Kyra Panagia

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Kyra Panagia (Κυρά Παναγία)
Waters Mediterranean Sea
Archipelago Northern Sporades
Geographical location 39 ° 19 '30 "  N , 24 ° 4' 12"  E Coordinates: 39 ° 19 '30 "  N , 24 ° 4' 12"  E
Kyra Panagia (Greece)
Kyra Panagia
length 8.5 km
width 4 km
surface 24.76 km²
Highest elevation 302  m
Residents 2 (2011)
<1 inh / km²

Kyra Panagia ( Greek Κυρά Παναγία ( f. Sg. ), Pronunciation : [ kʲiˈra panaˈʝia ], "All Holy Mistress", a name for Mary ) is a Greek island in the Northern Sporades . Administratively, the island belongs to the municipality of Alonnisos in the Sporades regional district of the Thessaly region . The name of the island comes from the late Byzantine monastery of the same name on the east coast.

location

The island is about 8 km northeast of Alonissos. The uninhabited island of Gioura is 5 km northeast. In between are the islands of Pappous, Strongylo and Prasso.

The north-eastern islands of the Northern Sporades are characterized by wild rocky coasts and the beaches are rocky. Only the shoreline of the two safe natural harbors that Kyra Panagia has at its disposal is gravelly to sandy: the bay of Planitis ( Όρμος Πλανήτης ) in the north and the bay of Agios Petros ( Όρμος του Αγίου Πέτρου ) with the island of the same name in the southwest. Before entering the Bay of Planitis, the small island of Sfika ( Σφήκα ) lies on the western side . The entrance to the bay is just over a kilometer and tapers to less than 100 m to the narrowest point. Then the bay widens and divides into two larger bays. The bay of Agios Petros is preceded by the island of Pelerissa ( Πελέρισσα ), also called Fagkrou ( Φαγκρού ).

The island has a hilly character. The highest peaks are in the northwest with 287 m and in the east with 302 m.

history

As early as the Neolithic in the 6th millennium BC Kyra Panagia was settled. Continuous settlement up to antiquity is likely. Ancient ruins were found on the small islet Melissa in the bay of Agios Petros , west of the bay of Agios Petros near the island of Pelerissa, an ancient ship from the 5th century BC was found. Discovered. The ship had loaded 1,500 amphorae from the ancient city of Mende on the Kassandra peninsula. In ancient times the island was known as Alonnisos and belonged to the 5th century BC. At Athens. 351 BC Sostratos took over the island from Peparithos (today's Skopelos) and made it his seat. The island changed from Philip of Macedonia , who 346 BC. Chr. Sostratos had driven back into Athenian possession.

Athanassios Athonitis acquired the island in 963 AD from a Byzantine nobleman from Constantinople for Mount Athos in order to secure the supply of food such as meat, honey, oil and wheat. Goat husbandry was particularly important. Since the keeping of female animals is not allowed on Mount Athos, Kyra Panagia, which has some springs, was leased to goatherds. Around 1100 AD, the Kyra Panagia monastery was built on the east side of the island above a small natural harbor. To protect against pirate attacks, it was laid out like a small fortress. The buildings were extensively renovated in 1992. To this day the island is owned by the Athos monastery Megisti Lavra .

The 1961 census indicated 69 residents, compared to 10 in 2001. In fact, only one monk has lived permanently on the island since 1984.

nature

From the time of the former monastic community there are still numerous olive trees, which, like the areas formerly used for agriculture, are now overgrown. The predominant vegetation of the island is represented by the typical representatives of the macchia such as wild pistachio ( Pistacia lentiscus ), western strawberry tree ( Arbutus unedo ) and a predominant proportion of Kermes oaks ( Quercus coccifera ). There are also smaller areas in the northeast with the plant communities of the Phrygana and in the south Aleppo pines .

The rocky coast is an ideal retreat for Mediterranean monk seals .

natural reserve

Kyra Panagia is located in the Natura 2000 area GR 1430004 National Marine Park Alonissos ( Εθνικό Θαλάσσιο Πάρκο Αλοννήσου –Βορείων Σποράδων, Ανατολική Σκόπεος ) in the zone A4.

Web links

Commons : Kyra Panagia  - collection of images, videos and audio files