Kea ( el, Κέα), also known as Tzia ( el, Τζια) and in

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

Keos ( el, Κέως, la, Ceos), is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in the

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The na ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...

. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit.

Geography

It is the

of the Cyclades complex that is closest to

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

(about 1 hour by ferry from Lavrio) and is also from Cape Sounio as well as SE of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. Its climate is

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

, and its terrain is hilly. Kea is long from north to south and wide from west to east. The area is with the highest point being

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

. The municipality, which includes the island Makronisos, has an area of . Its capital,

Ioulis Ioulis or Ioulida ( el, Ιουλίς, Ιουλίδα; grc, Ἰουλίς), locally called Chora or Hora ( el, Χώρα) like the main towns of most Greek islands, and sometimes known by the island name of Kea or Keos (or earlier Zea), is the capit ...

, is inland at a high altitude (like most ancient Cycladic settlements, for fear of

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

) and is considered quite picturesque. Other major villages of Kea are the port of Korissia and the fishing village of Vourkari. After suffering depopulation for many decades, Kea has been recently rediscovered by Athenians as a convenient destination for weekend and

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called '' yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboat ...

trips. The population in 2019 was 2,568.

Local communities

* Chavouna * Ellinika *

Kato Meria Kato or Katō may refer to: Places * Kato, Guyana, a village in Guyana * Katō, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Katō District, Hokkaido, a district located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan *Katowice, a city in Southern Polan ...

* Korissia * Koundouros * Otzias * Pisses * Vourkari *

Pera Meria Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district of ...

History

Kea is the location of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

settlement at the site now called Ayia Irini, which reached its height in the Late Minoan and Early Mycenaean eras (1600–1400 BC). In the Archaic period, the island was divided between four city-states ( poleis):

, Karthaia,

Poieessa Poeeessa or Poieessa ( grc, Ποιήεσσα), or Poeessa or Poiessa (Ποιῆσσα), or Poeassa or Poiassa (Ποιᾶσσα), was a town of ancient Keos, situated on the southwestern side of the island, on a high and steep promontory. It was fo ...

and Koressos. During the classical period, Kea (Ceos) was the home of

Simonides Simonides of Ceos (; grc-gre, Σιμωνίδης ὁ Κεῖος; c. 556–468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets estee ...

and of his nephew Bacchylides, both ancient Greek

lyric Lyric may refer to: * Lyrics, the words, often in verse form, which are sung, usually to a melody, and constitute the semantic content of a song * Lyric poetry is a form of poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view * Lyric, from ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

s, of the Sophist

Prodicus Prodicus of Ceos (; grc-gre, Πρόδικος ὁ Κεῖος, ''Pródikos ho Keios''; c. 465 BC – c. 395 BC) was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became known ...

, and of the physician

Erasistratus Erasistratus (; grc-gre, Ἐρασίστρατος; c. 304 – c. 250 BC) was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. Along with fellow physician Herophilus, he founded a school of anatomy in Alexandria, where th ...

. The inhabitants were known for offering sacrifices to the Dog Star,

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa ...

and to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

to bring cooling breezes while awaiting the reappearance of Sirius in summer; if the star rose clear, it would portend good fortune; if it was misty or faint, then it foretold (or emanated) pestilence. Coins retrieved from the island from the 3rd century BC feature dogs or stars with emanating rays, highlighting Sirius' importance. Lion of Kea (detail)

The island is known for an ancient stone-carved lion, known as the Lion of Ioulis (or Liontas), which was carved some time prior to 600 BC. According to legend, the island of Kea was once home to population of water nymphs whose beauty, along with their lovely island, made the gods jealous, who sent a lion to lay waste to the island. In any case, the mainland of Greece was home to a significant population of lions throughout the classical period. During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

period, many churches were built and the prosperity of the island rose. It was

until, in 1204, it was captured by the Venetians in the wake of the Fourth Crusade. The Archbishop of Athens, Michael Choniates, came here in exile after his city fell to the Crusaders in 1205. It was recaptured by the Byzantines under

Licario Licario, called Ikarios ( gr, Ἰκάριος) by the Greek chroniclers, was a Byzantine admiral of Italian origin in the 13th century. At odds with the Latin barons (the "triarchs") of his native Euboea, he entered the service of the Byzantine e ...

in 1278. In around 1302 during the Byzantine–Venetian War, it again fell to the Venetians, who built a castle on the ancient acropolis of Ioulis. Kea was taken from the Venetians by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1537. Along with the rest of the Cyclades, Kea joined Greece following the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted ...

in 1821. The HMHS ''Britannic'', which is the third sister ship of the RMS ''Olympic'' and the ill-fated RMS ''Titanic'', sank off Kea Island in November 21, 1916 on the Kea Channel after hitting a mine, with the loss of thirty lives. She is the largest ship sunk in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Ecclesiastical History

Orthodox Eparchy

The earliest indication of it as a Greek bishopric is in a list by the Sicilian monk Neilos Doxapatres of the second half of the 12th century and this may have been a later interpolation, since the list of the Greek bishops of Kea begins only at the end of the 16th century.

Latin Catholic residential diocese

In 1330, as part of the Venetian

Duchy of Naxos The Duchy of the Archipelago ( el, Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους, it, Ducato dell'arcipelago), also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago i ...

, it became, under the name Ceo, the see of a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

bishopric of Ceo in the Cyclades, which in 1600 was renamed bishopric of Diocese of Thermia (island Knythos), but suppressed in 1650, after the Ottoman conquest. It is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

Historical population

The French traveler Jean de Thévenot reported 700 houses in the main town of Kea, now Ioulida, in 1656 (his compatriot the botanist

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Lif ...

guessed 2500 in 1700). The Greek historian Ioannis Psyllas estimated a population of more than 7000 on the island in 1821, a number that dropped sharply due to a plague outbreak that killed 1600 to 2000 Keans in 1823. Official Greek census data shows a population of around 4000 in the 19th century, decreasing gradually until 1981 and then beginning to rebound under the influence of tourism.

Climate

Kea has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate.

Scuba diving

The island is a destination for exploring nature and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chri ...

, with excellent visibility, rich marine life, and wall, cavern and wreck diving. The water temperature ranges from 20° to 26 °C. The highlight for recreational divers is the wreck of the paddle-wheeler steamship ''Patris'' which sank in 1868 and lies at a depth of 28 metres. She was a passenger steamer 66 m long, in service in the Aegean Sea, owned by the Hellenic Steamship Co., based on

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...

island, at that time the capital of Greece. She hit the reef off Koundouros Bay at Makriopounda, Kea island on 24 February 1868 with about 120 passengers aboard. No casualties were reported owing to the proximity of land. The wreck of HMHS ''Britannic'', located 1.5 nautical miles offshore, is at a depth of about . The French ship SS ''Burdigala'' is a recently discovered wreck, from the island's harbour, at 53 m depth. Sunk 14 November 1916, she was a 180 m long ocean liner built in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

by Ferdinand Schichau Werft.

Notable people

( 556 BC – 468 BC) lyric poet * Bacchylides (5th century BC) lyric poet *

(5th century BC) sophist * Theramenes (late 5th century BC) Athenian statesman * Aristo (3rd century BC) peripatetic philosopher * Emmanouil Papadopoulos (died 1810), Russian general *

Patriarch Meletius III of Constantinople Meletius III (1772 – 28 November 1845) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople ...

* Cyparissos Stephanos (1857–1917), mathematician * John Angelo Congear, father of great Australian AFL footballer, Angelo Congear

In literature

Kea is the scene of much of

Mary Renault Eileen Mary Challans (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983), known by her pen name Mary Renault ("She always pronounced it 'Ren-olt', though almost everyone would come to speak of her as if she were a French car." ), was an English writer best ...

's novel, ''

The Praise Singer ''The Praise Singer'' is a historical novel by Mary Renault first published in 1978. Its narrator and main character is the real-life lyric poet Simonides of Ceos, whose life (ca. 556 BC-469 BCE) spanned the transition from an oral to a written ...

''.

References

External links

Official Island website

An 1885 travel guide to Keos (Zea)
an excerpt from

James Theodore Bent James Theodore Bent (30 March 1852 – 5 May 1897) was an English explorer, archaeologist, and author. Biography James Theodore Bent was born in Liverpool on 30 March 1852, the son of James (1807-1876) and Eleanor (née Lambert, c.1811-1873) ...

's ''The Cyclades, or Life among the Insular Greeks'' {{Authority control Minoan geography Municipalities of the South Aegean Populated places in Kea-Kythnos Landforms of Kea-Kythnos Islands of the South Aegean Members of the Delian League