1 The history of kos[ Back to Kos 1994 ] [ Back to Kos 1998 ]
2 The archaeological sites in the town of Kos
3 Countryside and villages
Excavations on Kos indicate that the island was inhabited in the early Bronze Age, i.e. between 2900 end 2100 B.C., by a succession of ancient peoples such as the Pelasgians, Carians (who called the island "Kouris" or "Karis"), Leleges, Achaians end Phoenicians. Evidence has also been found for a strong Minoan end Mycenaean influence on Kos, as testified by findings from the later Bronze Age (1600-1150 B.C.).
Various mythological dynasties left their mark on Kos, such as the Meropes-Triopes who were descended from the Carians of Asia Minor end gave the island the name "Maropis" or "Merope" and a little later "Koos" or "Kos". Mythology would likewise associate the island with the adventures and labours of Herakles, who was said to have given rise to the new dynasty of the Herakleidians.
Together with the surrounding islands, Kos took part in the Trojan War, sending Pheidippos and Antiphos, sons of King Thessalos, with 30 deep hulled ships.
After the 10th century BC, the Dorians occupied Kos. This led gradually to the growth of the communities (demoi), such as those of the Isthmiots, Halasarnitai, Antimachids, Aigelii, Archiades,Phyxiotes or Pyxiotes, Alenties, Peliti end Hippiotes. The island's first capital was Astypalaia on the southwest side, which experienced great cultures development.
During the 7th and 6th centuries B.C., Kos, together with the cities of Knidos end Halicarnassos in Asia Minor, and lalysos, Kamerios and Lindos on Rhodes, formed the Doric Hexapolis, a league with political, economic and religious concerns.
Kos suffered greatly as a result of the Persian wars (500-478 BC). After the battle of Mykale (479 BC), it became independent and joined the confederation of Greek states under theleadership of Athens.
During the years that followed, the island saw the development of two capitals on the north-eastern side. One was the "Meropis Kos" without a harbour, end the other "Kos" with a good-sizedharbour, built in 366BC. Strabo wrote about this latter city: "The city of Kos is not large, but it has been better constructed than all the others and looks beautiful to those passing by it in their ships."
Among the distinguished persons born in Kos during the classical period were Epicharmos, founder of the Sicilian Comedy and Hippocrates, Father of Medicine (460-377 BC). Hippocrates, descendant of Asclepiad priests, founded his own School which placed the science of medicine at the service of man. The Hippocratic Oath stands out among the great doctor's 59 works as a masterpiece of ethical greatness, his immortal legacy to doctors all over the world. He had many successors, such as Apollonides, Dexippos, Drakon, Praxagoras, etc.
Under the Ptolemies, successors of Alexander the Great, Kos developed an flourishing culture during the Hellenistic period and established a powerful federation with the neighbouring islandof Kalymnos.
There were many distinguished names in the artistic and intellectual life of the island, including the great painter Apelles, the philosopher end historian Euemerus, the founder of the Alexandrine elegy Philetas, the bucolic poet Theocritus who wrote the "Idylls", end the realist poet Herondas.
For a while during the Roman period, the island acquired the right to be free and autonornous, and was favoured by many emperors. An important public figure of the lst century A.D. was the Koan doctor Gaius Stertinius Xenophon who lived in the court of the emperor Claudius in Rome. The material achievements of the Koans throughout antiquity and prior to Roman rule were considerable. They traded in grains, grapes, wine, perfumes and superb purple silk fabrics. Indeed, the Koans are attributed with inventing the weaving of wool.
The island witnessed economic and artistic prosperity up to the 5th end 6th centuries A.D., as can be seen in the great number of its early Christian basilicas. During the same period lived the last Koan poet end scholar of antiquity, Damochares, who settled in Constantinople.
In 1302, Kos became a protectorate of Venice, while in 1314, it passed into the hands of the Order of the Knights of Saint John of Rhodes. The Turks, after repeated attacks, finally captured the island on 6 January 1523.
Under Turkish occupation, the sufferings of the Koans began. Torture, killings, the auctioning of property end onerous taxes ware the measures taken by the Sultans. The Orthodox Christians of Kos gathered around the Church end their Bishops, who played en important cultural role.
In July of 1821, after the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the Turks slaughtered 100 Koans and gave themselves over to atrocities and plundering.
In May of 1912, the Italians captured the Dodecanese. In 1923, after the rise of fascism in Italy, the Italians toughened their stance toward the inhabitants, whom they tried to italicize using by every available means.
On 3 October 1943, German troops occupied Kos. There ware civilian casualties from the bombing. The British took over the island in May of 1945, and in the following year, the victorious Alliedpowers decided to cede the Dodecanese to Greece. Thus in 1947, Kos once again became officially Greek.
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE TOWN OF KOS
The "most glorious and full of offerings" Asklepieion is situated some four kilometres north-west of the town, on a pine clad hill from which the view is breathtaking. It was a temple of worship, health and art. Dating probably from the 4th century BC, it has three storeys connected by wide,imposing flights of steps.
In the town, a round tower is to be found in the north-west corner towards Eleftheria Sq., and the "Gate of Forum" at the eastern side of the Museum. Inside this space are preserved five Orthodox churches: the Virgin Mary of Gorgopigi, Saint George, Saint John the Boatswain, the Virgin Mary of Katevati, and Saint Constantine. The Castle of the Town was built probably between 1391 and 1396 from ancient stones and marble. It was used rnainly to defend the town and harbour from attack by sea. The main entrance to the castle is joined by a bridge to Lozia Square, the site of Europe's oldest tree, the Plane Tree of Hippocrates. It has been living for two and a half thousandyears, a fitting symbol of the Father of Medicine, who, according to legend, taught his students under this tree. Fifty metres south of the tree are the remains of the Ancient City, including mosaics and restored columns of the Stoa, or arcade (4th or 3rd century BC), an early Christian basilica, the temples of Pandemos Aphrodite and Herakles, and the Agora, 162 by 83 metres.
In the western part there are mainly public buildings of the Hellenistic
and Roman eras: The Nymphaeum, public baths ringed by white marble
columns, with three niches and a bathing pool in front of each one. The
Nyphaeum is one of the most elegant structures of the 3rd century BC.
There also are the remains of the biggest gymnasium Kos could boast,
known as Xysto. There are seventeen restored columns of white marble
in the Doric order, of the 81 which made up the original colonnade. The
Odeon
is quite adequate proof of the artistic prowess of the Koans, who in those
times had another conservatory as well as three theatres. A little below
the Odeon is a restored Roman era villa, the
Case Romana, built
on Hellenistic era foundations. It is a Pompeii-type house with interior
open spaces (atria) that provided light and air for the surrounding rooms.
There is a drinking floor, cisterns, columns, wall frescoes and mosaics.
In Eleftheria Square, in the centre of the town, a fine building houses
the Archaeological Museum of Kos.
Worth a visit are the Sulphuric Springs, known as the Thermae
on the road after Kavo Foka.
The community of Platani has white houses and a square featuring
a plane tree end traditional taverns. Nine km out on the main country road
is the modern community of Zipari. The picturesque village of Asphendiou
(1,723 inhabitants) and the communities of Vangelistria, Lagoudi,Asomatos,
Halhoutes and Zia. This last nestles in a dense wood of fruit
trees, and has crystal clear springs, and small white houses clinging to
the foothills of the highest mountain of Kos,Dikios (846 metres).
The seaside village Tigaki fresh fish and an excellent beach. Another
good beach with large hotel complexes is at Marmari. The village
of Pily (1,816 inhabitants) is built in the approximate centre of
the island. The plains here are the richest on Kos, watered by the lakeof
Linopotis and the two springs of the village. Worth a visit is Old
Pyli (Paleo Pily), with its Byzantine
castle and churches among which that of the Hypapanti stands out, built
by the Hossios Christodoulos in the 11th century. Another sight worth seeing
in the village is the very ancient tholos - tomb of the mythical hero -
king Charmylos, which has twelve crypts under its interior. To the west
of Pyli the road leads to
Antimacheia (1,676 inhabitants). This
village with its windmills is a kind of transport junction for the island.
The
Castle of Antimacheia, built in Venetian times, a consistent
target of Turkish attacks. The castle contains old churches and the ruins
of houses, since it offered protection from pirate raids. At the smelt
seaside hamlet of Mastihari, near a cooland sandy beach, there are
the ruins of an early Christian basilica with marvellous mosaics. The
village of Kardamena (1,212 inhabitants) has with a long beach
of fine white sand, and calm, crystal clear shallow waters fronting the
white houses, straight roads and village square. The last village on Kos
is Kefalos (2,097 inhabitants). It is built on a porous height at
the western end of the islanddominated by the imposing windmill of Papavasilis.
Though the land is not very fertile, the climate is hospitable and healthy.
On entering the village one notices the ruins of the mediaeval castle;
there are ancient ruins at Palatia, en old cave at Aspri Petra,
and the early Christian basilicaof Saint Stephen at the coast at
Kamari,
where also lies the islet of Kastri. At Kefalos the sea is clear
and cool, ideal for relief from the summer heat. Worth a visit also is
the beach of Saint John the Theologian, the monastery of Saint John the
Baptist (Thymianos), as well as the beach "MikroLimanaki" to the
north of Kefalos peninsula, and the wonderful "Paradise Beach" at
Tigani, in
the West part of the peninsula.