Karpathos (city)

Karpathos District
Δημοτική Κοινότητα Καρπάθου (Κάρπαθος)

Basic data

Greece

Geographic coordinates

35 ° 30 ' N , 27 ° 13' E Coordinates: 35 ° 30 ' N , 27 ° 13' E

Height above d. M.

25 m
(average)

surface

15.236 km²

Residents

2788 (2011)

LAU-1 code no.

62010101

Post Code

85700

Telephone code

22450-2

The city of Karpathos ( Greek Κάρπαθος ( f. Sg. )) Is the capital of the Greek island of Karpathos and the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name. It has about 3191 inhabitants (2011), the municipality extends over a wide area along the Vrondi Bay in the southeastern part of the island.

history

The city of Karpathos

The current urban area was already settled during the Minoan period and later by Mycenaean Greeks . From Doric immigrants around 1000 BC. The city of Poseidion was founded and named in honor of the sea god Poseidon .

Due to constant pirate raids , mainly from the Saracens , the city was abandoned in the Middle Ages, the inhabitants withdrew into the interior and founded new settlements there.

A few centuries later, the city was rebuilt and the residents called it Póssi . In 1892 the city was named the capital by the Turkish governor of the island (Karpathos was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire ). However, since the name Póssi was too similar to the Greek word Pótis (dt Fountain"). Today the city is officially called "Kárpathos".

administration

District administration building

The place received under the name Pigadia shortly after the connection of the Dodecanese to Greece the status of a municipality (Δήμος Πηγαδίων Dimos Pigadion ). The city was officially renamed Karpathos in 1953. With the implementation of the municipal reform in 1997 , it was merged with seven other rural municipalities to form what was then the municipality of Karpathos, now the municipality of Karpathos . As a result of the administrative reform in 2010 , the former municipalities of the island were merged to form the new municipality of Karpathos (Δήμος Καρπάθου Dimos Karpathou ), with the city of Karpathos as the administrative center.

Karpathos population development

Surname	Greek	1947	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Karpathos	Κάρπαθος	1002	1085	1281	1363	1266	1692	2077	2707
Platyolo	Πλατύολο								81
total		1002	1085	1281	1363	1266	1692	2077	2788

Economy and tourism

Since the opening of the international airport in 1987, tourism has developed into an important industry in Karpathos and especially in its capital. The city of Karpathos has around 4500 beds for foreigners, thus accommodating about half of all Karpathos tourists.

Attractions

On a rock formation directly on the coast there was once a Mycenaean castle wall, later a Doric Athena temple. Those who climb to the former Acropolis today will find a great view, but no more ruins.

On the way from the beach promenade up to the Acropolis is the cemetery with the Nikolauskirche . The Panormítis Church is just a little above the cemetery .

The Agii Apóstoli is the former main church of the city. It contains wall paintings by the artist Manólis Filippákis from Olymbos.

The Evangelísta Church, which was only built in the 1990s, is located directly above the harbor promenade and can therefore also be seen from afar from the sea.

The building of a former Italian villa, the style of which differs significantly from other buildings, now houses offices and facilities for the local administration and the judiciary. In the left wing of the building there is the Archaeological Museum with a collection of archaeological objects from different eras found in Karpathos. In the fork of the main building and the east wing (serves as a courtroom) stands the grandstand of a small open-air theater .

About two kilometers from the city center along the coastal road to Apéri are the ruins of the Agia Fotini basilica . The basilica was built in the 5th or 6th century in honor of the martyr Fotini on the ruins of an ancient temple built earlier.