Saria Island ( el, Σαρία), anciently known as Sarus or Saros ( grc, Σάρος), is an

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 ...

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 a rocky, volcanic island just to the north of

Karpathos Karpathos ( el, Κάρπαθος, ), also Carpathos, is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality of Karpathos, which is part o ...

, separated from it by a strait 100 m (330 ft) wide. It is part of the Dodekanissos

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 ...

. In ancient times, a city-state called Saros was situated on the island. It was a member of the

Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...

.Athenian Tribute Lists
/ref> Administratively, it is part of the community of Olympos. The 2011 census reported a resident population of 45 persons. It has little plant or animal life, and has a number of steep cliffs. Although only shepherds live on Saria now, the ruins of the ancient city 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 islands of Kos and Tilos. Its shape is appro ...

can be found here. It is also a breeding area for

Eleonora's falcon Eleonora's falcon (''Falco eleonorae'') is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus ''Hypotriorchis''. The sooty falcon is sometimes considered its closest re ...

s. Although the name is subject to dispute, scholars link it with the name of an ancient Greek princess named Katherine from a line of Saria royalty. Greek legends say she was as beautiful as Helen of Troy and so they named an island after her. On the island of Saria, it is

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...

that a kingdom existed named Mikri Nisyros.

References

External links

Map of Saria Island in relation to community of Olympos and Karpathos Island
Islands of Greece Dodecanese Landforms of Karpathos (regional unit) Islands of the South Aegean Members of the Delian League Natura 2000 in Greece {{AncientAegean-geo-stub