Psara

Community of Psara
Δήμος Ηρωικής Νήσου Ψαρών (Ψαρά)

Basic data

State :

Greece

Region :

North Aegean

Regional District :

Chios

Geographic coordinates :

38 ° 34 ' N , 25 ° 35' E Coordinates: 38 ° 34 ' N , 25 ° 35' E

Area :

44.511 km²

Residents :

458 (2011)

Population density :

10.3 inhabitants / km²

Community logo:

Seat:

Psara

LAU-1 code no .:

5703

Districts :

no

Local self-government :

no

Location in the North Aegean region

The Greek island of Psara ( Greek Ψαρά ( n. Pl. )) Together with the island of Andipsara and other uninhabited islets form the municipality of Psara (Δήμος Ψαρών) in the North Aegean region .

Psara is hilly and has little vegetation. Almost all permanent residents live in the main town of the same name, which is located on a protective bay in the south of the island. While the island still had one of the most important merchant fleets in the Aegean Sea in the 18th century, today's inhabitants mainly live from fishing and agriculture. Despite the numerous beaches, tourism only plays a minor role on Psara.

geography

Psara is located in the northern part of the Aegean Sea about 22 km west of the northwest coast of the island of Chios and 150 km northeast of Athens . The archipelago is made up of a dozen islands, in addition to Andipsara these are Kato Nisi (Κάτω Νησί), Ai Nikolakis (Αϊ Νικολάκης), Daskalio (Δασκαλειό), Mastrogiorgi (Μαστ) οογ.

The maximum extent of the main island is about 10 km from NW to SE and 8 km from NE to SW with an area of 40.467 km². Its highest point is the 531 meter high Profitis Ilias mountain in the northeast of the island. In addition to Andipsara, which measures around 3.5 kilometers from northeast to southwest, only Kato Nisi is slightly larger with a length of around 1 kilometer, all other islands have a diameter of only around 100 meters or less.

The hills and the eastern, northeastern and southern coastal cliffs of the main island consist exclusively of phyllite , some parts of the west coast of volcanic rock. Only the plains towards the south coast consist of gravel, sand and clay and can be ordered.

The island is extremely dry, there are only a few ponds and no permanent running water.

history

The earliest evidence of human presence goes back to the Neolithic . The extensive excavations between 2000 and 2005 under the direction of Aglaia Archontidou on the west coast near Archontiki prove the settlement by means of numerous graves from the end of the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age . In the late Bronze Age (1600–1000 BC), which runs roughly parallel to the Late Helladic period on the Greek mainland, there existed from around 1400–1100 BC. A well organized Mycenaean settlement with houses and storerooms. There is also a necropolis that dates from the 8th to the 5th century. v. Was used and in the rich grave goods were discovered. The findings of the burial ground with objects made of glass and materials similar to faience (see Egyptian faience ) attest to the existence of a rich and prosperous Mycenaean settlement in the northeastern Aegean. The finds are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of the City of Chios .

According to the terms of the treaty negotiated in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca , Greek shipowners were allowed to trade freely under the Russian flag in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region . In addition to the islands of Spetses and Hydra , Psara developed into one of the most important Greek merchant fleets in the 18th century. Psara took part in the Greek struggle for freedom that began in 1821 and experienced ^jul./ July 3, 1824 ^greg.its blackest day, when the island was conquered by the Ottoman fleet under Grand Admiral Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha . About 15,000 residents were killed or sold into slavery and the city was destroyed. The poet Dionysios Solomos addressed this in a well-known poem, I Katastrofi ton Psaron (κ καταστροφή των Ψαρών 'The Destruction of Psara'). The island has not been able to recover from this catastrophe. Today many descendants of the former residents live in Athens or overseas.

Population development of Psara

The census results of 2011 show 4 inhabitants for the neighboring island Andipsara, so the small neighboring island of Psara is inhabited again for the first time since the 1950s.

Surname	1913	1920	1928	1940	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Psara	711	716	788	735	678	566	479	460	438	422	454
Moni Kimisis Theotokou				16	22nd	10	8th	-	-	0	0
Andipsara					1	3	-	-	-	0	4th
total	711	716	788	752	703	576	487	460	438	422	458

Administration and community

The rural community of Psara was founded in 1918 as Palea Psara (Κοινότητα Παλαιών Ψαρών). With the incorporation around the island of Andipsara, the municipal area was expanded in 1940. The renaming of the rural community (Κοινότητα Ψαρ Hauptν) and the main town in Psara took place in 1960. Psara received the status of a township ( Dimos Psaron Δήμος Ψαρών) in 1984. By incorporating the surrounding islands in 2001, the community reached its current size. Together with the communities of Chios and Inousses forms the municipality of Psara since the implementation of administrative reform in 2010 the Regional District Chios ( Periferiaki Enotita Chios Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Χίου).

flora

The flora of Psara has been shown to include around 331 species of vascular plants , the total population is estimated to be around 400 species, around 66% of which are annual, herbaceous plants. Endemics are missing. The proportion of so-called anthropophytes is extremely high : 34% of the species are considered naturalized and feral and only 44% are indigenous.

The island's vegetation is extremely monotonous; many of the plant species that are common in the region under similar conditions are completely absent. Forests are missing, trees are rare and always planted. The only significant vegetation that is at least semi-natural is the species-poor, 15 to 30 centimeter high Phrygana , whose shrub layer is dominated by Centaurea spinosa , Poterium spinosum , Cistus creticus , Asparagus aphyllus and Thymelaea hirsuta and which completely covers the largely extremely dry hill country. In more protected places, the shrub layer thickens, becomes up to a meter high and z. B. Calicotome villosa and Anthyllis hermanniae .

Only three natural and special habitats that differ from this vegetation exist on the island, namely sandy coastal areas, rocky coast and dry river beds. Oleander ( Nerium oleander ) and Vitex agnus-castus are found in the latter .

In floristic terms Werner Greuter called Psara “overwhelmingly banal”. Overall, the flora of the island is hardly related to the flora of other East Aegean islands or Anatolia , but rather to those of the Cyclades . Greuter attributes this to the fact that the island has presumably been isolated from the continents for a very long time, its original flora became impoverished and was then replaced by plant species that humans brought in or that are spread over long distances.

Web links

Commons : Psara - collection of images, videos and audio files

General information about Psara (Greek)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Results of the 2011 census, Greek Statistical Office (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Werner Greuter: The flora of Psara (E. Aegean Islands, Greece). An annotated catalog. In: Candollea 31, 1976, pp. 192-242
↑ Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή [ΕΛΣΤΑΤ] (Ed.): Στατιστική Επετηρίδα της Ελλάδος (Statistical Yearbook of Greece) 2009 & 2010 . Piraeus 2011, p. 47 .
↑ Chios map, 1: 60,000 . Road Editions, ISBN 960-8481-91-0 .
↑ Αγλαΐα Αρχοντίδου, Όλγα Φιλανιώτου (Aglaia Archontidou, Olga Filaniotou): Αρχοντίκι . In: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού - Ministry of Culture and Tourism (ed.): 2000–2010 από το Ανασκαφικό Έργο των Εφορειοο Αρχωανι . 2012, ISBN 978-960-386-029-7 , pp. 269 f . (Greek)
^ Glass finds from the excavations at the region Archontiki of Psara. (PDF; 3.0 MB) Retrieved October 23, 2010 .
↑ Chios Archaeological Museum. ( Memento of October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Greek Ministry of Culture (Greek)
↑ The Treaty of Kuchuk Kainargi and Its Consequences for the Greeks . Foundation of the Hellenic World (English)
↑ George Finlay : History of the Greek Revolution, Vol. 2 . Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London 1861, pp. 48–52 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Population of Psara 1913–2001, Greek Statistical Office ELSTAT, Digital Library (Greek)

[VZ2011-1] Results of the 2011 census, Greek Statistical Office (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)

[Greuter-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Werner Greuter: The flora of Psara (E. Aegean Islands, Greece). An annotated catalog. In: Candollea 31, 1976, pp. 192-242

[3] Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή [ΕΛΣΤΑΤ] (Ed.): Στατιστική Επετηρίδα της Ελλάδος (Statistical Yearbook of Greece) 2009 & 2010 . Piraeus 2011, p. 47 .

[4] Chios map, 1: 60,000 . Road Editions, ISBN 960-8481-91-0 .

[5] Αγλαΐα Αρχοντίδου, Όλγα Φιλανιώτου (Aglaia Archontidou, Olga Filaniotou): Αρχοντίκι . In: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού - Ministry of Culture and Tourism (ed.): 2000–2010 από το Ανασκαφικό Έργο των Εφορειοο Αρχωανι . 2012, ISBN 978-960-386-029-7 , pp. 269 f . (Greek)

[6] Glass finds from the excavations at the region Archontiki of Psara. (PDF; 3.0 MB) Retrieved October 23, 2010 .

[7] Chios Archaeological Museum. ( Memento of October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Greek Ministry of Culture (Greek)

[8] The Treaty of Kuchuk Kainargi and Its Consequences for the Greeks . Foundation of the Hellenic World (English)

[9] George Finlay : History of the Greek Revolution, Vol. 2 . Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London 1861, pp. 48–52 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[10] Population of Psara 1913–2001, Greek Statistical Office ELSTAT, Digital Library (Greek)