Imeri Gramvousa
| Imeri Gramvousa | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Mediterranean Sea | |
| Archipelago | Crete | |
| Geographical location | 35 ° 36 '39 " N , 23 ° 34' 46" E | |
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| length | 1.26 km | |
| width | 1.16 km | |
| surface | 72.2 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 124 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Imeri Gramvousa ( Greek Ήμερη Γραμβούσα ( f. Sg. ), Mese in ancient times ) is a rocky island off the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete . In contrast to the 2.2 kilometers northeast of the island of Agria Gramvousa ( Άγρια Γραμβούσα ), it bears the addition Imeri , which means "tame". Imeri Gramvousa is located in the municipality of Kissamos in the regional district of Chania , about 15 kilometers northwest of the municipality capital, the small town of Kissamos.
location
The island of Imeri Gramvousa is just over a kilometer off the west coast of the Gramvousa peninsula in the far northwest of Crete. The origin of the name Gramvousa is not exactly known. The most likely derivation from the Venetian name Capo Buso , translated "Cape with opening", for Cape Vouxa ( Άκρα Βούξα ) on the northern tip of the peninsula. It is also called Trypiti , "with a hole", and the locals still pronounce Gramvousa with "b", that is, Grambousa , as in the former Venetian name Buso .
About 1.5 kilometers south of Imeri Gramvousa is Cape Tigani ( Ακρωτήρι Τηγάνι , "pan cape ") with the lagoon of Balos ( Μπάλος ), a tourist attraction in the nature of Western Crete. In the summer months, excursion boats run daily from Kissamos to the island and the lagoon. On Imeri Gramvousa you can visit the ruins of a Venetian fortress . It was the westernmost defensive position of the Republic of Venice against attacks on the island of Crete, which belonged to Venice in the late Middle Ages , and remained in Venetian hands for 23 years after the conquest of Crete by the Ottoman Empire in 1669.
description
Imeri Gramvousa has an area of 72.2 hectares . The island is over 1200 meters long and 1100 meters wide. The highest point at 124 meters is in the southwest. On it is the former Venetian fortress Garabusa or Grabusa , in Greek Kastro Gramvousas ( Κάστρο Γραμβούσας ). With the exception of the south coast, there are cliffs around the island. In the middle of Imeri Gramvousa there is a 40 to 50 meter high plain, which in some places breaks off to the sea. These are most pronounced on the two small bays on the south side, which makes access to the island easier.
On the west side of the western small bay, south of the fortress ruins, is the jetty for the excursion boats from Kissamos. The bay is partially surrounded by a beach, behind which there are some small buildings in the midst of a multitude of agaves , but they are not permanently inhabited. Between the two bays on the south coast lies a rusting shipwreck, Dimitrios P , stranded there in January 1968 . Next to the buildings, a steep path leads up to the fortress. It ends at the entrance to the fortress on its northeast side. The fortress has the shape of a triangle with two sides facing the coast in the west and south.
While the fortress walls on the south side, which is around 175 meters long and the north-east side, which measures around 325 meters, are still well preserved, there is no wall on the steep drop to the sea on the 285-meter-long west side. The entrance area with the gatehouse in the center of the northeast side is best preserved. On the access path to the entrance gate there are relics of a stone lion figure, the Venetian lion of San Marco , and an equally stone heraldic shield. There are hardly any remains of buildings inside the fortress. The former fortress chapel is the only building with a preserved roof, a barrel vault . The apse of the small church, however, has collapsed halfway. Only the remains of walls and foundations remain from other buildings.
Most of the fortress area is now overgrown with lower plants like those found all over the island. The vegetation of Imeri Gramvousa differs only slightly from the vegetation of the Gramvousa peninsula . So far 173 different fern and seed plant species have been found on the island. Of these, the dog chamomile Anthemis glaberrima occurs only on the two Gramvousa islands, but has only a small occurrence on Imeri Gramvousa . They and the timeless plant Androcymbium rechingeri growing on Imeri Gramvousa are protected by law. Except for a few tamarisks (tamarix) near the jetty in the southwest, the island is treeless. In addition to the American agave (Agave americana), which is particularly widespread on the south coast, the real caper bush (Capparis spinosa) is one of the most common plants on the island.
history
According to the British explorer, historian and writer Tim Severin , Gramvousa is the mythical island of Aiolia (Αἰολία), the home island of the god Aiolos , the lord of the winds. Odysseus is said to have spent a month here on his return journey from the Trojan War to Ithaca and to have given Aiolos a sewn sack with storm winds, which should remain closed to guarantee a happy return of Odysseus. After the companions of Odysseus opened the sack shortly before Ithaca, the escaping storms drove the ships of Odysseus back to the Aioli island. In ancient times , Gramvousa was therefore also called Korykos ('leather sack') or Korykiai Insulae . Another ancient name for Imeri Gramvousa was Mese , the neighboring island of Agria Gramvousa was probably called Tretos .
After the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204), in which the Republic of Venice supported the Crusaders in capturing Constantinople , the Venetians were awarded the island of Crete. At the end of the Middle Ages , the former Byzantine possessions of Venice in the eastern Mediterranean came under pressure. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire , the Venetians waged four wars against the emerging empire in the east (1463–1479, 1499–1503, 1537–1540 and 1570/71 ). In the Venetian-Ottoman Treaty of 1573, Venice had to cede the island of Cyprus to the Ottoman Empire, but it remained in the possession of Tinos , Corfu and Crete. To protect Crete, three fortresses were built on the main island offshore islands in the 16th century, next to Souda and Spinalonga also on Imeri Gramvousa .
The construction of the fortress of Imeri Gramvousa started in 1579 and completed in 1584. It was used by the Venetians to observe and control the Strait of Kythira , the strait between western Crete and the Peloponnese . Even after the conquest of Crete by the Ottomans, the fortress, which was considered impregnable, remained near Venice from 1645 in accordance with the contract negotiated by Francesco Morosini when he withdrew from Candia in 1669 , as did Souda and Spinalonga .
During the Great Turkish War from 1683 to 1699, a Venetian fleet under Domenico Mocenigo attacked Crete and besieged Candia in 1692 . The fortress of Imeri Gramvousa served as a base as well as a refuge for Cretan freedom fighters, who rose against the Ottomans at the same time. The Venetians were unsuccessful, however, and the officer Luca della Rocca surrendered the fortress of Imeri Gramvousa to the Ottomans in the summer of 1692 without a fight. For the treacherous handover from Venice's point of view , the officer from Calabria was given several offices in the capital of the Ottoman Empire Constantinople, where he was ironically called "Captain Gramvousa". The Ottomans strengthened the fortifications on the island and equipped the fortress with 66 large cannons.
Despite the expansion of the fortress, which also included a mosque , Imeri Gramvousa had little strategic importance for the Ottomans. It was only with the Greek Revolution from 1821 to 1829, supported by Great Britain , France and Russia , that the fortress island came back into the focus of the European powers. 300 to 400 Cretan insurgents under the leadership of Dimitrios Kallergis and Emmanouil Antoniadis reached Crete from Spetses and took possession of the fortress on August 9, 1825 by a ruse. From then on, they used it as a fortified place of retreat, built the Panagia Kleftrina church and laid the foundation stone for a school on November 16, 1826. At times up to 3,000 people lived on the island, but their supply was severely affected by the fact that it was isolated from the rest of Crete. As a way out, Imeri Gramvousa attacked the ships sailing through the strait between Gramvousa and Andikythira . The results of these pirate actions are said to have been partially hidden in the caves of the Bay of Balos .
In agreement with the rebellious Greeks in the Peloponnese under Ioannis Kapodistrias , a British-French fleet took Imeri Gramvousa in a surprise operation in the first months of 1828 and drove the pirates away. The fortress was handed over to a Russian occupation. After the Peace of Adrianople in 1829, the Ottoman Empire had to recognize the independence of a Greek state in the London Protocols of 1829, 1830 and 1832, but remained in the possession of Crete. According to the agreements, the fortress of Imeri Gramvousa was returned to the Ottomans by the Russian Guard in 1831. Today the fortress is in ruins and serves as a tourist attraction on the excursions from Kissamos to the “Pirate Bay of Balos”. Every year on June 29th, the local parish festival is celebrated on the island of Imeri Gramvousa . The faithful from Kissamos travel by ship on special trips to honor the apostles Peter and Paul in the small church on the island .
supporting documents
- ^ A b Richard Talbert et al. (Ed.): Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2000, pp. 925, 928 .
- ↑ Victoria Kyriakopoulos: Crete . German edition. Lonely Planet, 2009, ISBN 978-3-8297-1607-9 , pp. 125 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Historical overview of the fortress of Gramvousa. www.gramvousa.com, accessed November 4, 2010 .
- ^ Charles Arnold (ed.): The islands of the Mediterranean . A unique and complete overview. 2nd Edition. Mare Buchverlag, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86648-096-4 , p. 340 .
- ↑ Sailing Directions (enroute). (PDF 7.02 MB) Pub. 132, p. 132 , accessed January 27, 2011 (English).
- ↑ Anthemis glaberrima. www.iucnredlist.org, accessed November 9, 2010 .
- ^ Vegetation and flora. www.gramvousa.com, accessed November 9, 2010 .
- ↑ Excursion - by boat - Gramvoussa Island. www.my-kaliviani.com, accessed November 12, 2010 .
- ↑ Odyssey - Aiolos, die Laistrygonen, Kirke (German translation of the 10th song of the Odyssey). www.gottwein.de, accessed on November 10, 2010 .
- ^ Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall : History of the Ottoman Empire . Sixth volume. CA Hartleben's publishers, Pest 1830, p. 573 .
- ↑ Theocharis E. Detorakis: History of Crete . Th. Detorakis, Iraklio 1997, ISBN 960-90199-4-3 , p. 327/328, 391 .
- ↑ Eberhard Fohrer: Crete . Michael Müller Verlag, Erlangen 2009, ISBN 978-3-89953-453-5 , p. 658 .
- ↑ The parish fair on the island of Gramvousa. www.my-kaliviani.com, accessed November 12, 2010 .
