Koufonisi (

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

: Κουφονήσι, known as Leuce in antiquity) is an uninhabited

islet, located 5.6 km (3 nautical miles) south of cape Goudero on the coast of

Lasithi Lasithi () is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra and Sitia. The mountains include the Dikti in the west and the Thrypti in the ...

, eastern

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, in the

Libyan Sea The Libyan Sea (; ; ) is the portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of the North Africa, African coast of Ancient Libya, ancient ''Libya'', i.e. Cyrenaica, and Marmarica (the coast of what is now Butnan District, eastern Libya and Matrouh Gov ...

. The island is roughly long and across. It has an entire surface area of . It forms a close group of islands with Makroulo, Marmaro, Strongyli, and Trachilos. During the summer, the island is visited by tour boats from the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

of Makry Gialos approximately away.

History

Ancient ruins cover the island and can be dated from the Minoan civilisation and the post-Byzantine era when some of the caves were used as chapels during Christian persecution by the Ottomans. Due to the wealth of archaeology the island has been described as "a little Dilos". Islands in Eastern Crete: Koufonisi or Leyki Island in Makrigialos, by Papadakis, Archaeologist (1983).

Sponge fishing and purple dye

In ancient times ''Leuce'' was important for sponge fishing and for the production of a purple dye made from the gastropod Murex trunculus. The purple dye was a valuable commodity in ancient Greece and was worth its weight in solid silver.

Roman ruins

There are Roman ruins on the island including a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, that could seat 1,000 people, a temple, a villa with eight rooms, and a number of houses (probably the homes of fishermen). There are also remnants of the statue of a deity at the temple.

Greek War of Independence

In April 1823, 28 Cretan insurgents from the eastern part of Crete, under the chieftain Emmanouil Kozani, Emmanouil Alexi, and others boarded a small ship to go to Koufonisi at night where the notorious

janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

Mehmet Pilavas and his 30 men were camped. The insurgents surrounded the janissaries and a gunfight ensued where Pilavas and 27 of his men were killed. Only three of the janissaries survived by hiding in crags in the rocks.

Lighthouse bombed during World War II

There are also the remains of a lighthouse that was bombed by the Germans during the Second World War.

Important Bird Area

Koufonisi and its adjacent islets have been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because they support a population of Eleonora's falcons.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Greece Mediterranean islands Landforms of Lasithi Tourist attractions in Crete Former populated places in Greece Archaeological sites in Greece Uninhabited islands of Crete Crete in World War II Greek War of Independence Roman sites in Greece Important Bird Areas of Crete