Fournoi Korseon (), more commonly simplified as Fournoi (), anciently known as Corsiae or Korsiai (), Corseae or Korseai (Κορσεαί), Corsia or Korsia (Κορσία), and Corassiae (Κορασσίαι), form a complex or

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of small

Greek islands Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by ...

that lie between

Ikaria Ikaria, also spelled Icaria (; ), is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. Administratively, Ikaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria (regional unit), Ikaria regional unit, ...

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

and

Patmos Patmos (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where, according to Christian belief, John of Patmos received the vision found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. ...

in Ikaria regional unit,

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 ...

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 ...

. The two largest islands of the complex, the main isle of Fournoi and the isle of

Thymaina Thymaina () is a small Greek island in the Ikaria regional unit, in the eastern Aegean Sea. Thymaina is located just west of Fournoi Korseon and is administratively a part of its municipality. Its name is said to be derived from the thyme Thy ...

, are inhabited, as is

Agios Minas Island Agios Minas () is a Greek island in Fournoi Korseon cluster. It is located east of Fournoi. Agios Minas is the third largest island of the cluster with an area of 2.5 km2. On the island, only a few shepherds live occasionally. The population ...

to the east. The municipality has an area of 45.247 km². On the main isle Fournoi (town) is the largest settlement and then Chrysomilia in the north the second largest (and third largest overall, after Thymaina). Fournoi (town) proper is the main ferry harbour, with ferries also landing on Thymaina. Many of the inhabitants are fishermen, although during the summer season the population is also occupied in tourist activities, mostly room rentals and catering. On the main island are a number of beaches such as Vlychada, Vitsilia, Petrokopio, Elidaki, and Bali. The archipelago is famous for being a hub of the

Ancient World Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

, which resulted in 53 shipwrecks found in the area until 2017. Another five shipwrecks were found in 2018, raising the total number to 58. Those wrecks date back from 4th century BC to 19th century AD.

Climate

The climate is arid and hot in the summer. Winters are rather mild with average rainfall but constant strong archipelagic winds prevail.

Transportation

Transportation is often interrupted during the winter period (mostly from November to April) due to bad weather, mainly strong winds. The rest of the year regular links with the islands of Ikaria and Samos (by boat only) is available. Since 2008 a ferry coming from Samos reaches

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

stopping also in

Icaria Ikaria, also spelled Icaria (; ), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. Administratively, Ikaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria regional unit, which is part of the North Ae ...

and

Paros Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. Part of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos (island), Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Co ...

Archaeology

Archaeologist discovered a ship graveyard off the coast of the Fourni Islands, with 53 ships. It contains wrecks dating from the 4th century BC through the 19th century AD. In 2018, archaeologists discovered five additional vessels, bringing the total number of ships found there to 58. The newly discovered ships rest in shallow waters and show signs of damage from fishing nets and plunderers, the archaeological team also found cargoes of

amphoras An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

that carried wine, oil, and other foods, and a load of terracotta lamps dating to the 2nd century AD. The lamps were made in

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

ian workshops, and bear the names of the artisans who crafted them, Octavius and Lucius.Five Shipwrecks Found Near Greece’s Fourni Islands
/ref>

Settlements and islands

The main island of Fournoi has a population of 1,149 (), 86 percent of the municipality's population. The only other inhabited islands are

Agios Minas Agios Minas () is a former municipality on the island of Chios, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chios, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located on the central east coast of the isla ...

and

References

External links

Official website
*http://www.fourni.com/ {{Authority control Populated places in Ikaria (regional unit) Municipalities of the North Aegean Archipelagoes of Greece Landforms of Ikaria (regional unit) Islands of the North Aegean