Alonnisos ( el, Αλόννησος ), also transliterated as Alonissos, is a

Greek island Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by a ...

in 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 ...

. After

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, ...

and

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 ...

it is the third member of the Northern

Sporades The (Northern) Sporades (; el, Βόρειες Σποράδες, ) are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea,"Skyros - Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpageEB-Skyrosnotes " ...

. It is (2 nm) east of the island of Skopelos. Alonnisos is also the name of a village on the island, as well as the

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 ...

that encompasses the island and the village. The village of Alonnisos is located on the southern part of the island. It is locally known as Chora and signposted as The Old Village. The main port of the island is located in the southeast and is called

Patitiri Patitiri ( el, Πατητήρι) is the capital town of the island of Alonnisos in the Sporades archipelago, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the sout ...

. There are ferry, catamaran ("flying cat") and hydrofoil ("flying dolphin") services from Patitiri to

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

, Agios Konstantinos, and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

on the mainland and to the islands of

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 ...

. The bay at the southern end of the island is also called Alonnisos. The Municipality of Alonnisos includes the nearby islands of

Adelfoi The Adelfoi Islets ( el, Αδελφοί, "brothers") are two Greek islands in the Sporades. They are located about east-southeast of the main island of Alonnisos and also administered by a municipality of the same main island name. The 2001 censu ...

Gioura Gioura ( el, Γιούρα), sometimes romanized as Youra, is a Greek island and abandoned settlement in the eastern part of the Northern Sporades. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos. The island name comes from the ancien ...

Kyra Panagia Kyra Panagia ( el, Κυρά Παναγιά ) is a Greek island in the Sporades. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos in the Sporades regional unit. The island is also known by the name of Pelagos and rarely Pelagonisi. . A ...

(Pelagos),

Peristera Peristera ( el, Περιστέρα, feminine form of pigeon), also Aspro, locally Xero (meaning dry), Eudemia in antiquity, is a Greek island in the Sporades. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos and is also directly east ...

, Piperi,

Psathoura Psathoura ( el, Ψαθούρα) is a Greek island in the Northern Sporades. It is administratively a part of Alonnisos. , it had no resident population. The Psathoura lighthouse, built in 1895, stands at 28.9 metres. It is one of the tallest in th ...

and

Skantzoura Skantzoura ( el, Σκάντζουρα) is an island in the Sporades archipelago, Greece. The island is located southeast of the larger island of Alonnisos (to which it belongs administratively) and northwest of the island Skyros Skyros ( el, ...

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and until the 19th century, the island was known as Liadromia (). It was renamed in 1838, as it was – mistakenly according to later research – identified with

Halonnesus Agios Efstratios or Saint Eustratius ( el, Άγιος Ευστράτιος), colloquially Ai Stratis ( el, Άη Στράτης), anciently Halonnesus or Halonnesos ( grc, Ἁλόννησος), is a small Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea abo ...

of Antiquity. In reality, the present island of Alonnisos was known as Icus or Ikos ( grc, Ἴκος) to the Ancient Greeks. Under that name, it is mentioned as having been colonised by

Cnossians Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

. The fleet of Attalus and the Rhodians sailed past

Scyrus Skyros ( el, Σκύρος, ), in some historical contexts Romanization of Greek, 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 a ...

to Icus. Phanodemus wrote an account of the island.

Geography

The island at its widest is from northwest to southeast and at its longest is from southwest to northeast. The area of the island is . The island is mostly limestone. It is located east of mainland Greece and Magnesia, northeast 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 northwest of the island of Skyros.

The island

Agriculture is widespread on Alonnisos, predominantly mixed farming and vineyards. The main products are

almonds The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of th ...

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago ...

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

and

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

trees are abundant on the island. While fishing is a popular profession on the island, tourism is now the main industry. Housing traditionally consists of closely constructed houses with stone walls, which, until 1965, were centered on the capital. A small fortress protected against enemies and pirates. The island and the village were heavily damaged in the 1965

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

. Many inhabitants returned not to the village of Alonnisos, but to Patitiri. The old village has been restored in recent years, with rebuilt houses now utilised for tourism. The beaches around the island consist of pebbles. The ecosystem in the north side of the island is in good condition. The

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...

(''Monachus monachus'') is common around the island, and in 1992 the

Alonnisos Marine Park The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades ( el, Εθνικό Θαλάσσιο Πάρκο Αλοννήσου Βορείων Σποράδων, ΕΘΠΑΒΣ) was founded by Presidential Decree on May 16, 1992. It was the first of its ki ...

was created to protect these seals and other animals. In July 2021, Kostis, a monk seal that was the mascot of the island, was killed, apparently by a spearfisher.

Communities and subdivisions

The Municipality includes several other islands with small resident populations. The total land area of the municipality is . The 2011 census population was 2,750 inhabitants, of whom only 38 persons lived on the other islands.

Alonnisos Island

* Ágios Pétros (Άγιος Πέτρος) *Alónnisos (Αλόννησος) * Chrysi Milia (Χρυσή Μηλιά) * Gérakas (Γέρακας) * Isiomata (Ισιώματα) * Kalamákia (Καλαμάκια) *Marpounta (Μαρπούντα) - abandoned * Mourtero (Μουρτερό) *

(Πατητήρι) *

Steni Vala Steni Vala (Greek: Στενή Βάλα) is the second most populous village on the Greek island of Alonnisos. Located on the east coast roughly 11km north of Patitiri Patitiri ( el, Πατητήρι) is the capital town of the island of Alonnisos ...

(Στενή Βάλα) * Votsi (Βότση)

Other islands

(Αδελφοί) *

(Γιούρα) *

(Κυρά Παναγιά) *

(Περιστέρα) * Piperi (Πιπέρι) *

(Ψαθούρα) *

(Σκάντζουρα)

Historical population

References

External links

Official website

National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades

VivaSporades.com

Alonnisos.net website
{{Authority control Populated places in the Sporades Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece Landforms of the Sporades Municipalities of Thessaly Islands of Thessaly Territories of the Republic of Venice