Icaria trivia: 50 facts about the spellbinding Greek island!

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!

1. Icaria is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea
2. It is also spelled Ikaria
3. It is 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos
4. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology
5. Who was believed to have fallen into the sea nearby
6. Administratively, Icaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria regional unit
7. Which is part of the North Aegean region
8. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Agios Kirykos
9. The historic capitals of the island include Oenoe and Evdilos
10. Icaria has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC
11. Then it was populated by the Neolithic pre-Hellenic people of the Pelasgians
12. Around 750 BC, Greeks from Miletus colonized Icaria
13. Establishing a settlement in the area of present-day Campos
14. Which later became the ancient capital city of Oenoe
15. Anciently, the island was called Icaria or Ikaria, as today
16. And also Icarus or Ikaros
17. Icaria, during the 6th century BC, became part of the sea empire of Polycrates
18. And during the 5th century BC, the Icarian cities of Oenoe and Thermae were members of the Athenian-dominated Delian League
19. During the 2nd century, the island was colonized by Samos
20. At this time, the Tauropolion, the temple of Artemis was built at Oenoe
21. Coins of the city represented Artemis and a bull
22. There was another, smaller temenos that was sacred to Artemis Tauropolos, at Nas, on the northwest coast of the island
23. Nas had been a sacred spot to the pre-Hellenic inhabitants of the Aegean
24. And Nas was an important island port in antiquity
25. The last stop before testing the dangerous seas around Icaria
26. It was an appropriate place for sailors to make sacrifices to Artemis Tauropolos
27. Who was a patron of seafarers
28. Here, the goddess was represented in an archaic wooden xoanon
29. 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
30. In 1939, this church was excavated by the Greek archeologist Leon Politis
31. During the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
32. Many of the artifacts that were unearthed by Politis disappeared
33. Local tales state Germans stole the artifacts
34. The quality of life improved greatly after 1960
35. Then the Greek government began to invest in the infrastructure of the island to assist in the promotion of tourism
36. Today, Icaria is considered one of the world’s five “Blue Zones”
37. Places where the population regularly lives to an advanced age
38. This is due to healthy diet, lifestyle, and genetics
39. The inhabitants of the island are known as Icarians or Icariots
40. An Icarian diaspora is found throughout Greece
41. Specifically on Thimena and Fournoi Korseon
42. As well as in Athens
43. There a large community is found
44. The people of Icarian diaspora can be found throughout the world
45. Mainly in Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom
46. Icarian Greeks are closely related to other Aegean island Greeks
47. Such as Greeks from Samos, Chios, Fournoi Korseon, and Patmos, as well as Greeks from Anatolia
48. The Icarus myth, where the island gets its name, is a major part of the local curriculum
49. The island has many schools and participates in student exchanges with schools in Athens
50. The island has many museums for tourists to visit, 4 of them are the ones you need to see