Strofades (; also called Strofadia, , or Stromphides, ) is a group of two 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 ...

in the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

. They lie about south-southeast of the island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

. Administratively they are part of the

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. The larger island, Stamfani, has an old fortress/monastery built in 1241. The smaller is Arpia. Both are sparsely vegetated and rocky.

Birds

There is a strong avian presence on the islands, and hunting is prohibited. Species include Cory's shearwater (''Calonectris diomedea'') and migratory

passerines A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

. There is also a large spring migration of turtle doves (''Streptopelia turtur''). The islands have been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because they support a breeding population of some 2,000-3,000 pairs of

Scopoli's shearwater Scopoli's shearwater (''Calonectris diomedea'') is a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It breeds on rocky islands and on steep coasts in the Mediterranean but outside the breeding season it forages in the Atlantic. It is brownish grey ...

Mythology

As the Strophades, they were identified as the dwelling-place of the

Harpies In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird mythical creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions Harpies were generally depicted ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

states that the

Harpy In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird mythical creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions Harpies were generally depict ...

drove the Trojans from the Strophades (

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

''iii, 209 passim.''). The islands are mentioned in ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

'' (see List of cultural references in The Divine Comedy) and in passing in Chapter 10 of Rabelais' Fifth Book of '' Pantagruel''. According to legend, the islands' name, meaning "Islands of Turning," refers to Zetes and Calaïs, sons of Boreas, who voyaged with the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

. Zetes and Calaïs rescued

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; ), was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178, 237; Scholia ''ad eund'' 2.1 ...

from the Harpies. They succeeded in driving the monsters away but did not kill them, as a request from the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who promised that Phineas would not be bothered by the Harpies again. They were ''turned back'' at the Strophades by Iris while continuing their pursuit of the creatures. It is a popular etymology based on word similarities. Stormy winds prevailed on the island at times, in the form of a tornado, which the ancients used to identify with the phrase "στροφάδες άελλαι". This is confirmed by the names of the two main winds, the north (Ziti) and the south (Kalai).

History

The monastery of the Blessed Mother of God on Stamfani island, was built in 1241 at the request of Princess Irene Laskarina (daughter of the

Nicaean Emperor The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse (1967), p. 55: "There in ...

Theodore I) who survived on the island after a shipwreck. The monastery is built similarly to a fortress and survived raids from pirates through the centuries. In the past many monks lived in the monastery, among them Dionysios of Zakynthos (patron saint of

, who died in 1622). In 1717, the Ottomans attacked the fortress, a Deacon supposedly killed 18 Turks (the parapets had cannons on them, two of which are still in existence at the gate today). The last monk to inhabit the monastery was Father Grigorios, who settled there in 1976. The only other inhabitant of the island at the time was the lighthouse keeper, but in 1985 the lighthouse became automated, leaving him alone. On the 18th of November 1997, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the island, causing severe damage to the historic monastery. This was the only time that Grigorios fled the island for several days, though he returned to attempt to rebuild. Father Grigorios was forced to leave the island due to ill health in 2014 and retired to his home village of Agalas, Zakynthos, where he died in 2017. There is a modern sculpture monument at the monastery, which commemorates the many monks who were killed in Turkish raids. Currently, the monastery buildings are in a state of some disrepair, mainly due to earthquake damage. The main tower is in a precarious state.
ΕΧΗΙΒΙΤΙΟΝ: Robert McCabe - Katerina Lymperopoulou: ‘’The Last Monk of Strofades’’ - YouTube, May 13, 2020

References

Κουτελάκης Χαρ., Η «Οδύσσεια» του Ομήρου χωρίς Λαιστρυγόνες και τέρατα. Μια νέα προσέγγιση για την ανθρωπογεωγραφία της Μεσογείου, Αθήνα 30 Δεκ. 2019, σελ. 235-236. Κουτελάκης Χαρ., Παναγιά «Η Πάντων Χαρά» των Στροφάδων. Ένα εικονογραφικό παράλληλο στην Πάτμο, ΔωδΧρον. ΙΕ΄ (1993) 67-79.

External links

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Important Bird areas of Greece
{{Authority control Uninhabited islands of Greece Islands of the Ionian Islands (region) Islands of Greece Important Bird Areas of Greece Important Bird Areas of Mediterranean islands Landforms of Zakynthos