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, tow ...
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 with ...
. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality
Lefkada, 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 and K ...
'' means
reed in
Greek 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''.
The comb ...
.
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 Episkopi ( el, Επισκοπή), or Latinised forms Episcopia or Piscopia, may refer to the following places:
;Cyprus:
* Episkopi Bay, on the southeast coast
* Episkopi, Limassol, a village on Episkopi Bay
* Episkopi Cantonment, a British military ...
(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 m ...
. 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 described ...
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 a ...
system, now has all the conveniences of the mainland. The nearest lyceum (middle school) and gymnasium (secondary school) are in
Aetolia-Acarnania 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 conserv ...
, the largest marine protected area in Greece.
Population
Notable people
*
Helen Maroulis
See also
*
List of settlements in the Lefkada regional unit
*
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)