Sporades Islands

Sporades islands trips are small-group days on Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros. This chain sits in the north-western Aegean, north-east of Euboea. The sections below begin with the five Sporades groups, Skiathos town and its castle. Next come the Evangelistria Monastery and the writer Papadiamantis. They then turn to Skopelos, the myth of Staphylus, Alonnisos, Skyros and four short answers. Related pages cover the best Greek islands, Pelion tours and national parks in Greece. Wider trips appear under Greece tours.

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Which are the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands of the Sporades regional unit are Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos, each its own municipality. Each regional unit forms one part of a larger Greek region. A municipality is a smaller local council area within that district. The unit holds three municipalities in all.

Modern geography spreads the name over five different groups, not only the Sporades islands of the north. An island group is a cluster of islands that share one name. The Southern Sporades are the same islands as the Dodecanese. The word Dodecanese is Greek for twelve islands. Samos and Ikaria are sometimes added to that southern group.

Closer to Asia Minor sit the Eastern Sporades. Asia Minor is the historic label for the Anatolian peninsula. Water surrounds a peninsula on three of its sides. Lesbos and Chios belong to this eastern group. The Thracian Sporades are Thasos, Samothrace, Imbros, Lemnos and Agios Efstratios. Thrace is a historic region on the northern Aegean shore.

Earlier, three of the Sporades islands sat in the province of Skopelos, part of the Magnesia Prefecture. A province was a smaller district inside a prefecture. A prefecture was a larger district of Greece. The territory of that province matched the present Sporades regional unit. Territory means the land under one authority.

• Province: The old province of Skopelos was abolished in 2006 and no longer exists.
• Conquest: The Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa took Skiathos and the rest of the Northern Sporades in 1538.
• Seals: The Northern Sporades rank among the prime breeding grounds of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal.

Skyros completes the list of the main Sporades islands. Skyros and the uninhabited islets in its area sit in the Euboea regional unit. Their wider administrative region is Central Greece. An administrative region is a top-level district of the Greek state.

What place does Skiathos hold among the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands include Skiathos, an island whose shore is cut into inlets, capes and peninsulas. An inlet is a narrow arm of sea reaching into the land. Capes are headlands, high points of land jutting into open water.

Skiathos entered the Delian League once the Persian Wars had ended. The Persian Wars were conflicts between the Persian Empire and Greek cities. Greek city-states banded together in the Delian League. In 200 BC, Philip V of Macedon destroyed the original city of the island. Macedon, his realm, lay on the northern edge of Greece.

In the 1270s, Byzantine control returned to Skiathos, one of the Sporades islands. The term Byzantine means the eastern Roman state, run from Constantinople. Constantinople is the city now called Istanbul. The city fell in 1453, and Skiathos then passed to the Republic of Venice. That republic was a sea power based in Venice, in Italy.

In the Sporades islands, the main town of Skiathos held 4,883 people in 2011, by the census. A census is a national headcount of residents. The figure covers the town alone, not the whole island. A town is a settlement larger than a village, with its own shops and offices.

• Airport: The airport lies in the north-east, beside a lagoon and a low isthmus, a narrow land bridge.
• Spotters: Plane spotters travel to the airport to watch aircraft at close range.
• Writer: Zisis Oikonomou, a poet and prose writer, ranks among the notable residents of the island.

Within the Sporades islands, the Municipality of Skiathos covers an area of 49.898 square kilometres. Each square kilometre equals a block of ground measuring one kilometre by one kilometre. A kilometre equals one thousand metres. Area measures the size of a flat surface.

Which dates and buildings mark Skiathos town in the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands count Skiathos town as the main settlement of Skiathos, and its port shelters small boats. A port is a harbour with quays, where boats moor, load and unload. Mooring means fastening a boat with ropes to a fixed point.

Two brothers, Geremia and Andrea Ghisi, seized the island around the town in 1207. To seize means to take by force. In 1837, the Church of Panaghia Limnia went up in the town. Panaghia, meaning All-Holy, is a name Greeks give to the mother of Jesus. Christians gather in a church to pray.

The Papadiamantis House-Museum stands in the town as a site of interest. A house-museum is a former home now open as a museum. It bears the name of writer Alexandros Papadiamantis. Skiathos Airport, the airfield of this corner of the Sporades islands, was built in 1984. An airfield is ground set aside for planes to land and depart.

Within the Sporades islands, a coast road was laid from Skiathos town to Koukounaries. A coast road is a road that follows the shore. The name Koukounaries is Greek for stone pines. A stone pine is a pine tree with a broad, umbrella-shaped crown. The crown means the upper mass of branches and leaves.

• Distance: Koukounaries lies 16 kilometres south-west of the main town of Skiathos.
• Old name: In earlier times, the place now called Koukounaries was known as Maratha.
• Beach: The beach at Koukounaries also goes by Chrysi Ammos, Greek for golden sand.

Skiathos town in the Sporades islands has a school, a lyceum and a gymnasium. It also has churches, banks, a post office and a square. In Greece, a gymnasium is a lower secondary school. A lyceum is the upper secondary school that follows it.

What story does Skiathos Castle tell about the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands keep Skiathos Castle, called Kastro for short. It was the main settlement of Skiathos from the mid-14th century until 1829. Kastro is simply the Greek word for castle. Settlements are the places where communities build their homes.

Islanders founded the castle around 1360, fleeing raids by Turkish pirates on their older town. A pirate is a robber who works at sea. Venetian rule later proved harsh. In 1518 it led to a revolt against Vicenzo Baffo, the local governor. A governor is the officer who rules a territory for a far-off state.

In 1538 the Ottoman admiral Barbarossa laid siege to the castle. During a siege, attackers encircle a fort and wait for its surrender. The islanders let the Ottomans in, hoping for lenient treatment. Lenient means mild and forgiving. In 1660, Kastro in the Sporades islands fell to Francesco Morosini, a Venetian commander.

During the Greek War of Independence, rebels under Tsamis Karatasos seized the castle on 14 July 1826. They also looted it. To loot means to steal goods by force, in war or disorder. The Greek War of Independence was the uprising that freed Greece, the Sporades islands included, from Ottoman rule.

• Cliffs: Steep sea cliffs guard the castle on three sides of its rocky point.
• Gate: Its single narrow gate had a wooden drawbridge and a cauldron of boiling oil.
• Homes: Between 500 and 1,500 people once lived inside, in tightly packed houses.

Kastro, a walled village of the Sporades islands, held 20 churches inside its walls. They were grouped into four parishes. A parish is a local church district served by its own clergy. Clergy are priests and other church officials.

Which history does the Evangelistria Monastery keep in the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands hold the Evangelistria Monastery, set on a slope roughly 4 km north of Skiathos town. Monks share a monastery as their home, place of prayer and workplace. The name Evangelistria refers to the Annunciation, when an angel brought news to Mary.

Among its founders was Gregorios Hatzistamatis, a local monk of the Sporades islands. His father had left him land on Skiathos as an inheritance. An inheritance is property passed on after its owner dies. Part of the monastery now lies in ruins. Its church and living quarters, however, have been restored.

In 1807, fighters for Greek freedom met here and swore an oath on a newly designed flag. The design placed a white cross on a field of sky blue. In flag making, the field is the background colour. Its cloth came off a loom inside the monastery itself. A loom is a frame that weaves threads into cloth.

The catholicon, or main church, of this monastery in the Sporades islands follows the cross-in-square plan. Cross-in-square means a square church whose inner layout forms a cross. It has three aisles and three domes. An aisle is a long walkway set between rows of columns. Each dome is a curved roof in the form of a half sphere.

• Fighters: Thymios Vlachavas and Nikotsaras were among the fighters who met at the monastery.
• Museum: Rare 17th-century books and handwritten manuscripts fill part of the monastery museum.
• Wine: Monks grow vines for a red Muscat honouring Father Alypos, the fourth abbot, or head monk.

Four resident monks serve this monastery of the Sporades islands today. Three more monks tied to it live elsewhere. A resident monk lives inside the monastery all year. A monk is a man who has taken vows, or solemn promises, to God.

How did Alexandros Papadiamantis bring the Sporades islands into Greek prose?

The Sporades islands appear in tales by Alexandros Papadiamantis, who left more than 200 novels, novellas and stories. A novella is a work of fiction longer than a story but shorter than a novel. Prose is ordinary written language, as opposed to verse.

Papadiamantis used methods of writing that Greek readers of his day had never met. He also shaped an aesthetic mould that sat closer to Greek reality. Aesthetic means to do with beauty and artistic taste. A mould, here, is a pattern or model for a work. Reality means life as it truly is.

In 1903, Papadiamantis wrote The Murderess, a social novel. A social novel examines the problems of a society through its characters. It first appeared in instalments in a magazine, from January to June 1903. An instalment is one part of a longer work, printed at a time. A magazine is a regular printed paper of articles.

Scholars have examined this novel of the Sporades islands through both philology and criminology. Philology examines how words behave in old written texts. Criminology is the study of crime, criminals and their minds. Scholars are experts who research a subject at length. A field of study is one branch of learning.

• Film: The novel from the Sporades islands became a film in 2023, directed by Eva Nathena.
• Dream on the Wave: Of his works, this one from 1900 stands out, beside The Murderess.
• Fey Folk: This work from 1892 carries the subtitle A Tale from Skiathos.

Papadiamantis, the storyteller of the Sporades islands, ranks among the best-loved Greek prose writers. A prose writer writes stories and essays rather than poems. Best-loved means held in the warmest affection by readers. Readers are the people who take up and enjoy books.

What does Skopelos add to a journey through the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands set Skopelos between two inhabited neighbours, Skiathos to the west and Alonnisos to the east. Inhabited means that people live there all through the year. A neighbour here is the closest island in that direction.

In ancient times, Panormus served as a harbour of the Sporades islands, on Skopelos. A harbour gives ships calm, protected water in which to anchor. Around 361 BCE, Alexander of Pherae laid siege to Peparethus and seized Panormus. Peparethus was the ancient name of Skopelos and its main town. BCE means before the Common Era.

Under the Republic of Venice, from 1456 to 1538, the island went by the name Scopelo. Scopelo is the Italian form of Skopelos. Albanians also came to live on the island. Over time they merged into the Greek population. To merge means to blend into a larger group. Albanians are people from Albania, a country north-west of Greece.

The London Protocol of 3 February 1830 confirmed Greek rule over Skopelos, one of the Sporades islands. It made the island part of the First Hellenic Republic. A protocol is a formal agreement between states. Hellenic means Greek. In a republic, elected leaders rather than a monarch head the state.

• Sailors: In 1911, almost every householder on Skopelos and Skiathos owned, shared or skippered a sailing ship.
• War ships: Skopelos sent a large number of ships to the Greek War of Independence.
• Olives: On Skopelos, the main olive is the Pelion type, larger and rounder than the Kalamata.

On Skopelos, in the Sporades islands, the local cheese pie takes the shape of a deep-fried spiral. The phyllo is stuffed with cheese before frying. Phyllo is a pastry rolled out into paper-thin sheets. Deep-fried means cooked while fully under hot oil.

Which myth ties Staphylus to the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands enter Greek myth through Staphylus, a general of Rhadamanthys. In the story, he founded the colony of Peparethos on Skopelos. Colonies are towns started by people arriving from another land. A general is a high commander of an army.

One account lists Oenopion, Thoas and Peparethus among the brothers of Staphylus. Peparethus is also the ancient name of Skopelos, in the Sporades islands. Another source gives a different trio: Maron, Thoas and Eunous. A source here is an old written text that records the myth. Myths are old tales, passed down through generations, about gods and heroes.

Myth also places Staphylus, founder figure of the Sporades islands, among the Argonauts with his brother Phanus. The Argonauts were a crew of heroes in Greek myth who sailed in search of the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece came from a wondrous ram with golden wool. A hero, in myth, is a person of great courage and strength.

Staphylus married Chrysothemis, and she bore him three daughters. Their names were Rhoeo, Parthenos and Molpadia. Molpadia also carries the name Hemithea. In the myth, Rhoeo was a lover of the god Apollo. Apollo ruled over music, light and prophecy in Greek belief. Prophecy means telling of future events.

• Grandson: Hemithea became the mother of Basileus, with Lyrcus as his father.
• Oracle: Lyrcus had travelled to the oracle at Didyma, a place where a god was consulted.
• Vines: The Etymologicum Magnum, a 12th-century word book, credits Staphylus with starting viticulture, or vine growing.

In the myth, Staphylus made his home on Naxos rather than in the Sporades islands. Naxos is a large island in the Cyclades group of the Aegean Sea. The Cyclades are the islands that ring the sacred isle of Delos.

How does Alonnisos fit into the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands use the name Alonnisos three ways: an island, a village on it and its municipality. A municipality is a local council district. A village is a small country community. Country here means away from the towns.

Ancient writers tell of a fleet of Attalus and the Rhodians. It passed Scyrus on its way to Icus. Icus was the ancient name of Alonnisos, and Scyrus was Skyros. Rhodians are people from the island of Rhodes. The writer Phanodemus produced an account of the island. An account is a written report of places and events.

Farming on Alonnisos, one of the Sporades islands, is mainly mixed farming and vineyards. In mixed farming, one farm raises both crops and animals. Vineyards are fields set out with rows of grapevines. Grapevines are climbing plants that bear grapes for eating or wine. A crop is a plant grown in quantity for food.

Steni Vala has the second-largest population of any village on Alonnisos in the Sporades islands. Population is the count of residents. It lies on the east coast, about 11 kilometres north of Patitiri. Patitiri is a harbour settlement on the same island. A coast is the strip where land meets the sea.

• Bay: A bay on the island’s southern tip also carries the name Alonnisos.
• Kostis: In July 2021 Kostis, a monk seal seen as the island’s mascot, was killed.
• Small islands: In 2021 only 33 residents of the municipality lived on its other islands.

The island of Alonnisos spreads over 64 square kilometres of land in the Sporades islands. Land area leaves out the surrounding waters. A square kilometre equals one million square metres. The figure covers the main island alone, without its islets.

What past does Skyros keep among the Sporades islands?

The Sporades islands include Skyros, a name that older historical texts give in the Latin form Scyros. Latin was the tongue of the Romans. A Latin form is a spelling adapted to Latin. Historical texts are writings about past events.

After Cimon’s conquest, settlers from Athens moved to Skyros in the Sporades islands. The island then joined the Athenian Empire. Cimon was an Athenian general. Settlers are newcomers who make homes in a fresh territory. The Athenian Empire was the group of cities and islands that Athens controlled in classical times.

On 27 October 1918, the Spanish flu broke out on Skyros, in the Sporades islands. Influenza, or flu, is an infection of the nose, throat and lungs. The Spanish flu was a pandemic, an outbreak of disease across countries. Within less than 30 days, about one third of the islanders died.

The island then had 3,200 people. Almost 2,000 caught the disease, and 1,000 died. Konstantinos Faltaits wrote a rare chronicle of the disaster, printed in 1919. A chronicle sets down events in time order. A rare book is one with only a small number of copies. Its Greek title means The flu in Skyros.

• Burial: Patrick Shaw-Stewart stood among those present when the English poet Rupert Brooke was buried on Skyros.
• Tomb: Brooke’s mother commissioned the present tomb, which was placed after the First World War.
• Poem: The tomb carries an inscription of The Soldier, a poem by Brooke.

In the Sporades islands, the Archaeological Museum of Skyros was founded in 1963. Its official opening followed ten years later, in 1973. Archaeology examines objects and remains to learn about earlier peoples. A museum houses collections and puts them on display.

What do travellers ask about Sporades islands, and what are the answers?

Sporades islands raise four short questions about local names. Agnontas is a harbour village on Skopelos. Diocles was a historian from ancient Peparethos, the old Skopelos. Peristera and the Adelfoi are small islands of the Alonnisos group. A historian is a writer of history.

In the Sporades islands, how did the harbour of Agnontas on Skopelos get its name?

Agnontas is a beach village on Skopelos with a small port. Its name honours Hagnon of Peparethus, the first Olympic winner from the Aegean Islands. His fellow islanders named the harbour after him. An Olympic winner was a victor at the ancient games held at Olympia. A victor is the person who wins.

Which historian from ancient Peparethos links the Sporades islands to early Rome?

Diocles of Peparethus wrote histories of Persia and Rome, though his works are now lost. Quintus Fabius Pictor and Plutarch both acknowledged a debt to him for early Roman history. Athenaeus reports that Diocles drank cold water until the day he died. Plutarch was a Greek writer of lives of famous men.

What does the name Peristera mean among the Sporades islands?

Peristera is the feminine form of the Greek word for pigeon. Feminine means the form of a word used for female nouns. Locally the island is called Xero, which means dry. In antiquity, its name was Eudemia. Antiquity means the ancient past. In 2011, 30 people lived on Peristera all year.

Where do the Adelfoi Islets lie within the Sporades islands?

The Adelfoi Islets are two small Greek islands in the Sporades. Adelfoi is the Greek word for brothers. Islets are islands of very small size. They lie about 10 kilometres east-southeast of Alonnisos itself. East-southeast is the direction halfway between east and south-east. The 2001 census counted eleven people living there.