Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern

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 ...

. It belongs to the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ): the latter is linked to it through a series of islets. Kalymnos lies between two and five hours away by sea from Rhodes. In 2011 the island had a population of 16,001, making it the third most populous island of the Dodecanese, after Kos and Rhodes. It is known in Greece for the affluence of much of its population, and also stands as both the wealthiest member of the Dodecanese and one of the wealthiest Greek islands overall. The Municipality of Kalymnos, which includes the populated offshore islands of

Pserimos Pserimos ( el, Ψέριμος Δωδεκανήσου) is a small Greek island in the Dodecanese chain, lying between Kalymnos and Kos in front of the coast of Turkey. It is part of the municipality of Kálymnos, and reported a population of 80 inha ...

(pop. 80),

Telendos Telendos, ( el, Τέλενδος) is a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, belonging to the Dodecanese. It is approximately off the coast of the larger island of Kalymnos Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municip ...

(94),

Kalolimnos Kalolimnos ( el, Καλόλιμνος) is a small Greek island in the Dodecanese chain, lying between Kalymnos and Imia, opposite the coast of Turkey, in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the municipality of Kalymnos. Kalolimnos reaches an altitude ...

(2), and Pláti (2), as well as several uninhabited islets, has a combined land area of and a total population of 16,179 inhabitants.

Naming

The island is known as ''Càlino'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

and ''Kilimli'' or ''Kelemez'' in Turkish.

Geography

The island is roughly rectangular in shape, with a length of and a width of , and covers an area of . Moreover, on the north side there is a peninsula which stretches in a northwest direction. Kalymnos is mostly mountainous with complicated topography. There are three main chains going from W-NW to E-SE, and a fourth which extends NW the length of the peninsula. The coastline is very irregular, with many sheltered coves. There are some springs, one among them being thermal. The soil is mainly limestone-based, but in the valleys, there is a compact bank of volcanic tuff, the relic of an ancient volcano, located in Vigles, between the villages of Myrties and Kantouni. The island is mainly barren, except for the two fertile valleys of Vathys and

Pothia Pothia or Pothaia or Kalymnos Town (''Greek: Πόθια ή Ποθαία'') is the capital of Kalymnos and the major settlement of the island. It is located in the south of Kalymnos in the edge of a bay. It is very close to Chorio or Chora, the old ...

, where olives, oranges and vines are grown. There is also an ostrich farm in Argos, near the airport. Earthquakes are a frequent occurrence around Kalymnos, a fact that is connected with the volcanoes in surrounding islands. The last earthquake that occurred was the 2017 Aegean Sea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 M_w, which injured two people in Kalymnos.

Archipelago of Kalymnos

Kalymnos is neighbored by the small island of

, which was once part of Kalymnos, but split off after a major earthquake in 554 AD and is now separated from Kalymnos by a channel of water (about 800 m wide).Spiteri, Stephen. ''Fortresses of the Knights'', p. 197. University of Michigan Press, 2001, 382 pages. . Between Kalymnos and Kos lies the islet of

which is inhabited and, with an area of , is one of the largest of the lesser islands of the Dodecanese. Near Pserimos lies the islet of Platí, and about to the NE lies the small islet of

History

Inhabited originally by Carians, 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 ...

Kalymnos depended on Kos, and followed its history. The island's

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

Temple of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

was excavated by the British archaeologist Charles Newton in the nineteenth century; many of the finds he made, including important epigraphic inscriptions, are in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

's collection. In the Middle Ages it was under the influence of the

Byzantine Empire 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 Constantinopl ...

, and during the 13th century it was used by the Venetian Republic as a naval base. In 1310 it came under the control of the

Knights of Rhodes The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

, and later (mainly in 1457 and 1460) was often attacked by the Ottomans, who eventually conquered it in 1522. Unlike Rhodes and Kos, during the Ottoman period, there was no Turkish immigration to Kalymnos. According to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82-1893, the kaza of Kalymnos had a total population of 9,716, consisting of 9,482 Greeks, 64 Muslims and 170 foreign citizens. On May 12, 1912, during the Italo-Turkish War, Kalymnos was occupied by Italian sailors of the Regia Marina. Italy took control of the island along with other islands of the Dodecanese (except Kastellorizo initially) until 1947, when the Dodecanese were finally united with mainland Greece, as part of the modern Greek state.

Religion

The majority of Kalymnians are Orthodox Christians. The island belongs to that small part of Greece that does not depend on the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It ...

, but rather on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople based in Istanbul, Turkey. Kalymnos belongs to the Metropolis of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalaia.

Sponge diving

Kalymnos is known and billed as the "Sponge-divers' island". Sponge diving has long been a common occupation on Kalymnos and sponges were the main source of income of Kalymnians, bringing wealth to the island and making it famous throughout the Mediterranean. The Kalymnians harvested sponges from the sea-bed as close as

or as far as North Africa. Early diving was done without equipment (

free diving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath-h ...

), using a

harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target ani ...

. Sponges are still fished individually, by hand. The Greek sponge trade was centered close in the Dodecanese, featuring Kalymnos until the mid-80s, when a disease hit the eastern Mediterranean destroying a great number of sponges and damaging the sponge-fishing industry as a result. Today, Kalymnos faces a lack of sponges due to the outbreak of a disease that has decimated sponge crops. An annual celebration, Sponge Week, occurs a week after Easter to honour this "Kalymnian gold.” Much has been written, sung and filmed about the legendary courage and recklessness of the sponge divers themselves.

Climbing

Kalymnos is a popular rock climbing location with more than 3000 climbing routes set in the limestone rock of the island and a climate that allows climbing all year around. The island has seen a boom in climbing related tourism since 1997, when the Italian Andrea di Bari started establishing the first routes.

Economy

Being mostly barren (only 18% of the land can be cultivated), agriculture has always played a minor role in the economy of the island, except for the valley of Vathi. The island is famous for its citrus fruits grown in this area. Another industrial activity typical of Kalymnos was the production of painted head scarfs, which were the most original component of the female dress. In recent times, tourism has become important for the island, particularly for rock climbing. In 2006, the island also acquired an airport, the

Kalymnos Island National Airport Kalymnos Island National Airport ( el, Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Καλύμνου) is an airport on the island of Kalymnos in Greece. The airport is located a few kilometers from Pothaia (or Pothia), the capital of Kalymnos. It is ...

in Argos, a village between

and Brosta (the villages which are opposite of Telendos), to better link the island with the mainland. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been much emigration from Kalymnos (the 1925 population was some 24,000 inhabitants as compared to 16,500 in 2012), especially to the United States and Australia. The cities of Darwin and Melbourne in Australia, and

Tarpon Springs Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal poi ...

, Gary, IN, and Campbell, OH in the United States are home to large Greek communities of Kalymnian descent. Kalymnian emigrants and their descendants also form a substantial portion of the bridge painting industry in the USA. Some researchers link this to the sponge diving tradition and way of life as both trades involve dangerous work with long periods away from home.

Notable people

* St Savvas the New of Kalymnos (1862-1947), Orthodox Christian Saint and patron Saint of the island of Kalymnos * Skevos Zervos (1875–1966), professor and surgeon *

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 1 ...

(1952- ), American sportscaster of Kalymnian descent * Mike Bilirakis (1930 - ), American politician of Kalymnian descent * Gus Bilirakis (1963- ), American politician of Kalymnian descent

Gallery

File:Kalymnos, Pothia - panoramio (4).jpg, Statue of Nike (Victory) File:Pothia, Kalymnos.JPG, The seafront of Pothia File:Kastro tou Choriou.JPG, The medieval town-castle of Chorio (or Chora) File:Kalymnos, Pothia - panoramio (1).jpg,

File:Emborios.JPG, Emborios in the northernmost part of the island File:Emborios, Kalymnos. - panoramio.jpg, Emborios File:Kalymnos, Masouri - panoramio.jpg, Masouri File:Kalymnos Pothia 7.jpg,

File:Kalymnos, Pothia - panoramio (2).jpg, Pothia File:Metamorfosi Sotiros Christou Kalymnos Cathedral 2.jpg, Metamorfosi Sotiros Cathedral File:Map of Kalymnos - Bordone Benedetto - 1547.jpg, Map of Kalymnos by Bordone Benedetto (1547) File:Kalymnos Sektor Palace - panoramio.jpg, Panoramic view

References

* {{Authority control Islands of Greece Dodecanese Volcanoes of Greece Municipalities of the South Aegean Populated places in Kalymnos (regional unit) Landforms of Kalymnos (regional unit) Islands of the South Aegean Members of the Delian League Climbing areas of Greece