) in the little churches of the surrounding area.

On the right side of Yalos, a clock tower, named Roloi, was built in 1881 and still counts the time for Symiotes. In front of Roloi , Michalaki, a statue of a little fisherman (sculpted by Kostas Valsamis) welcomes ships, yachts and the caiques as they enter the harbour. The bell-tower of the Evangelistria church looks like a true sentinel over the harbour. The Police building is a relic of the architecture of the years of the Italian Occupation. In Tzi, there is a copy of the triemolia originally carved into a rock of the Acropolis of Lindos and one may read there an inscription written by the Dodecanesian Fotis Varelis for the 8th of May. The Dove of Freedom, a war memorial, is another sculpture by Kostas Valsamis and can be found nearby.

The Nautical Museum of Symi is full of old maps, ship models and other exhibits from the rich maritime tradition of Symi. The Cathedral of Timios Prodromos, which was built in 1830 and refurbished in 1869, has a marvellous pebbled yard.