Nisyros also spelled Nisiros ( el, Νίσυρος, Nísyros; ) is a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

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 ...

island and

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 ...

located in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

and

Tilos Tílos ( el, Τήλος; grc, Τῆλος, Telos) is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 780 inhabitants (2 ...

. Its shape is approximately round, with a diameter of about , and an area of . Several other islets are in the direct vicinity of Nisyros, the largest of which is

Gyali Gyali ( el, Γυαλί " glass", also spelled Giali or Yali, pronounced ) is a volcanic Greek island in the Dodecanese, located halfway between the south coast of Kos ( Kardamaina) and Nisyros. It consists of rhyolitic obsidian lava domes a ...

, with a population of 22 citizens. The Municipality of Nisyros includes Gyalí, as well as uninhabited Pacheiá, Pergoússa, Kandelioussa, Ágios Antónios and Strongýli. It has a total land area of and a total population of 1,008 inhabitants. The island was also called ''Nisiro'' in Italian and ''İncirli'' in Turkish.

Geology

Wulkan - Nissiros - krater Stefanos - panoramio

The island has a wide

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

, and was formed within the past 150,000 years, with three separate eruptive stages, ranging from explosive and effusive

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomin ...

eruptions to explosive and effusive

dacitic Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyol ...

and

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

activity. Its coasts are generally rocky or pebbled, but there are also a few sandy beaches (mainly in the northeastern part). The volcano is currently active but not erupting, and

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s are found at the craters. It has had four historical eruptions, all of which had a VEI of 2. Almost all of its eruptions involved

phreatic ''Phreatic'' is a term used in hydrology to refer to aquifers, in speleology to refer to cave passages, and in volcanology to refer to a type of volcanic eruption. Hydrology The term phreatic (the word originates from the Greek , meaning "well" ...

activity. The latest eruptive activity was a steam explosion in 1888, after small ash eruptions in 1871 and 1873, and earthquakes are frequent. A period of seismic unrest in 1996–1997 led an international team of scientists to initiate monitoring of the volcanic unrest, as part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

sponsored Geowarn project. The entire volcanic complex includes the seafloor between Nisyros and

, the island of

and a part of

island.

Geography

Nisyros can experience the Meltemi

Etesian The etesians ( or ; grc, ἐτησίαι, etēsiai, periodic winds; sometimes found in the Latin form etesiae), ''meltemia'' ( el, ετησίες,μελτέμια; pl. of meltemi), or meltem ( Turkish) are the strong, dry north winds of the Aegea ...

wind through June - August. This is most obvious on the eastern and western flanks of the volcano, where trees are bent towards the south from the force of the winds. The wind may be especially strong on the island due to jet effects as it passes over Kos.

Climate

According to the station of the

National Observatory of Athens The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; el, Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific rese ...

, Nisyros has a hot semi-arid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''BSh'') with mild winters and hot summers. Nisyros has an average annual temperature of around 20.0°C and an average annual precipitation of around 350 mm (May 2017-Mar 2023).

Settlements

The island is reachable by ship from

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

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 S ...

and Kos, and in summer, there are many daily trips from the village of

Kardamena Kardámaina or Kardámena ( el, Καρδάμαινα), is a small Greek town 7 km from Kos Island International Airport at Antimacheia, situated mid-way along the south coast of the island of Kos. It lies in the municipal unit of Irakleides, ...

on Kos. There is also a

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

. The main town and port of the island is

Mandraki Mandraki is the capital of Nisyros Nisyros also spelled Nisiros ( el, Νίσυρος, Nísiros) is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the island ...

(pop. 660). Other villages are Paloi (239), Nikia (61), and Emporeios (27). According to the 2011 census, the municipality's resident population is 1,008 (including 21 on

), although in summer it is augmented by many tourists as well as expatriate Nisyrians who visit the island for their vacations. Tourism is not so heavily developed as on other

islands. Deposits of

perlite Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial ...

and

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular v ...

provide much of the wealth of the island. The island used to be self-sufficient, and many crops were grown on its terraced slopes. Today, though, they are cultivated on a smaller scale.

History

According to

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, the island was formed when

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

cut off a part of

and threw it onto the giant

Polybotes In Greek mythology, Polybotes () ( grc-gre, Πολυβώτης) was one of the Giants, the offspring of Gaia (Earth), and Uranus (Sky). He fought Poseidon during the Gigantomachy, the war between the Giants and the gods. Mythology Polybotes was ...

to stop him from escaping. The ancient name of the Nisyros was ''Porphyris''. Ancient walls, dating from the 5th century BC, part of the acropolis of the island, are found near Mandraki. It was apparently also a source of millstones used in some of the earliest

watermills A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

, being referred to by epigrammatist

Antipater of Thessalonica Antipater of Thessalonica ( grc-gre, Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Θεσσαλονικεύς; c. 10 BC - c. AD 38) was a Greek epigrammatist of the Roman period. Biography Antipater lived during the latter part of the reign of Augustus, and perha ...

in the 1st century BC. The island is mentioned by

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

''.2.675-679
/ref> In Roman times it became part of the Insulae province. Between X-XI centuries, Genoese captains and adventurers who had a private fleet organized in clans united by family ties, exercised sovereignty and maritime control on behalf of the

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 ...

s, and these clans in exchange for the protection of the seas were given a concession to exploit raw materials, rights of trade and collection of customs duties. 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 military order. It was headq ...

1315 Year 1315 ( MCCCXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * May 9 – Eudes IV succeeds Hugh V as Duke of Burgundy. * August – Louis X is crowne ...

were allowed to settle on the island upon payment of rent to Genoese government ruled by the Vignolo family, and they built the crusader castle. In the following centuries there were clashes between Turks and Venetian crusaders, and with uncertain outcomes the island passed to the Ottomans in 1566; then passed almost 4 centuries later from the Ottomans to the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

in 1911 during the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

, along with the rest of the

Dodecanese islands 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. ...

. It finally was annexed to the

Greek Kingdom 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, where ...

after 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 opposi ...

, in 1947.

Christianity

The patron saint of the

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 ...

is Saint Nikitas. Many

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Christian churches are found on the island, as well as four monasteries which are not inhabited by monks today, although various celebrations take place in them. The largest monastery is the one of ''Panagia Spiliani'' (Blessed Virgin Mary of the cave) at Mandraki. It is built beside the medieval castle erected by the

Diocese of Nisyrus

Nisyrus was a suffragan of Rhodes, but the bishopric faded. Known bishops included

Matthaeus de Cheselles Matthaeus (also Matthæus) is a given name, the Latin form of Matthew. Notable people with the name include: * Matthaeus Greuter (1564–1638), German etcher and engraver who worked in Rome * Matthaeus Pipelare (c. 1450 – c. 1515), Netherla ...

(appointed 1436),

Pierre Fridaricus Pierre Fridaricus was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nisyros, one of the Greek islands. Biography Pierre Fridaricus served as Bishop of Nisyros in the late 1400s. While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of George B ...

(served from the 1480s),Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Pierre Fridaricus"
retrieved January 30, 2016 Pedro Xague (appointed 1560),Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Pedro Xague, O.P."
retrieved January 30, 2016 and Jerónimo Clavijo (appointed 1564).Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Jerónimo Clavijo, O.P."
retrieved January 30, 2016
retrieved January 30, 2016

Latin titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1927 as Titular See of the lowest (Episcopal) rank, initially named Nysirus (Curiate Italian Nisiro), and renamed Nisyrus in 1928. It has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents: * Francesco Fellinger (26 February 1929 – 22 July 1940) * Augusto Osvaldo Salinas Fuenzalida,

Picpus Fathers The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary () abbreviated SS.CC., is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men priests and brothers. The congregation is also known as the Picpus because their firs ...

(SS.CC.) (9 February 1941 – 3 August 1950) * Elizeu Simões Mendes (21 August 1950 – 19 September 1953) * Carlos Maria Jurgens Byrne,

Redemptorists The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

(C.SS.R.) (7 February 1954 – 17 December 1956) (later Archbishop) * Augusto Trujillo Arango (25 April 1957 – 31 March 1960) (later Archbishop) * Auguste Joseph Gaudel (1 September 1960 – 8 August 1969)

Culture

A traditional product of Nisyros is ''

soumada Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water. It was originally made with a barley-almond blend. It has a pronounced almond taste and is used to flavor many cocktails. Orgeat syrup is an importan ...

'', a non-alcoholic almond-flavoured drink.

Twinning

Mandraki is twinned with the following municipalities: *

Lapithos Lapithos or Lapethos ( el, Λάπηθος; tr, Lapta) is a town in Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus. Archeologists claim that Lapithos was founded by the Achean brothers Praxandros and Cepheus. According to Stra ...

, Cyprus

Notable natives and residents

John Catsimatidis John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, a grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

owner of

Gristedes Gristedes is a New York City-based chain of supermarkets. It serves a mostly urban customer base. History Gristede Brothers: 1891-1987 Charles Gristede and his brother Diedrich came to the United States from Germany in 1888, found work in gro ...

References

External links

Official website

Photoblog from bRandSboRg.CoM
{{Authority control Islands of Greece Dodecanese Municipalities of the South Aegean Volcanoes of Greece Volcanoes of the Aegean Active volcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes Calderas of Greece VEI-2 volcanoes Populated places in Kos (regional unit) Landforms of Kos (regional unit) Islands of the South Aegean Members of the Delian League Greek city-states Locations in the Iliad Populated places in the ancient Aegean islands Catholic titular sees in Europe