Agios Efstratios or Saint Eustratius (), colloquially Ai Stratis (), anciently Halonnesus or Halonnesos (), is a small

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

island in the northern

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

about southwest of

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

and northwest of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. The municipality has an area of 43.325 km². Together with Lemnos and nearby islets it forms the

regional unit The 74 regional units of Greece (, ; singular , ) are the country's third-level administrative units (counting decentralized administrations as first-level). They are subdivisions of the country's 13 regions, and are further divided into municip ...

, part of the Greek archipelagic

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of the

North Aegean The North Aegean Region (, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, called the North Aegean islands, except for Thasos an ...

Name

In antiquity the island was known as Halonnesus, and under this name was a bone of contention between

ancient Athens Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in t ...

and

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

as was noted in '' On the Halonnesus'', attributed to

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

. The island was named after Saint Eustratius (), who lived on the island in the 9th century as an exile, because he was opposed to the

iconoclastic Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

policies of the Byzantine Emperor

Leo the Armenian Leo V the Armenian (, ''Léōn ho Arménios''; 775 – 25 December 820) was the Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820. He is chiefly remembered for ending the decade-long war with the Bulgars, as well as initiating the second period of Byzantine ico ...

. His grave is still being shown by the inhabitants. The island is mentioned in the by

Cristoforo Buondelmonti Cristoforo Buondelmonti () was an Italian Franciscan priest, traveler, and was a pioneer in promoting first-hand knowledge of Greece and its antiquities throughout the Western world. Biography Cristoforo Buondelmonti was born around 1385 into an ...

in 1420 as Sanstrati. It was also known as "Bozbaba" during Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Census of 1831 states that the island population was composed exclusively of Greeks, and that there were 310 Greek males fit to fight. This register did not include women, orphans, Christians below the age of puberty, high-ranking officials, and the mentally or physically incapacitated, so the actual population would be much higher.

Geography

Another view of the harbour of Agios Efstratios

Agios Efstratios is quiet, isolated and dry, with a population of approximately 300 people. The climate is arid, with little rainfall during the winter months and long, hot summers. The landscape is mostly rocky, with scarce and low vegetation.

Locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

infestation is a recurring problem. Crops are insignificant; the surrounding sea, however, is rich in

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

which are fished by local fishermen. There are numerous beaches on the island such as Agios Antonios, Lemonies, Avlakia and others, most of which are reached by caique. Agios Efstratios Island is linked by boat with

Limnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The principal town of the island and ...

, Agios Konstantinos, Kymi and

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

Recent political history

The island was used to house

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s in internal exile since the 1930s. The first communists were exiled to the island with the

Idionymon ''Idionymon'' (, literally "that which has its own name", also translated as "special illegal act" or ''delictum sui generis''), is a Greek legal term referring to a criminal offense which is treated distinctly from the general categories in the G ...

law of Venizelos, later during the

Metaxas Regime Metaxās or Metaxa may refer to: Places * Metaxas Line, fortifications in northeastern Greece in 1935–1940 * Metaxas, Greece, a village in the Greek region of Macedonia * Metaxas Regime or 4th of August Regime, a short-lived authoritarian reg ...

and again during the

Greek civil war The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

. After

Makronisos Makronisos (, lit. ''Long Island''), or Makronisi, is an island in the Aegean Sea, in Greece, notorious as the site of a political prison from the 1920s to the 1970s. It is located close to the coast of Attica, facing the port of Lavrio. The isl ...

it became the largest prison island in Aegean. During the

Greek military junta of 1967–74 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

, the island was again used as a prison for political dissidents. Exiles here included

Ilias Iliou Ilias Iliou (; May 1904 – 25 January 1985) was a Greek lawyer and politician, member of the Greek Parliament and leader of the United Democratic Left (EDA). He was also a distinguished writer and jurist. Life Early years Iliou was born in ...

Stefanos Sarafis Stefanos Sarafis (, 23 October 1890 – 31 May 1957) was an officer of the Hellenic Army and Major General in EAM-ELAS, who played an important role during the Greek Resistance. Early life and career Sarafis was born at Trikala in 1890. He w ...

Dimitris Glinos Dimitris Glinos (; September 2, 1882 – December 26, 1943) was a Greek educator, philosopher and politician. Life Glinos was born in Smyrna, the eldest of twelve children of Alexandros Glinos. After graduating from the Smyrna Evangelical Schoo ...

Kostas Varnalis Kostas Varnalis (; 14 February 1884 – 16 December 1974) was a Greek poet. Life Varnalis was born in Burgas, Eastern Rumelia (now in Bulgaria), in 1884. As his name suggests, his family originated from Varna; his father's family name was Boubou ...

Tasos Leivaditis Tasos Leivaditis (; 20 April 1922 – 30 October 1988) was a Greek poet, short story writer and literary critic. He belonged to the postwar generation that was deeply marked by the struggles and failures of the communist movement. His early and p ...

Yiannis Ritsos Yiannis Ritsos ( ; 1 May 1909 – 11 November 1990) was a Greek poet and communist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II. While he disliked being regarded as a political poet, he has been called "the great poet of th ...

, Menelaos Lountemis,

Manos Katrakis Emmanuel "Manos" Katrakis (; 14 August 1908 – 3 September 1984) was a Greek actor of theater and film.IMDb pro ...

Kostas Gavriilidis Kostas Gavriilidis (12 January 1898 – 27 September 1952) was a Greek teacher, trade unionist and politician. He participated in the farmers social struggles, and he had been MP with the Agrarian Party of Greece and mayor of Kilkis. During the Ax ...

and

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...

. On 19 February 1968, an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

(7.1 on the Richter scale) demolished most of the houses, which were replaced by concrete prefabricated buildings laid out in a military-like camp formation. Nonetheless, the island retains a very attractive capital, also called Agios Efstratios, while preserving a rather unspoiled Mediterranean environment with pristine beaches. It is mostly a place for relaxation and meditation.

Greece's first green island

Athens News Agency The Athens News Agency (ANA; ) was one of the two major news agencies in Greece, the other being the Macedonian Press Agency, before they merged into the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA). History The Athens News Agency (ANA) is the national n ...

reported that, on 4 June 2009, at a two-day international conference in Athens on "

Climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and Challenges for the Future Generations"International Conference: Climate Change and Challenges for the Future Generations
under the patronage of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, Greece's Development Minister

Kostis Hatzidakis Konstantinos (Kostis) Hatzidakis (; born 20 April 1965 in Rethymno) is a Greek politician who currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State in the Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He also serves as Vice President of New ...

said that Agios Efstratios would soon become the country's first "green" island, entirely powered by

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

sources (RES), its residents relying on solar and wind generated energy and moving around the island on bicycles and in

electric cars An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a plug-in electric vehicle, typ ...

. Hatzidakis said a €10 million project would be implemented by 2010. At the same conference Professor Philippos Tsalidis, Development Ministry General Secretary for Research and Technology, said that although Greece's energy needs currently required strategic reliance on natural gas, Aghios Efstratios, could serve as a global model for 100% reliance on RES. Agios Efstratios is included in the European Union's

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

network of nature protected areas.

Transportation

Agios Efstratios has one port, which offers year-round ferry connections to the island of

, as well to mainland Greece, namely

Lavrio Lavrio, Lavrion or Laurium (; (later ); from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greece. It is part of Athens metropolitan area and the seat of the municipality of Lavreotiki ...

. The ship operating these routes is owned by

Hellenic Seaways Hellenic Seaways is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1984. Hellenic Seaways is a subsidiary of Attica Group along with Blue Star Ferries and Superfast Ferries. History ''Ceres Hellenic Shipping Enterprises'' owned by the Livanos fam ...

. There is also a small heliport on the main village outskirts, but it is used mostly for emergency airlift, or coast guard and military helicopters' stopover.

In popular culture

A slightly fictionalized Agios Efstratios appears in the 2013

tactical shooter A tactical shooter is a Video game genre, sub-genre of First-person shooter, first- and third-person shooters, associated with using strategy, planning, and Military tactics, tactics in gameplay, as well as the realistic simulations of ballisti ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Arma 3 ''Arma 3'' is an open world tactical shooter simulation video game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive exclusively through the Steam distribution platform. It is the third main entry in the ''Arma'' series, and the eighth installment ...

'' as the island of "Stratis", part of the

island country An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

of the "Republic of Altis and Stratis". In the game, Stratis is mostly composed of sparse

military installations A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

and a small

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

, with most of the civilian settlements on the island having been left abandoned following a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. "Altis", based on

, is north of the island as it is in real life.

Gallery

File:Mons Sanctus I Sanstratos - Cristoforo Buondelmonti - 1420.jpg, A 1400's map where the name Sanstratos is used File:Map of St Strati Island 1848.jpg, Map of Agios Efstratios, 1848 File:Agios Efstratios.jpg, Harbor view File:Άποψη του χωριού.jpg, Village overview File:Αλωνίτσι.jpg, Alonitsi beach

References

External links

Documentary about Agios Efstratios

Municipality of Agios Efstratios Official Page - Δήμος Αγίου Ευστρατίου Επίσημη Ιστοσελίδα

Agios Efstratios Sea Pilot
{{Authority control Landforms of Lemnos (regional unit) Municipalities of the North Aegean Islands of the North Aegean Prison islands of Greece Political repression in Greece Anti-communism in Greece Exiles of the Greek Civil War