Eastern Sporades (

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 ...

: ''Ανατολικές Σποράδες'') or Eastern Islands (Greek: ''Ανατολικοί Νήσοι'') was the name of one of the thirteen divisions (administrative districts) created in 1828 with the administrative division of the newly formed Hellenic State by the government of

Ioannis Kapodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (10 or 11 February 1776 – 9 October 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias ( el, Κόμης Ιωάννης Αντώνιος Καποδίστριας, Komis Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias; russian: � ...

. File of Ioannis Kapodistrias (13 April 1828)
Αρχείον Ιωάννου Καποδίστρια, τ. Η΄, pg. 304.

Etymology

"Eastern Sporades" means "those scattered at the east" (compare with "sporadic"). From

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

the name "Sporades" has referred to the Aegean island groups outside the central archipelago of the

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 name ...

History

The Eastern Sporades were created by the 10th resolution of the Kapodistrian Greek government on 13 April 1828, which was repealed two years later, in June 1830, when the Greek government was forced to withdraw from

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

and the other islands in the region, as these islands returned to sovereignty of the High Gate, as they were not included in the

London Protocol of 1830 The 1830 Protocol of London was a treaty signed between the Kingdom of France, the Russian Empire, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on February 3, 1830. It was the first official, international diplomatic act recognizing Greec ...

which described the

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

that would remain independent of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. This division included the islands of

Kalymnos Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ): ...

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...

Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northern ...

Icaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was be ...

and Samos, where

Ioannis Kolettis Ioannis Kolettis (; died 17 September 1847) was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and serving twic ...

appointed as the extraordinary commissioner of the Eastern Sporades and had his seat on Samos from July 1828. The leader of the military body was a Samian chieftain, Konstantis Lachanas, who had been already appointed as General Captain of the Greek Army in Samos by the General Assembly of the Samians in 1824. After the departure of the Greek authorities from Samos, in June 1830, Ioannis Kolettis also left the island. Then

Lykourgos Logothetis Lykourgos Logothetis ( el, Λυκούργος Λογοθέτης, 10 February 1772 – 25 May 1850 (O.S.)), born Georgios Paplomatas, was a Samian who became the island's leader during the Greek War of Independence. The son of a wealthy mercha ...

returned to Samos and a Samian State was formed, until 1834. Konstantis Lachanas continued to be the military leader of

Military-Political System of Samos The Military-Political System of Samos ( el, Στρατοπολιτικόν Σύστημα Σάμου) was a provisional regime that existed in the island of Samos during the Greek War of Independence. Samos rose up against Ottoman rule on 18 Apr ...

, this time appointed by Lykourgos Logothetis. In 1834, became an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire as

Principality of Samos The Principality of Samos ( el, Ηγεμονία της Σάμου, ; ota, Sisam İmâreti, script=Latn, italic=yes; tr, Sisam Beyliği) was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire from 1834 to 1912. The island of Samos participated ...

, until 1912, were the islands captured by Italian forces in Turkish-Italian War. In November 1912, after a delay due to the Balkan Wars, Icaria officially became part of the

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 ...

, Samos followed in March 1913. During World War II, the two islands was reoccupied by the Italians from May 1941 until the Italian surrender in September 1943. Next month, the Nazi forces start a new occupation until 4 October 1944, when the islands was liberated by the Greek Sacred Band. In 1947, after the Peace Treaty with Italy, rejoined with

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 ...

as part of Dodecanese and the other three main islands of the Eastern Sporades, Kalymnos, Leros and Patmos.

Geography

In modern geographical parlance of

, there are different Sporades groups. Eastern Sporades are the islands of the eastern and northeastern Aegean, near the coast of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Today, this island group include: *

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 masti ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...

Oinousses Oinousses ( el, Οινούσσες, alternative forms: ''Aignousa'' (Αιγνούσα) or ''Egnousa'' (Εγνούσα)) is a barren cluster of 1 larger and 8 smaller islands some off the north-east coast of the Greek island of Chios and west of ...

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 ...

Tenedos Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos'', ), or Bozcaada in Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Province. With an area of it is the third l ...

* and smaller island groups The traditional Eastern Sporades' islands

and

, today, belong to the administrative division of the Dodecanese.

References

External links

Hellenic Parliament – Constitutional History of Greece
* gtp.gr
Αγωνιστές του 1821: Κωνσταντίνος Λαχανάς
iography of Konstantinos Lachanas {{DEFAULTSORT:Sporades, Eastern History of modern Greece Former subdivisions of Greece Traditional geographic divisions of Greece Archipelagoes of Greece Archipelagoes of Turkey