Andros

Coordinates: 37°50′11″N 24°53′53″E / 37.83639°N 24.89806°E / 37.83639; 24.89806
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Andros
Περιφερειακή ενότητα / Δήμος
Άνδρου
EEST)
Postal codes
845 xx
Area codes22820
Car platesEM
Websitewww.androsweb.gr

Andros (Greek: Άνδρος, pronounced [ˈanðros]) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Euboea, and about 3 km (2 mi) north of Tinos. It is nearly 40 km (25 mi) long, and its greatest breadth is 16 km (10 mi). It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys.[1] The municipality, which includes the island Andros and several small, uninhabited islands, has an area of 380 km2 (146.719 sq mi).[2] The largest towns are Andros (town), Gavrio, Batsi, and Ormos Korthiou.

Palaeopolis, the ancient capital, was built into a steep hillside, and the breakwater of its harbor can still be seen underwater.[3] At the village of Apoikia, there is the notable spring of Sariza, where the water flows from a sculpted stone lion's head. Andros also offers hiking options with many new paths being added each year.

Strofilas

During the Final Neolithic, Andros had a fortified village on its west coast, which archaeologists have named Strofilas [de], after the plateau on which it was built. Final Neolithic in the Cycladic area is now dated around 4500–4000 BC.[4] Strofilas was related to the "Attica-Kephala" culture, coinciding with the beginning of the Cycladic culture of the Bronze Age.

Ruins of the Neolithic village of Strofilas

Strofilas is the largest organized settlement of the Neolithic Age of the Aegean in Cyclades islands. It was rather densely built, and stretches over 30 acres. The excavations were started in 1997 by a team of Greek archeologists headed by Christina Televantou.[5]

The settlement was an important

maritime centre and one of the earliest examples of fortification in Greece
. Its fortifications feature a gate and bastions.

Strofilas is also notable for rock carvings on its walls, which include animals such as

dolphins, as well as a depiction of a flotilla of ships.[6]

About 1km to the southeast along the coastline, also can be found the site of Zagora (Andros) [de], another ancient settlement of a later Geometric period. The settlement dates back to the 10th-8th centuries BC. An impregnable wall, about 110 meters long, was constructed around it.[7]

History

Antiquity

Statue of Hermes Chthonios (Roman copy of 1st AD), Archaeological Museum of Andros

In ancient times, the island contained an

Ptolemy I of Egypt. In the Chremonidean War (266–263) it passed again to Macedon after a battle off its shores.[1] The Ptolemaic empire was at its height, with a considerable fleet stationed at Andros.[8]

In 200, it was captured by a combined

Attalid kingdom until its dissolution in 133 BC, when it was granted to Rome.[1][9]

Middle Ages

During the long centuries of

gossamer and velvet fabrics to Western Europe.[9][10]

Andros was captured by the

British Admiralty
chart of Andros island and Cape Doro strait (today Kafireus strait)

In December 1371, the island was granted as a fief to Maria Sanudo, half-sister of the last Sanudo duke, Nicholas III dalle Carceri.[22] In 1383, Nicholas III was murdered and Francesco I Crispo became the new duke, giving Andros with Syros to his daughter and her husband, Pietro Zeno, the son of the Venetian bailo of Negroponte.[23] Zeno was a very able diplomat,[24] but even he found it difficult to manoeuvre among the various competing powers of the era. Unlike Syros, Paros, and other islands, which had been left destitute and almost depopulated by the Ottoman raids, Andros managed to escape relatively unscathed, but in return Zeno was forced to pay tribute and provide harbour and shelter for the Turkish ships. Nevertheless, in 1416, the island was raided and almost the entire population carried off by the Ottomans.[25] At about the same time Albanians crossed from Euboea over into the island, settling in its northern part.[26]

In 1431, when the Venetians ravaged the Genoese colony of

Triarch of Negroponte. Like his mother, he never abandoned his claims on the island, and eventually was vindicated by the Venetian courts. After compensating the Zeno family, he took possession of the island in 1440.[28][29]

Andros suffered once again heavily from Turkish attacks during the

Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479. In 1468 four ships attacked the island, killing baron Giovanni Sommaripa and carrying off numerous prisoners and booty worth 15,000 ducats. Two years later the Ottomans raided the island again, carrying off so many of its population that the island was left with 2,000 inhabitants.[30] Despite these disasters, the two Sommaripa possessions of Andros and Paros remained the most prosperous islands in the Cyclades in the period, and the Sommaripa rulers of Andros acted independently of their theoretical suzerain at Naxos, even to the point of claiming the title of duke for themselves.[31] By the 1500s, however, the two Sommaripa branches of Andros and Paros were at war with each other, as a result of which many Andrians were carried off to Paros. In addition, the Andrians suffered from the cruelty of their own "duke", Francesco, to the point that they sent an embassy to Venice threatening to call in the Turks if nothing was done. The Venetians responded by removing Francesco to Venice in 1507, and installing a governor of their own for the next seven years.[32]

In the event, Sommaripa rule was restored when Venice recognized Alberto Sommaripa as the rightful heir.[33] The island was seized by the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1537, but Crusino III Sommaripa managed to regain it through the intercession of the French ambassador, in exchange for an annual tribute of 35,000 akçes to the Ottoman governor at Negroponte.[34]

Ottoman period

When the Ottomans annexed Naxos in 1566, at the behest of the local Greeks, the Andrians too decided to rise up against their ruler,

Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, the island was occupied by the Russians and used as a base for their operations in the Aegean.[9]

Modern period

On May 10, 1821,

Kingdom of Greece
.

Following Independence, Andros became a major centre of

Hydra Island. Andrian merchants were particularly active in the grain trade from central and eastern Europe conducted from the Danube estuary. Initially locally constructed, Andrian ships were later built at Syros, especially as shipping began the transit to steam. By 1914, Andrian-registered shipping was second in Greece in terms of capacity. After World War I, the local registered ships rose from 25 (1921) to 80 before World War II. The losses suffered during the latter, as well as the internationalization of shipping and emigration of the ship-owning families to Piraeus and London, signalled the end of Andrian shipping.[38]

Administration

Andros is a separate

Cyclades Prefecture. At the same reform, the current municipality Andros was created out of the 3 former municipalities:[39]

Province

Batsi village

The province of Andros (Greek: Επαρχία Άνδρου) was one of the provinces of the Cyclades Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current regional unit Andros.[40] It was abolished in 2006.

Population

In 1900, Andros, the capital, had about 2,000 inhabitants, and the island as a whole had a population of about 18,000. The 1991 census showed that number had dropped to 8,781. According to the 2011 Greek census, the town of Andros still numbered 1,665 inhabitants, and the island's total was 9,221. The island is composed of the municipal units of

Arvanite community. The name of the island in Arvanitika is Ε̰νdρα, Ëndra.[41]

Communities and settlements

  • Aladinon
  • Apoikia
  • Ammolochos
  • Andros (Chora)
  • Ano Aprovato
  • Ano Gavrio
  • Arnas
  • Batsi
  • Epano Fellos
  • Gavrio
  • Gides
  • Kalyvari
  • Kaparia
  • Katakilo
  • Kipri
  • Kochylos
  • Lamira
  • Livadia
  • Makrotantalo
  • Mermingies
  • Mesaria
  • Ormos Korthiou
  • Palaiokastro
  • Palaiopolis
  • Piso Meria
  • Pitrofos
  • Sineti
  • Stenies
  • Varidio
  • Vitalio
  • Vouni
  • Vourkoti
  • Ypsilou
  • Zaganiaris
  • Strapouries

Cinema

A bust of Theophilos Kairis

Notable people

  • Amphis (4th century BC), comic poet
  • Matthew (fl. 1746–1766), Patriarch of Alexandria
  • Theophilos Kairis (1784–1853), scholar, teacher, priest and revolutionary
  • Alexander Pantages (1875–1936), American vaudeville magnate
  • Demetrios I. Polemis (1932–2005), historian and writer, head of the foundation Kaïreios Library in Andros
  • UK
    long-distance runner
  • Nikitas Kaklamanis (1946–present), doctor and politician, mayor of Athens

Gallery

  • Chora of Andros, seafront
    Chora of Andros, seafront
  • Panagia Thalassini & ruins of venetian castle in Andros (Mesa Kastro)
    Panagia Thalassini & ruins of venetian castle in Andros (Mesa Kastro)
  • Street to the Museum of Modern Art (Goulandris Foundation)
    Street to the Museum of Modern Art (Goulandris Foundation)
  • Chora of Andros, monument in front of the Maritime Museum
    Chora of Andros, monument in front of the Maritime Museum
  • Xenia Andros
    Xenia Andros
  • Batsi, Andros
    Batsi, Andros
  • Gavrio, Andros
    Gavrio, Andros
  • Stenies village
    Stenies village
  • St. Peter's Tower
    St. Peter's Tower

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
  2. ^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-21.
  3. ^ For an account of Palaeopolis in early 1884, see Theodore Bent, The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks. London, 1885, pp. 287-290.
  4. ^ Marble female figure (Cycladic) metmuseum.org
  5. ^ Philip Chrysopoulos, January 21, 2023, Oldest City in Europe Is Strofilas in Greece. greekreporter.com
  6. ^ Liritzis, I, Strofilas (Andros Island, Greece): new evidence for the cycladic final neolithic period through novel dating methods using luminescence and obsidian hydration, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 37, Issue 6, June 2010, Pages 1367–1377
  7. ^ Andros Geometric Settlement. greeka.com
  8. .
  9. ^ a b c d e f Seleli Alexandra; Beneki Eleni; Spiropoulou Vaso; Tsonos Konstantinos (28 April 2006). "Andros, Chapter 2: History". Cultural Portal of the Aegean Archipelago. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Retrieved 10 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Freely 2006, p. 83.
  11. ^ Setton 1976, p. 9.
  12. ^ Setton 1976, p. 18.
  13. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 29, 579.
  14. ^ Miller 1908, p. 44, 579.
  15. ^ Setton 1976, p. 19 (note 78), 428.
  16. ^ Setton 1976, pp. 429–431.
  17. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 578–579.
  18. ^ Setton 1976, pp. 431–432.
  19. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 579–580.
  20. ^ Miller 1908, p. 580.
  21. ^ Miller 1908, p. 581.
  22. ^ Miller 1908, p. 592.
  23. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 593–595.
  24. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 596, 604.
  25. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 598–599, 603.
  26. ^ Miller 1908, p. 600.
  27. ^ Miller 1908, p. 603.
  28. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 595, 604–605.
  29. ^ Setton 1978, p. 93 (note 47).
  30. ^ Miller 1908, p. 611.
  31. ^ Miller 1908, p. 617.
  32. ^ Miller 1908, p. 619.
  33. ^ Miller 1908, p. 621.
  34. ^ Miller 1908, p. 628.
  35. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 634–636.
  36. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 637–643.
  37. ^ Miller 1908, pp. 643–644.
  38. ^ Seleli Alexandra; Beneki Eleni; Spiropoulou Vaso; Tsonos Konstantinos (28 April 2006). "Andros, Chapter 5: Shipping on Andros". Cultural Portal of the Aegean Archipelago. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Retrieved 10 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
  40. ^ "Detailed census results 1991" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016.  (39 MB) (in Greek and French)
  41. ^ Jochalas, Titos P. (1971): Über die Einwanderung der Albaner in Griechenland: Eine zusammenfassene Betrachtung ["On the immigration of Albanians to Greece: A summary"]. München: Trofenik.

References

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