Kea (), also known as Tzia () and in antiquity Keos (, ), is a Greek

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit.

Geography

It is the

of the Cyclades complex that is closest to

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

(about 1 hour by ferry from Lavrio) and is also from Cape Sounio as well as SE of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Its climate is arid, and its terrain hilly. Kea is long from north to south and wide from west to east. The area is with the highest point being

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The municipality, which includes the island Makronisos, has an area of . Its capital, Ioulis, is inland at a high altitude (like most ancient Cycladic settlements, for fear of pirates) and is considered quite picturesque. Other major villages of Kea are the port of Korissia and the fishing village of Vourkari. After suffering depopulation for many decades, Kea has been recently rediscovered by

Athenians Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

as a convenient destination for weekend and yachting trips. The population in 2019 was 2,568.

Local communities

* Agia Marina, Kea * Chavouna * Ellinika * Kato Meria * Ioulis * Korissia * Koundouros * Otzias * Pisses * Vourkari * Pera Meria

History

Neolithic

Kephala, Kea was a Late/Final Neolithic settlement on Kea. It is located on a rocky promontory, in the northern part of Kea. The Final Neolithic of the Cyclades is fully represented here. It is the only significant open settlement of this period. This means a settlement with free-standing structures that is not protected by a wall. Some sites in Attica, such as Athens and Thorikos, and in

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

seem to be related to Kephala. The Final Neolithic Period in southern Greece is known as Attica-Kephala culture. Kephala has been recently dated to about 4600-4500 BC, but the Attica-Kephala culture may have continued later even in the 4th millennium BC, such as up to 3500 BC. The Neolithic community of Kephala may have consisted of 45-80 people. They farmed cereals, and kept sheep, goats, cattle and pigs. But fishing was also important. Pottery was covered with a red slip and decorated by burnishing. Their tools were also manufactured of

obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

that came from the island of

Melos Milos or Melos (; , ; ) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. It is the southwestern-most island of the Cyclades group. The ''Venus de Milo'' (now in the Louvre), the '' Poseidon of Melos'' (now in the ...

. They also made marble vases. On the slope of the promontory, a little lower than the settlement, a cist grave cemetery was found. The walls of the graves were made of small flat stones, and each had a number of burials. Children were commonly buried in pottery jars ( pithoi). The cemetery may have been in use for about 150 years. Evidence for metalworking was found, one of the earliest occurrences in the Aegean. Fragments of clay crucibles and small copper artifacts were discovered. The copper that was used at Kephala may have come from the mines in Lavrion in eastern Attica.

Bronze Age

Kea is the location of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement at the site now called Ayia Irini, which reached its height in the Late Minoan and Early Mycenaean eras (1600–1400 BC). In the Archaic period, the island was divided between four city-states ( poleis): Ioulis, Karthaia, Poieessa and Koressos. During the classical period, Kea (Ceos) was the home of

Simonides Simonides of Ceos (; ; c. 556 – 468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Kea (island), Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed by them as worthy of criti ...

and of his nephew Bacchylides, both ancient Greek lyric

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

s, of the Sophist Prodicus, and of the physician Erasistratus. The inhabitants were known for offering sacrifices to the Dog Star, Sirius and to

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

to bring cooling breezes while awaiting the reappearance of Sirius in summer; if the star rose clear, it would portend good fortune; if it was misty or faint, then it foretold (or emanated) pestilence. Coins retrieved from the island from the 3rd century BC feature dogs or stars with emanating rays, highlighting Sirius' importance. Lion of Kea

The island is known for an ancient stone-carved lion, known as the Lion of Ioulis (or Liontas), which was carved some time prior to 600 BC. According to legend, the island of Kea was once home to a population of water nymphs whose beauty, along with their lovely island, made the gods jealous, who sent a lion to lay waste to the island. In any case, the mainland of Greece was home to a significant population of lions throughout the classical period. Also in the classical period the island was famous for its mines of a red

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

known as 'Kean miltos';

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

refers to it in his ''On Stones''. In early 1884, the British explorers Theodore and Mabel Bent visited the island in search of remnants of these mines. During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period, many churches were built and the prosperity of the island rose. It was

until, in 1204, it was captured by the Venetians in the wake of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. The Archbishop of Athens, Michael Choniates, came here in exile after his city fell to the Crusaders in 1205. It was recaptured by the Byzantines under Licario in 1278. In around 1302 during the Byzantine–Venetian War, it again fell to the Venetians, who built a castle on the ancient acropolis of Ioulis.

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

also settled on the island, thereafter assimilating into the Greek population.Jochalas, Titos P. (1971): Über die Einwanderung der Albaner in Griechenland: Eine zusammenfassene Betrachtung On the immigration of Albanians to Greece: A summary" München: Trofenik. pg. 89–106. Kea was taken from the Venetians by the Ottoman Turks in 1537. Along with the rest of the Cyclades, Kea joined Greece following the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

in 1821. HMHS ''Britannic'', which is the third sister ship of the RMS ''Olympic'' and the ill-fated RMS ''Titanic'', sank off Kea Island in November 21, 1916 on the Kea Channel after hitting a mine, with the loss of thirty lives. She is the largest ship sunk in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Ecclesiastical History

Orthodox Eparchy

The earliest indication of it as a Greek bishopric is in a list by the Sicilian monk

Neilos Doxapatres Neilos Doxapatres () was a Byzantine Greek monk, theologian, and writer active in Constantinople and Sicily during the first half of the 12th century. Biography Born into a native Greeks, Greek family of Constantinople, he made his career there, ...

of the second half of the 12th century and this may have been a later interpolation, since the list of the Greek bishops of Kea begins only at the end of the 16th century.

Latin Catholic residential diocese

In 1330, as part of the Venetian Duchy of Naxos, it became, under the name Ceo, the see of a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

bishopric of Ceo in the Cyclades, which in 1600 was renamed bishopric of Diocese of Thermia (island Knythos), but suppressed in 1650, after the Ottoman conquest. It is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

Historical population

The French traveler Jean de Thévenot reported 700 houses in the main town of Kea, now Ioulida, in 1656 (his compatriot the botanist

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Li ...

guessed 2500 in 1700). The Greek historian Ioannis Psyllas estimated a population of more than 7000 on the island in 1821, a number that dropped sharply due to a plague outbreak that killed 1600 to 2000 Keans in 1823. Official Greek census data shows a population of around 4000 in the 19th century, decreasing gradually until 1981 and then beginning to rebound under the influence of tourism.

Climate

Kea has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate.

Scuba diving

The island is a destination for exploring nature and scuba diving, with excellent visibility, rich marine life, and wall, cavern and wreck diving. The water temperature ranges from 20° to 26 °C. The highlight for recreational divers is the wreck of the paddle-wheeler steamship ''Patris'' which sank in 1868 and lies at a depth of 28 metres. She was a passenger steamer 66 m long, in service in the Aegean Sea, owned by the Hellenic Steamship Co., based on Syros island, at that time the capital of Greece. She hit the reef off Koundouros Bay at Makriopounda, Kea island on 24 February 1868 with about 120 passengers aboard. No casualties were reported owing to the proximity of land. The wreck of HMHS ''Britannic'', located 1.5 nautical miles offshore, is at a depth of about . The French ship SS ''Burdigala'' is a recently discovered wreck, from the island's harbour, at 53 m depth. Sunk 14 November 1916, she was a 180 m long ocean liner built in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

by Ferdinand Schichau Werft.

Notable people

( 556 BC – 468 BC) lyric poet * Bacchylides (5th century BC) lyric poet * Prodicus (5th century BC) sophist * Theramenes (late 5th century BC) Athenian statesman * Aristo (3rd century BC) peripatetic philosopher * Emmanouil Papadopoulos (died 1810), Russian general * Patriarch Meletius III of Constantinople * Cyparissos Stephanos (1857–1917), mathematician * John Angelo Congear, father of Australian AFL footballer, Angelo Congear

In literature

Kea is the scene of much of Mary Renault's novel, '' The Praise Singer''.

References

External links

Official Island website

An 1885 travel guide to Keos (Zea)
an excerpt from James Theodore Bent's ''The Cyclades, or Life among the Insular Greeks'' {{Authority control Municipalities of the South Aegean Populated places in Kea-Kythnos Minoan geography Landforms of Kea-Kythnos Islands of the South Aegean Members of the Delian League