Icaria is one of the most beautiful Greek islands. Every year it accommodates thousands of tourists that fall in love with this island!
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about it!
- Icaria is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea
- It is also spelled Ikaria
- It is 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos
- According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology
- Who was believed to have fallen into the sea nearby
- Administratively, Icaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria regional unit
- Which is part of the North Aegean region
- The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Agios Kirykos
- The historic capitals of the island include Oenoe and Evdilos
- Icaria has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC
- Then it was populated by the Neolithic pre-Hellenic people of the Pelasgians
- Around 750 BC, Greeks from Miletus colonized Icaria
- Establishing a settlement in the area of present-day Campos
- Which later became the ancient capital city of Oenoe
- Anciently, the island was called Icaria or Ikaria, as today
- And also Icarus or Ikaros
- Icaria, during the 6th century BC, became part of the sea empire of Polycrates
- And during the 5th century BC, the Icarian cities of Oenoe and Thermae were members of the Athenian-dominated Delian League
- During the 2nd century, the island was colonized by Samos
- At this time, the Tauropolion, the temple of Artemis was built at Oenoe
- Coins of the city represented Artemis and a bull
- There was another, smaller temenos that was sacred to Artemis Tauropolos, at Nas, on the northwest coast of the island
- Nas had been a sacred spot to the pre-Hellenic inhabitants of the Aegean
- And Nas was an important island port in antiquity
- The last stop before testing the dangerous seas around Icaria
- It was an appropriate place for sailors to make sacrifices to Artemis Tauropolos
- Who was a patron of seafarers
- Here, the goddess was represented in an archaic wooden xoanon
- The temple stood in good repair until the middle of the 19th century when the marble was pillaged, for their local church, by the Kato Raches villagers
- In 1939, this church was excavated by the Greek archeologist Leon Politis
- During the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
- Many of the artifacts that were unearthed by Politis disappeared
- Local tales state Germans stole the artifacts
- The quality of life improved greatly after 1960
- Then the Greek government began to invest in the infrastructure of the island to assist in the promotion of tourism
- Today, Icaria is considered one of the world’s five “Blue Zones”
- Places where the population regularly lives to an advanced age
- This is due to healthy diet, lifestyle, and genetics
- The inhabitants of the island are known as Icarians or Icariots
- An Icarian diaspora is found throughout Greece
- Specifically on Thimena and Fournoi Korseon
- As well as in Athens
- There a large community is found
- The people of Icarian diaspora can be found throughout the world
- Mainly in Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom
- Icarian Greeks are closely related to other Aegean island Greeks
- Such as Greeks from Samos, Chios, Fournoi Korseon, and Patmos, as well as Greeks from Anatolia
- The Icarus myth, where the island gets its name, is a major part of the local curriculum
- The island has many schools and participates in student exchanges with schools in Athens
- The island has many museums for tourists to visit, 4 of them are the ones you need to see
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