Pasas or Panagia ( el, Πασάς, Παναγιά) is a small Greek island of the Oinousses complex 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 ...

, located east of

Oinousses Oinousses ( el, Οινούσσες, alternative forms: ''Aignousa'' (Αιγνούσα) or ''Egnousa'' (Εγνούσα)) is a barren cluster of 1 larger and 8 smaller islands some off the north-east coast of the Greek island of Chios and west of ...

, the largest island of the complex. Administratively, Pasas and the rest of the islands form the Oinousses municipality within the Chios regional unit. With an area of 2.448 km², it is the second largest island of the complex. According to 2011 census, the island is uninhabited, although a guard of lighthouse lives often there and a military garrison is permanently stationed on it. The most notable building on the island is the old lighthouse which was built in 1863 and has a height of 8.5 meters. Since 1995, the lighthouse has been converted to solar power and it keeps a permanent staff.

Name

The island's name Pasas derives from the Ottoman-era term

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...

, while Panagia derives from the Greek name for

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

European migrant crisis

During the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

, Pasas has been in the frontline of Greek islands that have witnessed the arrival of immigrants from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Infrastructure

The island of Pasas features a lighthouse which from 1995 has been converted to solar power, a military building with a permanent army garrison, and a heliport. The island recently got connected to the Greek mains electricity network and

through an underwater cable.

References

Landforms of Chios (regional unit) Islands of the North Aegean Uninhabited islands of Greece {{NorthAegean-geo-stub