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Kálamos (Greek: Κάλαμος, known in antiquity as Καρνος – ''Karnos'') is a mountainous island and a former
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
in the Ionian Islands,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...
, of which it is a municipal unit. It lies east of Lefkada, near the Greek mainland. It has a wintering population of around 500 people, which is swelled substantially in the summer by tourists. The name ''
Kalamos Kalamos ( grc, Κάλαμος, lit= reed, reed pen; la, Calamus) is a Greek mythological figure. He is son of Maiandros, the god of the Maeander river. Mythology A story in Nonnus's ''Dionysiaca'' tells about the love of two youths, Kalamos ...
'' means
reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...
in
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 ...
and the presence of this plant along its coastline in the past may have given its name. Another version is that the island had several beaches with good sand (Kali Ammos in Greek) hence the name given. Its population was 496 at the 2011 census. The land area is , and its highest point is
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''. Th ...
. The main settlement on the island is the port town of Kálamos (pop. 454) on the east coast of the island. A regular ferry service connects the island to
Mytikas Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
on the mainland. Episkopi (pop. 42) is the only other inhabited village on the island along with Kastro. The village of Kefali, also known by its Venetian name Porto Leone, was abandoned following the
1953 Ionian earthquake The 1953 Ionian earthquake (also known as the Great Kefalonia earthquake) struck the southern Ionian Islands in Greece on August 12. In mid-August, there were over 113 recorded earthquakes in the region between Kefalonia and Zakynthos, and the ...
. The main church is still in use and still houses the sacred image of the virgin Mary that is also considered a miracle worker. The church and the image celebrate twice a year (one on 30 June and the other on 15 August). A religious celebration on that day is preceded and followed by traditional celebrations with folk music. People from the island and all the surrounding area come to attend. In the early 1990s, the water system was rebuilt and now every household has running water. As well, in recent years, all the footpaths that were once dirt have been upgraded to stone or pavement. Kalamos, once a remote island without
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...
or a proper
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
system, now has all the conveniences of the mainland. The nearest lyceum (middle school) and gymnasium (secondary school) are in
Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...
where all of the students from the latter categories attend. There is a public kindergarten, elementary and primary school in the main village of Kalamos where all of the children permanently resident on the island attend. The island is easily reached from the mainland by a regular ferry service from the nearby port of Mytikas in Aetoloakarnania, year round. The island is geographically situated in the core of the inner Ionian
marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a con ...
, the largest marine protected area in Greece.


Population


Notable people

*
Helen Maroulis Helen Louise Maroulis ( el, Ελένη Μαρούλη; born September 19, 1991) is an American freestyle wrestler who competes in the women's 55-kg 53-kg and 57-kg categories. She was a gold medalist at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in ...


See also

*
List of settlements in the Lefkada regional unit This is a list of settlements in the Lefkada regional unit, Greece. * Agios Ilias * Agios Nikitas * Agios Petros * Alexandros * Apolpaina * Asprogerakata * Athani * Charadiatika * Chortata * Dragano * Drymonas * Egklouvi * Evgiros * ...
* Kalamos Island biological field station


References


External links


Kalamos information
{{Lefkada div Islands of Greece Islands of the Ionian Islands (region) Landforms of Lefkada (regional unit) Populated places in Lefkada (regional unit)