Dodecanese

Dodecanese prefecture (1955–2010) Νομός Δωδεκανήσου

Basic data (April 2010)
State :	Greece
Administrative region :	South Aegean
Surface:	2,714 km²
Residents:	190,071 (2001)
Population density:	70.03 inhabitants per km²
Capital:	Rhodes
Municipalities (δήμοι):	25th
Rural communities (κοινότητες):	2
ISO-3166-2 code :	GR-81
NUTS 3 code :	EL421
License plate :	PO (Rodos), KX (Kos)
Website :	www.nad.gr

The Dodecanese ( Greek Δωδεκάνησα Dodekanisa ( .. N pl ) or Δωδεκάνησος Dodekanisos ( f. Sg. ); To ancient Greek δώδεκα dodeka , twelve 'and νήσος nesos Island') is a group of islands in the eastern Aegean who since 1948 Greece belongs and was administered as a prefecture from 1955 to 2010 . As a result of the administrative reform in 2010 , the prefecture was abolished on January 1, 2011 and converted into four regional districts, which form part of the total of 13 regional districts of the newly created South Aegean region in Greece . However, apart from the allocation of seats for the regional council, the regional districts have no further political significance.

The name Dodecanese is derived from the Greek words for 'twelve islands' after the dozen main islands. Today around 25 of the islands are inhabited. Geographically , most of the 160 or so Dodecanese islands belong to the southern Sporades archipelago . Although the northernmost islands of the Southern Sporades - Samos , Fourni and Ikaria - did not belong to the Dodecanese prefecture, the geographical name of the Southern Sporades and the political name of the Dodecanese are often mistakenly considered to be synonymous.

The small but historically significant island of Kastellorizo further east just off the Turkish coast belongs to the Dodecanese for historical and political reasons, but geographically not to the Sporades.

Surname

The name Dodecanese appears for the first time in the early Middle Ages, but here refers to Naxos and the twelve Cycladic islands of the subject Aigaion Pelagos, which cannot be identified more precisely, or is synonymous with the subject itself. The southern Sporades belonged to the Kibyrrhaeoten theme from around 730 , which included the southwest coast of Anatolia . The western rulers after the Fourth Crusade used the term Sporades . In the administration of the Ottoman Empire they became part of the Eyâlets , later of the Vilâyets Cezâyir-i Bahr-i Sefîd ( Ottoman جزائر بحر سفيد 'Mediterranean Islands ' , Turkish Akdeniz Adaları ) is sometimes referred to as "Sporades" or "privileged islands".

The first mention of the term in modern times may come from the protest of twelve islands against the abolition of tax and self-government privileges by the government of the Young Turks in 1908. These twelve islands included Ikaria and Kastelorizo, but not Rhodes, Kos and Lipsi. After the occupation by Italy , the term remained popular and was then referred to the twelve main islands (excluding Lipsi) of the Italian area ( i.e. excluding Ikaria and Kastelorizo), which was officially referred to as Isole italiane dell'Egeo "Islands of the Aegean". In Turkish sources, the name is also explained from the twelve-member island councils, from whose midst the island chief was elected. The name Dodecanese (including Kastelorizos) only became official when it belonged to Greece in 1947. However, there are no “classic” twelve islands traditionally associated with the name.

history

Prehistory and early history

The largest island in the Southern Sporades is Rhodes. What is true here is essentially true of the rest of the islands as well.

Rhodes has been inhabited since the Neolithic at the latest , from which the first finds at Trianda , the ancient Ialysos , come. Human remains from the Neolithic were found in the Kalythies Cave . Since the sea level was probably a little lower, the southern Sporades are likely to have been connected to the Anatolian mainland during this time.

However, significant settlements emerged from the early Bronze Age (around 2800–2000 BC). At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC BC settled in Trianda Minoer , who maintained extensive contacts from Crete to Caria and also settled early in the local Miletus . Akrotiri on Thera becomes another important trading post of Minoan Crete. Through the Minoans, Hyperion, the son of Uranus and Gaia, may have entered the world of gods in the Sporades. According to Greek mythology, Hyperion, Krios, Koios and Iapetos held the supreme god Kronos so that Zeus could emasculate him. Since Hyperion was in the east, he became ruler of the east. The archipelago was probably badly affected by the volcanic eruption of Santorini (see Minoan eruption ) and the subsequent ash rain.

In the 14th century BC BC Mycenaeans moved from mainland Greece to the islands, which had been under Minoan influence until then (in particular Trianda / Ialysos on Rhodes), with their numerous graves indicating a Mycenaean colonization. The settlement in Trianda in the north-west of was further settled, and the Mycenaeans may have called it Ialysos from then on. The god Helios becomes the patron god of Rhodes, which perhaps indicates the origin (Hellenes). The union of Hyperion as the epithet of Helios indicates the merging of Minoans with Mycenaeans, so the islands were probably not completely uninhabited. According to myth, the neighboring island of Kos was colonized by settlers from Epidaurus. At least since then, the Sporades saw themselves as part of the Greek world.

The approx. 1400 BC The name Aḫḫijawa ( still Aḫḫija in Madduwatta letter ), which appears for the first time in Hittite texts, is associated with the Mycenaean expansion as far as western Anatolia. However, it is not entirely indisputable what exactly the Hittites understood as Aḫḫijawa, whether an ethnic group or an empire and where its center can be precisely located. The meanwhile strongly prevailing opinion assumes a Mycenaean empire, which also ruled the Cyclades , Crete, the Dedokanes and Miletus in Asia Minor and is assumed to be Thebes or Mycenae as its center . The ancient orientalist Gerd Steiner, however, assumes that Aḫḫijawa was in Asia Minor.

According to legend, the ancient settlement of Ialysus is said to be named after a daughter of Danaos .

From the 11th century BC BC Dorians settled on the Dodecanese. Phoenicians now cultivated more intensive trade contacts with Rhodes, which are said to have given this island its name. Apparently the Phoenicians compared the island with a pomegranate ροδιά (rodia), which the Greek-influenced inhabitants adopted. The other islands kept their pre-Greek names. From this mixture of peoples from approx. Chr. Kameiros , Lindos and Ialysos expanded to major cities and were independent city states , suggesting population growth and prosperity. Rhodes was on a busy sea route and benefited from long-distance trade thanks to its good ports. In Lindos there were also temples of national importance. The foundation of this development was an alliance of these three cities with Kos and the cities of Knidos and Halicarnassus in Caria , the so-called Doric Hexapolis , an alliance of six cities.

In the Bible, on the other hand, the Dodanites (optionally replaced by Rodanites) are listed in 1st Chronicle 1 as one of the 7 descendants of Jawan, together with Kittim (Cyprus), Elisha and Tarsis (cf. Genesis 4). Javan corresponds to the Achijawa in this biblical interpretation. Since the biblical table of peoples seems unreliable, this probably only reflects the Ionian island world.

Antiquity

Around 800 BC The Sporades also become part of the Ionian League. Various colonies were founded by the Rhodian cities at this time, such as Gela in Sicily and Phaselis in Lycia. Around 550 BC They briefly become part of the Lydian Empire, which shortly after falls to the Persians. 546 BC The Persians took over not only Anatolia, but also the western Anatolian island world. The Sporades are now tributary to the governor of Caria. Around 500/499 the outer Sporades therefore also take part in the Ionian uprising, which began with the sea battle at Lade in 494 BC. North of the Sporades is catastrophically lost. 480 BC However, the Greeks regained the upper hand through a victory in the Battle of Salamis. 450 BC The more distant islands also join the newly founded Attic League , which, however, breaks up in the Peloponnesian War .

379/78 BC The Attic League is re-established in the 4th century BC, with Macedonia increasingly assuming supremacy. The more distant islands in particular value the Bund as a protective power against the Persians, and so the Sporades also join the Bund. Thus the Sporades - like the entire Greek island world - become part of Alexander's world empire and, after its collapse, come under the influence of the Diadoch Antigonos Monophthalmos . The unsuccessful siege of Rhodes in 305–304 BC belongs to the confrontation in the fourth Diadoch war. By the Diadochus of Greece Demetrios Poliorketes . He propagated the liberation of the Greek polis in order to bring lucrative long-distance trade under his control. After the siege, the residents erected the Colossus of Rhodes , a representation of Helios , which became famous as a wonder of the world.

Subsequently, Rhodes was also included in the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC. Moved into it, at which Antigonus Monophthalmos is killed. The southern Sporades, like other islands, no longer saw themselves as part of the Alexander Empire and were de facto independent. Presumably the islands formed a protective alliance with Caria, which Seleucus opposed. Seleucus finally left the Diadoch Wars in 281 BC. BC emerged victorious through the battle of Kurupedion and founded the Seleucid Empire, which recognized the independence of the island world as well as Caria. Only around 50 years later, 226 BC. The colossus of Rhodes fell into the sea as a result of an earthquake. This resulted in massive destruction of the polis, which were then completely rebuilt. The same quake severely damaged the Alexandria lighthouse .

In ancient Greece, several islands were politically independent (especially Rhodes , which was still important for a long time , and Kos ).

Modern times

The Order of St. John (now the Order of Malta ) had its seat on Rhodes from 1306 to 1522 and from there directed the defense against the advancing Ottoman Empire .

Under the 450-year Turkish rule, the Dodecanese Islands were obliged to pay an annual tribute of 50,000 piasters, but enjoyed extensive self-government, often evidenced by the sultans, and were able to organize their internal affairs themselves. It was possible to set up an independent administration, schools and medical care. Since 1867, however, these privileges have been continually reduced, and after 1908 the Young Turkish government tried to take the islands' autonomy away and put them on an equal footing with the other provinces. Greece laid claim to the Dodecanese. 1912 (June 4 ^jul. / June 17, 1912 ^greg. ) Declared the archipelago an independent federation of the Aegean (Πολιτεία του Αιγαίου). However, a short time later it was occupied by Italy in the war against Turkey . In the London Treaty of 1915 , the Triple Entente Italy assured the Dodecanese. In the Lausanne Peace Treaty , it actually fell to Italy. Until 1943 the islands were called " Italian Aegean Islands ". The Italians left behind numerous buildings from Patmos to Rhodes , promoted the infrastructure and made Italian a compulsory language.

From November 1943 until the end of the Second World War in May 1945, the islands were occupied by German troops, then until 1947 under British military administration. In accordance with the agreements of the Paris Peace Conference in 1946 , the archipelago spanning the Turkish coast was ceded by Italy to Greece on September 15, 1947 . On March 7, 1948, the formal union with Greece was completed. The Dodecanese forms the south-eastern part of the Greek territory. The capital, administrative and economic center of the prefecture, which was dissolved in 2010 as part of the Kallikratis program , was Rhodes . Since then, the islands have been part of the South Aegean administrative region .

In 1996 there was a territorial conflict with Turkey over the uninhabited rocky islands of Imia north of Kos .

Churches, forts and mosques , patrician houses and buildings in traditional construction, narrow alleys and coasts with many bays are characteristic of all inhabited islands.

Administrative division

From 1997 to 2010 the Dodecanese prefecture was divided into 25 urban and 2 rural municipalities (→ list of municipalities in the Dodecanese (1997-2010) ). With the administrative reform of 2010, these were combined into 15 larger municipalities, with none of the islands being divided into different municipalities. The competencies of the Dodecanese prefecture were transferred to the South Aegean region and the municipalities. In place of the prefecture, four regional districts (gr. Periferiakes enotites ) were established, which have no independent political significance and largely correspond to the areas of the provinces from the period before 1997.

Surname	Greek name	Seat	Area km²	2001 residents	Residents 2010
Rhodes	Δήμος Ρόδου	Rhodes (city)	1,407.94	117.007	115,334
Karpathos	Δήμος Καρπάθου	Karpathos	324.07	6,511	6,565
Kos	Δήμος Κω	Kos (city)	287.19	30,949	30,828
Kalymnos	Δήμος Καλυμνίων	Pothia	134.544	16,441	16,576
Astypalea	Δήμος Αστυπαλαίας	Astypalea	114.077	1,238	1,385
Leros	Δήμος Λέρου	Agia Marina	74.172	8,207	8,172
Kasos	Δήμος Κάσου	Fry	69.464	990	1,013
Symi	Δήμος Σύμης	Symi	65.754	2,606	2,594
Tilos	Δήμος Τήλος	Megalo Chorio (Tilos)	64.525	255	521
Nisyros	Δήμος Νισύρου	Mandraki	50.055	948	928
Patmos	Δήμος Πάτμου	Patmos	45.039	3,044	3,053
Chalki	Δήμος Χάλκη	Chalki	37.043	313	295
Lipsi	Δήμος Λειψών	Lipsi	17.350	698	687
Megisti	Δήμος Μεγίστης	Kastelorizo (Megisti)	11.978	430	403
Agathonisi	Δήμος Αγαθονησίου	Megalo Chorio	14,500	158	152

Web links

Commons : Dodecanese - collection of images

Dodecanese / private page (German)

Individual evidence

↑ The population figures come from a brochure of the Greek Ministry of the Interior from May 2010 on the occasion of the administrative reform under the 'Kallikratis Law': Elliniki Dimokratia, Ypourgeio Esoterikon, Apokendrosis ke Ilektronikis Diakyvernisis: "Programma Kallikratis", Systasi, syngrotisi Dimon, Periferion ke Apikokendromenon ti Nea Architektoniki tis Aftodiikisis ke tis Apokendromenis Diikisis, Athens 2010.

↑ 2001 census, source: National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ), statistics.gr ( Memento of April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ; PDF; 875 kB)

^ Greek government gazette of April 23, 1955 (PDF; 1.3 MB; Greek)

↑ Michael D. Volonakis: The Island of Roses And Her Eleven Sisters or, The Dodecanese. Macmillan, London 1922, pp. 46-52; Text archive - Internet Archive

↑ Virginia Aloi: Rodi: un posto al sole? L'identità territoriale dell'isola sotto i governatorati civili di Mario Lago e Cesare De Vecchi (1923–1940). Rome 2008, p. 57 (online)

↑ Portrait of the Dodecanese (Italian)

↑ Special supplement of the magazine Kathemerini on the Italian rule over the Dodecanese, 1997, kathimerini.gr ( Memento of November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ; PDF; 4 MB)

↑ Explanations on a Turkish page about Kos (Turkish)

↑ National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ) according to the census, 2001 (PDF; 1 MB) p. 73 ff.

↑ The population figures come from a brochure of the Greek Ministry of the Interior from May 2010 on the occasion of the administrative reform under the 'Kallikratis Law': Elliniki Dimokratia, Ypourgeio Esoterikon, Apokendrosis ke Ilektronikis Diakyvernisis: "Programma Kallikratis," Systasi, syngrotisi Dimon, Periferion ke Apikokendromenon ti Nea Architektoniki tis Aftodiikisis ke tis Apokendromenis Diikisis . Athens 2010.

36.3637986 27.1362305Coordinates: 36 ° 22 ′ N , 27 ° 8 ′ E