Cyclades
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Cyclades Prefecture (1833-2010) Νομός Κυκλάδων |
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| Basic data (April 2010) | |
| State : | Greece |
| Administrative region : | South Aegean |
| Surface: | 2,572 km² |
| Residents: | 109,956 |
| Population density: | 42.75 inhabitants per km² |
| Capital: | Ermoupolis |
| Municipalities (δήμοι): | 20th |
| Rural communities (κοινότητες): | 11 |
| ISO-3166-2 code : | GR-82 |
| NUTS 3 code : | EL422 |
| License plate : | EM ( E r m oupoli) |
| Website : | www.ncyclades.gr |
The Cyclades ( Greek Κυκλάδες Kyklades ), also Cyclades , are a group of islands in the Aegean Sea , which until 2010 formed one of the two prefectures of the Greek administrative region (Periferia) South Aegean . In ancient times , the islands were viewed as a circle around the sacred isle of Delos , which led to the name Cyclades ('ring islands', κύκλος ( kýklos ) = circle), while the islands outside this circle were called the Sporades ('scattered islands'). The Cyclades are one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece.
Geography, geology and structure
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The ancient authors define the number and extent of the islands differently. Strabon ( Geographie 10, p. 485) lists twelve islands: Keos, Kythnos, Seriphos, Mēlos, Siphnos, Kimolos, Paros, Naxos, Syros, Mykonos, Tēnos and Andros. Artemidoros and later Pliny, following him, increased this number to fifteen (with Prepesinthos (Despotiko), Ōliaros (Andiparos) and Kyaros (Gyaros) ). The listing of the pseudo-Skylax differs from others in the listing of a northern and a southern group. With Keos, Helena (Makronisos), Kythnos, Seriphos, Siphnos, Paros, Naxos, Dēlos, Rhēnē (Rinia), Syros, Mykonos, Tēnos and Andros in the north and Mēlos, Kimolos, Ōliaros, Sikinos, Thēra (Santorin), Anaphē and Astypalaia in the southern group, its definition includes most of the islands of today's prefecture and also Astypalea, which is now counted as part of the Dodecanese. Most ancient authors, however, basically followed the classification Strabos, occasionally using Rhēnē instead of Mēlos.
The islands of the Cyclades mostly consist of gneiss and mica schist , sometimes also of granite and volcanic rock. Because of its fertility and its mild climate, ancient times called them the "Pearls of Hellas". Today, however, many of the islands have no tree vegetation, which is why they are arid, bare and burned. Yet they still deliver wine, oil, cotton, silk, tropical fruits, honey, etc.
The Meltemi in the Cyclades
The wind Meltemi plays a special role . On the one hand it provides cooling in the warm season, on the other hand it was once important for shipping and today for sailors. After the windless month of May, it sets in in June with wind force 7–8, in July and August it is strongest with 7–8. The daily routine of the Meltemi is always the same, with increasing sunlight it increases in the afternoon.
The main islands
Administrative division
The Cyclades belonged to the first ten prefectures of the Kingdom of Greece from 1833. From 1986 they belonged to the newly created administrative region of the South Aegean. From 1997 to 2010 the Cyclades were divided into 20 urban and 11 rural municipalities (→ List of municipalities in the Cyclades (1997-2010) ); these were combined with the administrative reform of 2010 to 19 larger municipalities, whereby none of the islands is divided into different municipalities. The authority of the Cyclades prefecture was transferred to the South Aegean region and the municipalities. Instead of the prefecture, nine 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.
history
In most phases of history, the Cyclades have been under mainland power, from archaic times to the present. Only in the course of regional self-government since the 1990s were competencies increasingly transferred to the islands.
Stone age
In the area of the Cyclades there is the oldest and most important Stone Age site on the small island of Saliagos between Paros and Antiparos. According to the current state of knowledge, there are no relationships to the subsequent Cycladic culture .
Bronze Age (Cycladic Culture)
Archaeological finds prove an early high culture from approx. 3000 to 1100 BC. AD, which is known today as the Cycladic culture and shows parallels to the better-known Minoan culture . Like all of Greece, the Cyclades are affected by the phenomenon of the Dark Ages . From the time between the Bronze Age and the ancient civilization, little or even nothing has survived due to a lack of scriptures and archaeological finds.
Antiquity
The island of Delos was one of the most important places of worship in Greece in ancient times . The islands around them were called the Cyclades , which means something like ring islands. The more distant islands were accordingly called the Sporades , which can be translated as "the scattered". Towards the end of the 4th century. v. Most of the islands joined together to form the so-called Nesiotenbund , which only existed for a few decades. The Cyclades were also touched by the Mithridatic Wars . They were partly by Mithridates VI. conquered and as a result placed under Roman protectorate . Numerous Roman negotiatores settled on the islands. After several undertakings by Roman officials against piracy , Pompey , who had been given special powers, finally succeeded in solving the problem from which the islands suffered. However, the islands then got into internal Roman conflicts and suffered from taxes that were too high. Diocletian remedied the grievances and placed the archipelago under the privileged Provincia Insularum , which in 395 became part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire .
middle Ages
After the fourth crusade, the Duchy of Archipelagos came into being . The Venetians brought Catholicism to the islands, which became important trading posts and also supplied corundum and marble to Venice. Little by little were in the 16. u. 17th century the islands were conquered by the Ottomans ; after 1617 only the island of Tenos remained Venetian until 1714. The Latin period was nevertheless formative for a long time, so Latin feudal rights were only abolished by the Ottomans in 1720. In 1744, the (Catholic) bishop of the diocese of Syros was given responsibility for the administration of the island of Syros, which he held until the founding of the Kingdom of Greece .
Modern times
With the establishment of the modern Greek state, the islands became a prefecture of the Kingdom of Greece in 1833 . Because of the economic prosperity of the Cyclades, King Otto is said to have considered making Ermoupolis on Syros the capital of Greece. The Cyclades were also home to many important Greek painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially the Greek representatives of the Munich School . In the late 19th century, tourism began to discover the islands. For example, the 1894 Greece edition of the Baedeker travel guide was devoted to the three islands of Syros, Mykonos and Delos. For 1933, Mykonos recorded 2150 vacationers, of which 200 were counted on both Delos and the Museum of Mykonos. Mining, for example of copper ore and bauxite deposits, was also of importance in the 20th century; However, these are largely exhausted and funding has ceased.
After the end of the Greco-Italian War , the occupation by troops of the Italian armed forces and the German armed forces began on May 9, 1941 ; as a first measure, the departure of the boats was prohibited. Thus the islands could neither deliver fish to Athens nor obtain other food from there. The few attempts to catch fish were punished with the sinking of the boats. For example, the annual death rate on Syros rose from 435 in 1939 to 2290 in 1942. In contrast to the mainland, the isolated location hardly made any resistance possible. Allied troops liberated the Cyclades Islands together with the " Holy Band " in 1944 , only the Wehrmacht garrison on Milos lasted until the German surrender in early May 1945. In the 20th century, remote islands were also used as places of exile , and people who were politically unpopular were obliged to live on small islands. During the period of the Greek military dictatorship (1967 to July 1974) the junta even went so far as to convert previously uninhabited islands into concentration camp islands.
In 2006 there were 928 hotels in the Cyclades, mainly on Santorin / Thira (252 hotels, including 7 five-star hotels), Mykonos (160 hotels, with 9 five-star hotels), Paros (145 hotels, one five-star hotel) and Naxos (108 hotels), the remaining islands have fewer than 50 hotels, some islands only have one (for example Schoinoussa and Sikinos). While the guests once came almost exclusively from Western Europe, North America and Japan, today the visitor structure is much more heterogeneous, with guests also from Russia and China.
Although the architecture of the Cyclades is largely homogeneous, there are significant differences that make it attractive for visitors to visit several islands. Mykonos, for example, tends to attract its tourists with its beaches and many clubs. Islands like Delos , on the other hand, offer a culturally oriented offer from the Bronze Age and ancient culture. The islands are also known for their windmills. Andros is known as the island of artists.
From 1833 to 2010 the prefecture ( Greek νομός nomós ) remained geographically almost unchanged.
Cycladic architecture
The architecture of the Cyclades became the archetype of minimalist rural architecture. It developed a role model for building in the 20th century. Their white and blue houses are also seen as typical of the Greek islands.
traffic
The main means of transport in the Cyclades are the many ferry connections. The islands can be reached from the mainland from Piraeus and Rafina . The West Cyclades are also called by Lavrio . Junctions on the islands are Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Santorin, from which you can usually go to all the smaller islands. Depending on their size, the islands can usually be reached daily, but sometimes only once a week. There are flight connections mainly to Athens from Santorin and Mykonos, as well as with regional airliners from Milos, Naxos, Paros, Syros and Astypalea. The first two airports mentioned also have some regular international connections (almost exclusively charter traffic and only during the season).
Traffic on the islands
Without explicitly following an ecological ideology, one began early on to exclude motorized traffic on the smaller islands and consequently no roads to be built for cars. Motorized vehicles are limited to municipal vehicles. On islands where cars can be taken, the ferry is expensive; sometimes their use is strictly regulated. The donkey is traditionally used, sometimes also bicycles, although these cannot be used everywhere due to the height differences.
Economy and Infrastructure
The tourism is the most important source of income for the island, but not the only one. Fishing and mining were once important. Due to its island location, many Greek shipping companies have their origins in the Cyclades.
Some islands are famous for their marble , which is increasingly being exported to the Middle and Far East. Other mineral resources are pyrite , barite , bentonite , emery and pozzolana .
Agricultural products include olive oil in the islands where arable land is present and viticulture on volcanic soils.
The first wind farm in Europe was put into operation on Kythnos in 1982 , consisting of 5 wind turbines with a total output of 100 kW. In 1983, a solar system was included in the "Kythnos island model" supply concept, and it is probably the world's first hybrid system.
A wind-powered salt water desalination plant was put into operation on Milos in 2008 . The system is driven by a 600 kW wind turbine, the drinking water tank has a capacity of 3000 m³. The system replaces the supply by tanker.
Exhibitions
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Cyclades - worlds of an early Greek culture. Baden State Museum , Palace, Karlsruhe ; December 2011 to April 2012
- Review: Volker Bauermeister: When islands became stepping stones . In: badische-zeitung.de
See also
literature
- Eugenia Geroussi-Bendermacher: Cyclades. In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Volume 22, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-7772-0825-1 , Sp. 602-630
- Eftychia Stavrianopoulou : “Group picture with lady”. Studies on the legal and social position of women in the Cyclades in Hellenism and in the Roman Empire (= Heidelberg ancient historical contributions and epigraphic studies , vol. 42) Steiner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-515-08404-5 .
Web links
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.
- ↑ William Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, illustrated by numerous engravings on wood, London (Walton and Maberly) 1854 (online)
- ↑ Vasso Kourtara: Mykonos. Délos. Toubis, Athens 2007, ISBN 960-540-104-5 , p. 26.
- ^ Hotels and similar establishments classified by star rating (Cumulative 2006) , General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece
- ↑ Island grids with a high proportion of renewable energies on the Greek island of Kythnos. ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 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. (PDF; 482 kB) on iset.uni-kassel.de
- ↑ Desalination from wind in Milos Island. (PDF; 20 kB) at: aegean-energy.gr (engl.)
- ↑ Cyclades - Living Worlds of an Early Greek Culture. on: landesmuseum.de. (January 7, 2012)
- ↑ When islands became stepping stones. In: badische-zeitung.de , January 2, 2012 (January 7, 2012)
Coordinates: 37 ° 3 ' N , 25 ° 28' E
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