Elafonisi (Crete)
| Elafonisi | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Libyan sea | |
| Archipelago | Crete | |
| Geographical location | 35 ° 16 '9 " N , 23 ° 31' 57" E | |
|
||
| length | 1.5 km | |
| width | 500 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
 |
||
Elafonisi ( Greek Ελαφονήσι ( n. Sg. ), Also Ελαφόνισος Elafonisos and Elafonissi , = " Deer Island ") is a small island in the southwest of the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete .
location
It is located in the municipality of Kissamos in the Chania regional district , about 15 kilometers southwest of Elos , the main town in one of the three municipal districts of Kissamos.
A single paved road leads to Elafonisi, which branches off the main road from Kissamos at Kefali towards Vathi to the south. Five kilometers after passing the Chrysoskalitissa monastery from the 17th century, whose white building stands on a rock directly by the sea, you reach an unpaved parking lot in front of the beach.
In calm weather with no waves, Elafonísi is connected to the main island of Crete by a strip of sand. The sandy beach is colored pink by tiny shell particles. The area behind the beach is lined with tamarisk trees.
description
After wading through the shallow water of a sandbank, you reach the actual island of Elafonisi. It extends an average of 330 meters wide and 1.5 kilometers in length southwest into the open sea. The tip of the island forms a hill on which there is a lighthouse. The small Koundourakis Chapel from the 1970s stands next to it on the Northwest Cape. The rocky hill can only be reached on this side via a beaten path.
At the south-western tip there is a large wooden cross in memory of a shipwreck in 1907. Between the lighthouse and the cross there is still a monument in the form of a miniature church made of rock, as can be seen in a similar form, called Proskinitiria, on the roadsides all over Crete.
The northwest coast of Elafonisi is very rocky and rugged. On the south-east coast, on the other hand, many small sea basins with sandy beaches have formed between dark rock. Flat sand dunes with low vegetation extend between both sides of the island. The dunes should not be entered as Elafonisi is a nature reserve .
The beach on Crete in front of the island of Elafonisi and the beaches of the island opposite Crete are the destination of many tourists every year, as this place is recommended in many travel guides and by many tour operators. Excursion boats run regularly from Paleochora , landing northeast of Elafonisi.
history
On April 24th in 1824, an Easter Sunday, several hundred Greeks are said to have been killed by Ottoman troops on Elafonisi. 40 armed Greek men had fled to the island with women, children and the elderly before the advancing troops. However, the Ottomans found the flat ford to the island from their camp on the beach and discovered the fugitive Greeks. According to various sources, there were between 600 and 850 people, most of whom were killed and the survivors sold into slavery in Egypt . A memorial plaque commemorates this event on the highest point of the small island. To commemorate this, the “Lafonisia”, sporting competitions, are held every year in August.
On February 22, 1907, the passenger steamer Imperatrix of Österreichischer Lloyd sank off the west coast of the island . In the accident as a result of strong north-westerly winds, 38 people were killed who tried to reach the shore in a lifeboat. They were buried on Elafonisi. The Imperatrix still lies on the seabed in front of the island's cliffs. The accident caused a lighthouse to be built on Elafonisi, which was destroyed by the German occupation forces in World War II, but was later rebuilt.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the communities Kissamos, Mythymna and Inachorio ( Memento of the original of July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Greek); Article in Ta Nea from August 17, 2007 ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Greek); Alan Hall: Walking in Western Crete: 45 walks in Kissamos and Selinos , p.200 (English); Erling Klingberg Jensen: Nysgerrighed - with livs røde tråd Copenhagen 2009; P.195 (Danish)
- ↑ Website of the communities Kissamos, Mythymna and Inachorio ( Memento of the original of July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Greek)
- ↑ Imperatrix - The Wreck ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Kissamoslive (clubs.pathfinder.gr) ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Greek)
