Alimia ( el, Αλιμιά) or Alimnia (Αλιμνιά) is a Greek island 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 ...

, located in the sea area between

Rhodes 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 ...

and Halki, the complex of

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

. The surface of the island is and has a coastline of . The island had a small population until the period of the

Second World War 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 ...

, and in recent decades has remained uninhabited. The island is mentioned in ancient texts as Eulimna ( grc, Εὔλιμνα) and by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

under the name Evlimnia and associated with two large bays of the island, Emporio and Saint George, in the eastern and western side of the island that are safe natural harbors. Their use in antiquity is confirmed by the impressive, carved into the rock, dockyards, dating to the

Hellenistic period 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 3 ...

when it belonged to the Rhodian state. In the Hellenistic period, flourished when the Rhodian state, the island was fortified with the construction of the fortress and used as anchorage and observatory for the Rhodian fleet. The Hellenistic castle survived until today in the highest peak east of the island. A department of a Hellenistic castle was used for the construction of a medieval castle in 1475, when

and its surrounding islands were occupied by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

. On the coast of Emporio found

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 ...

tombs and visible ancient walls and the foundation of an early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

basilica. The settlement of Alimia is built deep in the largest bay on the island. It includes several buildings, most of which are dilapidated due to the abandonment of the settlement from the 1940s. Although abandoned, the settlement has declared traditional since 1978. Northwest of the village, a short distance from the coast there is a small lake with salty water, which is one of the 37 natural wetlands in the

. In October 2016 a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

organization called 'Beyond Borders Belgium' dropped 20 people on this uninhabited island. The participants had to survive 10 days with hardly any food or equipment. Personal belongings like a cellphone, mattress or clean cloths were not allowed. Each day the participants had to play a game on the island to earn points. At the end of the "vacation" the participant with the most points wins the challenge. The game is based on a former Belgian TV-format called 'Expeditie Robinson'. The

Greek government Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the go ...

agreed with this concept and gave Beyond Borders Belgium exclusive rights of the island for the full period of 10 days.

References

External links

Alimia islandBeyond Borders Belgium
Islands of Greece Dodecanese Landforms of Rhodes (regional unit) Landforms of the South Aegean {{SouthAegean-geo-stub