At A Glance
The Dodecanese Islands form the eastern-most edge of Greece, and, despite the nickname, the region is comprised of over 100 islands.
These islands offer a very different tourist experience than most Greece. These islands are home to Byzantine churches and medieval castles, and the islands are repositories of many cultures and generations of history.
Δωδεκάνησα
Twelve Islands
Attractions
- Ascelpeion
- Neratzia Castle
- Tree of Hippocrates
- Farmakonisi
- St. Paul's Bay
Famous Natives
- Kleovoulos the Lindian (philosopher)
- Hippocrates (father of medicine)
- Theocritus (author)
History
The Dodecanese islands are an island complex with a perfect geographical position that has been the key for the crossing of many civilizations and cultures. The first inhabitants in the Dodecanese history are said to be the Telchines and Iliads. Much later the Cares and Achaies arrived, and according to Homer, they took part in the Trojan War. Dodecanese islands have been known since the Greek antiquity, and no civilization has ever questioned their Greek origin. The Greeks have inhabited Dodecanese since the 14th century.
Rhodes is the largest of these islands. Its citizens worshipped the sun and in its honor made an enormous bronze statue, the Colossus of Rhodes. It was one of the seven wonders of the world, and the flame held in its hands lit up the harbor of Rhodes at night.
Some thirty-five centuries ago, the city of Kos was founded next to the sacred spring of Vourina, and its sacred tree, the oldest tree in Europe, is still standing today on the square, reminding us of the days when Hippocrates sat in its shade and wrote the first books on medicine.
Five and a half centuries later on Patmos islands, on another of the Dodecanese islands, St. John wrote his own Book of Revelations, full of awe and visions.
So much history, so much life on twelve small islands – as ancient as the twelve gods of Olympus, as different as the twelve months of the year, as eternal as the sun.