Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Cyclades
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
, about southeast of
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
, and about north of
Tinos
Tinos ( el, Τήνος ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2011 census population of 8,636 inhabitants.
Tinos ...
. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
ous, with many fruitful and well-watered
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
s. The municipality, which includes the island Andros and several small, uninhabited islands, has an area of .
The largest towns are
Andros (town)
Andros ( el, Άνδρος), also called Chora (Χώρα, "main town"), is a town and a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it ...
, Gavrio, Batsi, and Ormos Korthiou.
Palaeopolis, the ancient capital, was built into a steep hillside, and the
breakwater
Breakwater may refer to:
* Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour
Places
* Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
* Breakwater Island
Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...
of its harbor can still be seen underwater. 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 great hiking options with many new paths being added each year.
History
Antiquity
![Hermes 090579](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Hermes_090579.jpg)
During the Final
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
(over 5,000 years ago), Andros had a fortified village on its west coast, which archaeologists have named
Strofilias, after the
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
on which it was built. Strofilias was related to the "Attica-Kephala" culture, and predates the
Cycladic culture
Cycladic culture (also known as Cycladic civilisation or, chronologically, as Cycladic chronology) was a Bronze Age culture (c. 3200–c. 1050 BC) found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. In chronological terms, it is a re ...
of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. It was an important
maritime center and one of the earliest examples of fortification in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. It is notable for rock carvings on its walls, which include animals such as
jackals
Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
,
goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...
,
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
,
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
and
dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
, as well as a depiction of a
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
of ships. The island in ancient times contained an
Ionia
Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...
n population, perhaps with an admixture of
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
ancestry. Though it has been proposed that Andros was originally dependent on
Eretria
Eretria (; el, Ερέτρια, , grc, Ἐρέτρια, , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th centur ...
, by the 7th century BC it had become sufficiently prosperous to send out several colonies, to
Chalcidice
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...
(
Acanthus,
Stageira
Stagira (), Stagirus (), or Stageira ( el, Στάγειρα or ) was an ancient Greek city located near the eastern coast of the peninsula of Chalkidice, which is now part of the Greek province of Central Macedonia. It is chiefly known for bei ...
,
Argilus
Argilus or Argilos ( grc, Ἄργιλος) was a city of ancient Macedonia in the district Bisaltia, between Amphipolis and Bromiscus. It was founded by a colony from Andros. It appears from Herodotus to have been a little to the right of the ...
,
Sane). The ruins of
Palaeopolis, the ancient capital, are on the west coast; the town possessed a famous temple, dedicated to
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
. In 480 BC, it supplied ships to
Xerxes and was subsequently harried by the Greek fleet. Though enrolled in the
Delian League, it remained disaffected towards
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, and in 477 had to be coerced by the establishment of a
cleruchy
A cleruchy (, ''klēroukhia'') in Classical Greece, was a specialized type of colony established by Athens. The term comes from the Greek word , ''klērouchos'', literally "lot-holder".
History
Normally, Greek colonies were politically independent ...
on the island; nevertheless, in 411 Andros proclaimed its freedom, and in 408 withstood an Athenian attack. As a member of the second Delian League, it was again controlled by a garrison and an
archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
. In the
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
period, Andros was contended for as a frontier-post by the two naval powers of the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
,
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
and
Ptolemaic Egypt. In 333, it received a Macedonian garrison from
Antipater; in 308 it was freed by
Ptolemy I of Egypt
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...
. In the
Chremonidean War
The Chremonidean War (267–261 BC) was fought by a coalition of some Greek city-states and Ptolemaic Egypt against Antigonid Macedonian domination. It ended in a Macedonian victory which confirmed Antigonid control over the city-states of Gre ...
(266–263) it passed again to Macedon after a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
fought off its shores. The Ptolemaic empire was at its height, with a considerable fleet stationed at Andros.
In 200, it was captured by a combined
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
,
Pergamene and
Rhodian
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
fleet, and remained a possession of the
Kingdom of Pergamon
The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστ ...
until the dissolution of that kingdom in 133 BC, when it was granted to Rome.
Middle Ages
During the long centuries of
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
rule, Andros was relatively obscure. First part of the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of the Islands, it later became part of the
theme (Byzantine district)
The themes or ( el, θέματα, , singular: , ) were the main military/administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and Muslim con ...
of the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
.
Like other Aegean islands, it suffered
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
raids,
but during the
Komnenian period
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...
the island flourished due to its
silk production
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
, exporting
gossamer and
velvet
Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
fabrics to Western Europe.
Andros was captured by the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
on its way to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1203. After the
fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
in 1204, the island was slated to come under control of the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
according to the ''
Partitio Romaniae
The ''Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae'' (Latin for "Partition of the lands of the empire of ''Romania'' .e., the Byzantine Empire, or ''Partitio regni Graeci'' ("Partition of the kingdom of the Greeks"), was a treaty signed among the crusader ...
''; in 1207 it became part of the
Duchy of the Archipelago under
Marco I Sanudo
Marco Sanudo (c. 1153 – between 1220 and 1230, most probably 1227) was the creator and first Duke of the Duchy of the Archipelago, after the Fourth Crusade.
Maternal nephew of Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo, he was a participant in the Fourth Crus ...
, who in turn gave it to
Marino Dandolo
Marino Dandolo ( gr, Μαρίνος Δάνδολος; died before 1243) was a Venetian nobleman and first Latin ruler of the island of Andros following the Fourth Crusade. He was a member of the prominent Dandolo family.He was originally described ...
as a sub-fief. Probably sometime around 1239, Dandolo was expelled from the island by
Geremia Ghisi
Geremia Ghisi was a Venetian nobleman who in ca. 1207, following the Fourth Crusade, captured the Greek islands of Skiathos, Skopelos, and Skyros and became their lord, while his brother Andrea Ghisi conquered the islands of Tinos and Mykonos. The ...
, ruler of
Skiathos
Skiathos ( el, Σκιάθος, , ; grc, Σκίαθος, ; and ) is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland ...
,
Skopelos
Skopelos ( el, Σκόπελος, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands which comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island ...
, and
Skyros
Skyros ( el, Σκύρος, ), in some historical contexts Latinized Scyros ( grc, Σκῦρος, ), is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the ...
. Dandolo died soon after and a case was brought before the Venetian courts against Ghisi by Dandolo's widow Felisa and his sister Maria Doro. Felisa was soon aided by the influential lord of
Astypalaia
Astypalaia ( Greek: Αστυπάλαια, ), is a Greek island with 1,334 residents (2011 census). It belongs to the Dodecanese, an archipelago of fifteen major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea.
The island is long, wide at the most, ...
,
Jacopo Querini Jacopo (also Iacopo) is a masculine Italian given name, derivant from Latin ''Iacōbus''. It is an Italian variant of Giacomo.
* Jacopo Aconcio (), Italian religious reformer
* Jacopo Bassano (1592), Italian painter
* Iacopo Barsotti (1921–1987 ...
, who became her second husband. Although the Venetian court found in their favour in August 1243 and ordered the Ghisi brothers to give up Andros, this did not happen. The case dragged on until after Geremia's death, when Duke
Angelo Sanudo
Angelo Sanudo (died 1262) was the second Duke of the Archipelago from 1227, when his father, Marco I, died, until his own death.
Family
Angelo was a son of Marco I Sanudo. According to "The Latins in the Levant. A History of Frankish Greece (1 ...
took over the island. He eventually gave half of it, according to the
feudal law current in
Latin Greece, to Felisa. The case took on new life after Felisa died and no claimant made appearance. Duke
Marco II Sanudo then reverted the entire island to the ducal domain, but just two days before the legal deadline of two years and two days had passed, Marino's grandson Nicholas Querini appeared in Naxos to claim his inheritance. The case was again brought before the courts of Venice, but Sanudo disputed the Republic's authority over his domain. The case was eventually settled through the mediation of Nicolò Giustinian, the Venetian
''bailo'' of Negroponte in 1291–93, whereby Querini renounced his claims in exchange for a cash payment of 5,000 pounds. Thus Andros remained in the hands of the Sanudo dukes, who henceforth styled themselves "Lords of the duchy of Naxos and Andros" and occasionally chose the castle of Andros as their residence. In 1292, Andros, along with other of the Cyclades, was raided by the
Aragonese fleet under
Roger de Lluria
Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305) was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talen ...
.
![Andros Island-1844](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Andros_Island-1844.jpg)
In December 1371, the island was granted as a fief to
Maria Sanudo
Maria Sanudo (died 1426) was lady of the island of Andros in the Duchy of the Archipelago in 1372-1383, and lady of the island of Paros and of one third of Negroponte in 1383-1426 in co-regency with her spouse, Gaspare Sommaripa.
Life
Maria San ...
, half-sister of the last Sanudo duke,
Nicholas III dalle Carceri. In 1383, Nicholas III was murdered and
Francesco I Crispo
Francesco I Crispo, Patrizio Veneto (died 1397) was the tenth Duke of the Archipelago through his marriage and the will of Venice.
Francesco Crispo was probably born in Verona. He was Lord of Milos, thus a vassal to the Duke of Naxos, as well as ...
became the new duke, giving Andros with
Syros
Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census).
The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...
to his daughter and her husband,
Pietro Zeno
Pietro Zeno (died 1427), was lord of Andros from 1384 until his death in 1427, and a distinguished diplomat in the service of the Republic of Venice.
Life
Pietro Zeno was the son of the Venetian ''bailo'' at Negroponte, also named Pietro Zeno. ...
, the son of the Venetian ''bailo'' of Negroponte. Zeno was a very able diplomat, but even he found it difficult to manoeuvre among the various competing powers of the era. Unlike Syros,
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
, 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. At about the same time
Arvanites
Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settl ...
crossed from
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
over into the island, settling in its northern part.
In 1431, when the Venetians ravaged the Genoese colony of
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
, the Genoese seized Andros and Naxos, both under Venetian protection, in retaliation, and only adroit diplomacy by the dukes of the Archipelago managed to prevent the islands' outright annexation by Genoa. In 1427, Pietro Zeno died, and was succeeded by his son Andrea, who was of poor health and only had a daughter. In 1437, Andrea too died, and the island was seized by Andrea's uncles, who aimed to wed Andrea's daughter to their son when she came of age, and thus legalize their control of Andros. Venice quickly reacted and took over the island, installing a governor there while her courts heard the cases of all the claimants. One of them was Maria Sanudo's son
Crusino I Sommaripa
Crusino I Sommaripa (died 1462) was lord of the islands of Paros and later Andros in the Duchy of the Archipelago.
Life
Crusino was a son of Gaspare Sommaripa and Maria Sanudo. His mother was a daughter of the Duchess of the Archipelago Floren ...
, Lord of Paros and
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.
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
ducat
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...
s. 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. 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. 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.
In the event, Sommaripa rule was restored when Venice recognized
Alberto Sommaripa
Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...
as the rightful heir. The island was seized by the Ottoman admiral
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ot ...
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 ''
akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
s'' to the Ottoman governor at Negroponte.
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,
Gianfrancesco Sommaripa Gianfrancesco is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Gianfrancesco Guarnieri (1934–2006), Italian–Brazilian actor, lyricist, poet, and playwright
* Gianfrancesco Penni (1488/1496–1528), Italian painter
* Gian Francesco Pog ...
. Although the latter managed to escape with his life, Andros too now came under Ottoman control. For the next thirteen years, the entirety of the former Duchy of the Archipelago was granted to the Sultan's favourite,
Joseph Nasi
Joseph Nasi (1524, Portugal – 1579, Konstantiniyye), known in Portuguese as João Miques, was a Portuguese Sephardi diplomat and administrator, member of the House of Mendes/Benveniste, nephew of Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi, and an influential fi ...
, who ruled the islands via representatives and was mostly concerned with using them as a source of wealth. Upon Nasi's death, the Greeks of Andros and Naxos requested from the Sultan that the descendants of their old dynasties be restored as Turkish vassals, but in the end, the islands were directly annexed as a province; in 1580, however, the Cyclades were granted a charter of privileges that granted them considerable local autonomy, low taxes and religious freedom, a situation that remained throughout the period of Ottoman rule. In the early 1770s, during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, the island was occupied by the
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
and used as a base for their operations in the Aegean.
Modern period
On May 10, 1821,
Theophilos Kairis, one of the leading Greek intellectuals, declared the island's participation in the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
by raising the Greek flag at the Church of St George.
At this time, a famous heartfelt speech, or "ritoras" (ρήτορας), inspired shipowners and merchants to contribute funds to build a Greek Navy to combat the Ottomans. At the end of the war, the island became part of the independent
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...
.
Following Independence, Andros became a major centre of
Greek shipping
Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient times. Today, shipping is the country's most important industry wo ...
. In this it was helped by the arrival of
refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. from
Psara
Psara ( el, Ψαρά, , ; known in ancient times as /, /) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small island of Antipsara (Population 4) it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios regional unit, which is part of ...
, and the decline of other traditional shipping centres such as
Galaxeidi
Galaxidi or Galaxeidi ( el, Γαλαξίδι/Γαλαξείδι), is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal ...
and
Hydra Island
Hydra, or Ydra or Idra ( el, Ύδρα, Ýdra, , Arvanitika: Nύδρα/Nidhra), is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Myrtoan Sea and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by a narrow str ...
. Andrian merchants were particularly active in the
grain trade
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
from central and eastern Europe conducted from the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
estuary. Initially locally constructed, Andrian ships were later built at
Syros
Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census).
The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...
, 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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the local registered ships rose from 25 (1921) to 80 before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. 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.
Administration
Andros is a separate
regional unit
The 74 regional units of Greece ( el, περιφερειακές ενότητες, ; sing. , ) are the country's Seventy-four second-level administrative units. They are divisions of the country's 13 regions, and are further divided into municipa ...
of the
South Aegean
The South Aegean ( el, Περιφέρεια Νοτίου Αιγαίου, translit=Periféria Notíou Eyéou, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups in the central and ...
region, and the only
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of the regional unit. As part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Andros was created out of part of the former
Cyclades Prefecture
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
. At the same reform, the current municipality Andros was created out of the 3 former municipalities:
*
Andros (town)
Andros ( el, Άνδρος), also called Chora (Χώρα, "main town"), is a town and a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it ...
*
Korthio
Korthio ( el, Κόρθιο) is a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 1,948 inhabitan ...
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Ydrousa
Ydrousa ( el, Υδρούσα) is a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it is a municipal unit. The population was 3,372 inhabit ...
Province
![Batsi, Andros island](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Batsi%2C_Andros_island.jpg)
The province of Andros ( el, Επαρχία Άνδρου) was one of the
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the Cyclades Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current regional unit Andros.
[ ] It was abolished in 2006.
Population
Andros, the capital, on the east coast, had about 2,000 inhabitants in 1900. The island had about 18,000 inhabitants in (1900). The 1991 census read 8,781. According to the latest Greek census of 2011, 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
Andros (town)
Andros ( el, Άνδρος), also called Chora (Χώρα, "main town"), is a town and a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it ...
(pop. 3,901),
Korthio
Korthio ( el, Κόρθιο) is a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 1,948 inhabitan ...
(pop. 1,948), and
Ydrousa
Ydrousa ( el, Υδρούσα) is a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it is a municipal unit. The population was 3,372 inhabit ...
(pop. 3,372). The north of Andros has a small
Arvanite
Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settler ...
community. The name of the island in
Arvanitika
Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the u ...
is Ε̰νdρα, ''Ëndra''.
[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.]
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
*''
Girls in the Sun''
*
Little England
Notable people
*
Amphis
Amphis (Greek: Ἄμφις) was an Athenian comic poet of uncertain origin from approximately the 4th century BC.
Pollux seems to refer to Amphis as a Middle Comedy poet, and Amphis' own repeated references to the philosopher PlatoAmphis (frr. 6; ...
(4th century BC), comic poet
*
Matthew
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497
* ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...
(
fl.17461766), Patriarch of Alexandria
*
Theophilos Kairis (1784–1853), scholar, teacher, priest and revolutionary
*
Alexander Pantages (1875–1936), American vaudeville magnate
*
Michalis Tombros (1889–1974), sculptor
*
Andreas Embirikos
Andreas Embirikos ( el, Ανδρέας Εμπειρίκος; September 2, 1901 in Brăila – August 3, 1975 in Kifissia, Attica) was a Greek surrealist poet and one of the first Greek psychoanalysts.
Life
Embirikos was born in Brăila, R ...
(1901–1975), Greek surrealist poet and the first Greek psychoanalyst
*
Michael Dertouzos
Michael Leonidas Dertouzos ( el, Μιχαήλ Λεωνίδας Δερτούζος; November 5, 1936 – August 27, 2001) was a professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...
(1936–2001), Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) from 1974 to 2001.
*
George Leonardos
George Leonardos ( el, Γιώργος Λεονάρδος; born 1937) is a Greek author of historical novels.
Early life
Son of Anastase and Maria, Leonardos was born in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt on 20 February 1937. His father died w ...
(1937–present), journalist and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, awarded with the Greek State Literature Award 2008
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Yiannis Tridimas
Yiannis Tridimas (born 22 February 1945, in Andros, Greece) is a long-distance fell runner, noted as being the only 60-year-old to have completed an extended version of the Bob Graham Round, covering 60 peaks in under 24 hours. He completed the c ...
(born 1945), established
UK long-distance runner
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Nikitas Kaklamanis
Nikitas M. Kaklamanis ( el, Νικήτας Κακλαμάνης; born 1 April 1946 in Andros) is a Greek New Democracy (ND) politician and former mayor of Athens. He is also a former Minister for Health and Social Solidarity. In the Greek loc ...
(1946–present), doctor and politician, mayor of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
Gallery
File:Chora of Andros, seafront, villas, 090505.jpg, Chora of Andros, seafront
File:Mesa Kastro Andros (Cyclades).jpg, Panagia Thalassini & ruins of venetian castle in Andros (Mesa Kastro)
File:Street to Museum of Modern Art, Chora of Andros, 090498.jpg, Street to the Museum of Modern Art (Goulandris Foundation)
File:Chora of Andros, monument in front of the Maritime Museum, 090605.jpg, Chora of Andros, monument in front of the Maritime Museum
File:Eot-andros-1958.jpg, Xenia Andros
File:Batsi, Andros island.jpg, Batsi, Andros
File:Gavrio Andros Greece 2018041117490NP2389.jpg, Gavrio, Andros
File:Andros island, Stenies village and Apoikia in the background.jpg, Stenies village
File:Andros, St. Peter's Tower (34401187164).jpg, St. Peter's Tower
Notes
References
* "Large Bronze Age Town Unearthed On Andros." New York, N.Y.:''Hellenic Times''. Sep 2- 30, 2005. Vol. XXXII, Iss. 11; pg. 2. ISSN 1059-212
(link)*
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Attribution:
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External links
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Official website of Municipality of ÁndrosOfficial website of Municipality of KorthíoAndros365 e-mag of Andros IslandRichard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:"Andros, one of the Cyclades, Greece"
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Municipalities of the South Aegean
Provinces of Greece
Members of the Delian League
Populated places in Andros