Gavdos

Coordinates: 34°50′N 24°05′E / 34.833°N 24.083°E / 34.833; 24.083
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Gavdos
Γαύδος
UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
730 01
Area code(s)28230
Vehicle registrationΧΝ

Gavdos (

Selino Province
.

Name

Gavdos has been known by a wide variety of names. For example, it appears in the biblical account of Paul's journey to Rome in Acts 27 as "Clauda" (Κλαῦδα) or "Cauda" (Καῦδα). The island was also referred to as "Cauda" by Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, and as "Gaudos" by Pliny. Ptolemy called Gavdos "Claudos" (Κλαῦδος).[2] The Venetians called it "Gotzo", perhaps in imitation of the Maltese island "Gozo".[3] From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the island was known as "Gondzo". A Turkish name of Godzo was "Bougadoz".

Kap Trypiti, the most southern point of Europe. The sculpture of the oversized chair is visible.

Geography

The island is 26 nautical miles (48 km) south of

Chora Sfakion. The area of the municipality, which includes the small island Gavdopoula, is 32.424 square kilometres (12.5 sq mi).[4] The island is roughly triangular in shape. Its highest point is Mount Vardia, 345 metres (1,132 feet). The southeastern corner is a rocky peninsula with a natural arch carved by the elements, called Trypiti. A concrete sculpture of an oversized chair, built by a group of Russians who came to the island in the 1990s, sits on top of Trypiti.[5]

Environment

There is an islet called

junipers.[8]

Potamos-beach on Gavdos with the island of Crete in the background.

Climate

Gavdos is the southernmost island in

Subtropical High of the Azores precipitation is concentrated in winter, making summers dry with no precipitation days during July and August. It is one of the sunniest places in Europe, with the highest amounts of radiation: between 1800 and 1900 kWh/m2 (ideal for solar panels), values closer to North Africa and the Middle East.[9][10]
It falls in plant hardiness zone 11a.

Climate data for Gavdos 25 m a.s.l. (2016–2024)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.2
(68.4) 		19.8
(67.6) 		22.2
(72.0) 		27.2
(81.0) 		36.3
(97.3) 		41.5
(106.7) 		43.2
(109.8) 		39.8
(103.6) 		34.9
(94.8) 		32.3
(90.1) 		27.1
(80.8) 		22.1
(71.8) 		43.2
(109.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 15.9
(60.6) 		16.3
(61.3) 		17.9
(64.2) 		19.5
(67.1) 		24.1
(75.4) 		28.5
(83.3) 		32.2
(90.0) 		32.5
(90.5) 		29.1
(84.4) 		25.1
(77.2) 		21.2
(70.2) 		17.8
(64.0) 		23.3
(74.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 13.6
(56.5) 		14.0
(57.2) 		15.3
(59.5) 		16.7
(62.1) 		20.9
(69.6) 		24.8
(76.6) 		28.2
(82.8) 		28.7
(83.7) 		25.9
(78.6) 		22.4
(72.3) 		19.1
(66.4) 		15.5
(59.9) 		20.4
(68.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 11.3
(52.3) 		11.6
(52.9) 		12.6
(54.7) 		14.0
(57.2) 		17.6
(63.7) 		21.1
(70.0) 		24.2
(75.6) 		24.9
(76.8) 		22.7
(72.9) 		19.7
(67.5) 		17.0
(62.6) 		13.2
(55.8) 		17.5
(63.5)
Record low °C (°F) 3.9
(39.0) 		7.3
(45.1) 		7.7
(45.9) 		8.7
(47.7) 		13.1
(55.6) 		16.6
(61.9) 		21.6
(70.9) 		21.7
(71.1) 		19.2
(66.6) 		14.7
(58.5) 		10.0
(50.0) 		6.4
(43.5) 		3.9
(39.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 79.2
(3.12) 		42.2
(1.66) 		50.2
(1.98) 		14.4
(0.57) 		5.9
(0.23) 		10.5
(0.41) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.04
(0.00) 		22.2
(0.87) 		58.3
(2.30) 		46.8
(1.84) 		64.4
(2.54) 		394.14
(15.52)
Source: Creta Weather Davis station (Sep 2016 – Feb 2024)[11]

Demographics

There are only a small number of year-round residents of Gavdos and services for tourists are basic. As of 2021[update], the resident population of Gavdos was 142.[1] In the summer the total people on the island can reach over 3,500, most of whom are campers and tourists. The largest man-made harbour is at Karave. The island's capital is Kastri. The southernmost populated village is Vatsiana, with a total permanent population of 31 people. Fokia (with Korfos beach area), Ampelos and the area around Sarakiniko beach are the other main populated places.

History

The wooden chair on Gavdos (Cape Tripiti) that symbolizes the southernmost point of Europe.

Gavdos has supported a permanent population since Neolithic times and the Bronze Age.[12]

Gavdos has been identified as a possible site of the mythical

overexploited and that started a process of erosion
which has continued to this day.

Gavdos, under the name of Cauda, was briefly referenced in the Bible's New Testament in the book of Acts. In chapter 27 whilst Paul is a prisoner being transported to Rome by ship they encounter a storm, in verse 16 it reads "As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure...". (NIV Version) They eventually shipwrecked in Malta.

Gavdos had approximately 8,000 inhabitants by 900 AD. During the

Saracens on the island survives: the beach
Sarakiniko ("of the Saracens").

In the 1930s the island was used as a place of exile of

Markos Vafiadis and Aris Velouchiotis. During World War II, Allied forces evacuated some forces to Gavdos following the German victory in the battle of Crete.[13]
Gavdos was then occupied by the Axis powers from June 1941 until liberation in October 1944.

Later on, the general phase of

Paleochora
.

Economy

There are many abandoned terraces on Gavdos where farmers used to grow crops on the hillsides. There still is some agriculture on Gavdos. During the summer, the population of the island swells to a few thousand because of tourists, although there are few facilities for tourists. There is one year-round cafe in Carave (Karabe) on Gavdos run by Evangelina Tsigonakis.

FM radio station, Gavdos FM 88.8, which is also available online.[15]

A beach on the northern part of the island.

Transport

Paleochora, Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro and Hóra Sfakíon
. There is a heliport in the northern part of the island. Bus services connect the island's main locations. The island's road network is a mixture of paved, unsurfaced and dirt roads.

Politics

Following years of isolation, in 1996 the island came to media prominence. In a NATO exercise Gavdos was the focal point of a confrontation between Greece and Turkey. Following that, Prime Minister Costas Simitis visited Gavdos and announced a five-year, €1.5 million plan for the island's development.

In 2001,

power required by the centre. For the purposes of the inauguration, generators were brought in, which were then removed. However, according to a 2008 BBC News report the island now features stable electrical power, and young medical graduates can serve for six months on Gavdos in lieu of compulsory military service. But visitors to Gavdos in June 2008 found that the power station was not functioning and that businesses were relying on gas generators operated for a few hours per night; locals stated that the power station worked initially, but no longer serves the entire island reliably.[14]

In 2002, the island was in the news again, due to the arrests of members of the extremist

Marxist group 17 November. The leader of this organization had been living openly for several years on Gavdos as a beekeeper.[14]

For the first time, a military outpost was established on the Island of Gavdos by the Greek defence ministry on 30 November 2020. The ministry announced plans of doing the same at the Othonoi island, the westernmost point of the country, following the establishment at the southernmost point of Greece. A total of 9 soldiers were deployed at the outpost in Gavdos at the Cape Tripiti. The decision followed the announcement made by the ministry of expanding Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Ionian Sea.[16]

Gavdos in literature

Rocky coast of the southern part of Gavdos.

Gavdos is featured in

Metaxas-era
prison on the eastern end of the island. The attack on the cliffs of Khavro Spahti Bay is described in Chapters 24–28.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ Acts 27:16, Biblos.com parallel bible
  3. ^ The island of Gavdos, Crete Travel Guide
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Gavdos: The island of the immortals", The World Weekly, 23 October 2014 Archived 11 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 August 2021
  6. ^ European populations of migratory birds Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, Natural History Museum of Crete of the University of Crete, Flora and Fauna on Gavdos, Gavdos Online Service Archived 2010-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, March 1, 2008.
  7. ^ "Gavdos and Gavdopoula islands, Crete". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  8. ^ GR181 Gavdos and Gavdopoula islands, Important Areas for the Birds of Greece, Hellenic Ornithological Society, 2007
  9. ^ "Gavdos, Greece". Tourist Maker. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  10. ^ "Solar Sun Hours | Average Daily Solar Insolation | Europe". www.hotspotenergy.com. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  11. ^ "Gavdos Creta Weather Davis station". Creta Weather. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  12. ^ Kopaka, Katérina (2015). "The Gavdos project. An island culture on the Cretan and Aegean fringe". The European Archaeologist. 46: 62–67.
  13. ^ "Nazis Pound Crete Allies". Los Angeles Times. June 1, 1941. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  14. ^ a b c The Med's 'forgotten' island: It is hard to imagine a more spectacular edge of a continent, John Pickford, BBC News, January 24, 2008.
  15. ^ Gavdosfm homepage
  16. ^ "Greece Establishes Military Outposts at the Most Remote Edges of its Territory". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

External links

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