Ios is a famous island for people who like to have a good time during their summer holidays. There are many parties and clubs on this island!
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about this greek island!
- Ios or Io or Nio is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea
- Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides
- Situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini
- It is about 18 kilometres (11 miles) long and 10 kilometres (6 miles) wide
- With an area of 109.024 square kilometres (42.094 sq mi)
- Population was 2,024 in 2011 (down from 3,500 in the 19th century)
- Ios is part of the Thira regional unit
- The Port of Ios is at the head of the Ormos harbour in the northwest
- There is a path up the nearby hill to Chora, the Greek word on every island for the main village
- Chora is a white and cycladic village, full of stairs and narrow paths that make it inaccessible for cars of any kind
- Today, the main path through this village is completely taken over by tourism in terms of restaurants, boutiques, bars and discothèques
- Apart from the port and the village of Chora, Ios has a few small settlements
- Just a group of spread out houses in the background of major beaches (Theodoti, Kalamos, Manganari)
- Since the 1990s, the island mayor Pousseos has worked on Ios’ development towards attracting different types of tourists
- With the help of European Community funds some roads have been built, all of them paved
- And a scenic amphitheatre was created by the German architect Peter Haupt at the top of the village hill
- According to Plutarch it is thought that the name has derived from the Ancient Greek word for violets “Ία” (Ia)
- Because they were commonly found on the island
- And it is the most accepted etymology
- Others say that the name is derived from Phoenician word iion
- Meaning “pile of stones” but Pliny the Elder writes that the name comes from the Ionians which lived in the island
- In the Ottoman period the island was called Anza or Aina
- And its present name was officially established in the 19th century after over 2000 years of usage
- During the ancient times the island was also called “Φοινίκη” (Phiniki)
- Named after and by the Phoenicians and in the 3rd century
- When the island joined League of the Islanders was probably temporarily named Arsinoe after the wife of Ptolemy II
- Today the inhabitants of the Cycladic Islands call the island Nio
- A name deriving from the Byzantine Era
- The name Little Malta, which is found in texts of travelers during the Ottoman domination
- It is related to the permanent presence of pirates on the island
- In languages with Latin script, the island name is Nio or Io
- According to the Greek census 2011 in Ios live 2084 people
- 1754 of them live in Chora
- From the 1940s to the early 1970s, there was a constant reduction to the population of the island
- The main causes of this phenomenon are the migration movement
- The epidemiological conditions of the time
- And to a lesser extent, the loss of men aged between 18 and 45 during the war
- The island is famous for its local cheeses
- They are mainly made in the municipal creamery using milk from goats or sheep
- The most famous one is the “skotíri” (σκοτύρι), a sour cheese with the smell of summer savory
- Popular dishes of Ios are the “tsimediá” (τσιμεντιά , pumpkin flowers stuffed with rice) and “mermitzéli” (μερμιτζέλι, handmade barley)
- In a new era, the island has begun to emerge since the 70s as it is increasingly becoming a popular tourist destination for young people in Europe
- Today Ios retains its reputation as the island of youth and entertainment
- But also has excellent tourist infrastructure, organised marina at its harbour and good enough road network
- This puts it with the best in the new era
- Ecclesiastically, its territory is now part of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Thera, Amorgos and the Islands of the Church of Greece
- The island is very strongly connected with Homer
- Because according to the legend, Homer died in Ios
- The greatest epic poet of the Greeks died because he violated a Pythian oracle
- According to Pausanias, Homer visited the Delphi oracle to ask Pythia about his parents and origins
- Pythia replied with the oracle “Your mother’s home is the island of Ios, which will accept you when you die, but you should be careful of the enigma of the young children.”
- The poet, however, broke the oracle and traveled to Ios
- There he saw some small children fishing on the coast
- He asked what they got and the children replied: “Whatever we get we leave it and whatever we don’t get we take it with us”
- The children were talking about lice
- Those who found them, killed them, but those who did not find them, had them to their heads
- Homer did not find the answer, but he remembered the warning of Pythia
- He was horrified and ran away quickly
- The road was muddy and the poet in his hurry slipped and fell, hitting his head and dying almost instantaneously
- According to another version, Homer died from his sadness that he did not solve the puzzle
- While a third version says he was already seriously ill and went to Ios because he knew he would die
- Of course, the death of the great poet is not based on historical studies
- But on myths and traditions that circulated from mouth to mouth
- Pausanias simply recorded a popular narrative
- Today Ios operates the following educational institutions: Ios Kindergarten, Ios Elementary School, Ios High School with Lyceum Classes and an EPAL
- The elementary school has more than 100 children and it is housed in a classical building in the centre of Chora
- Ios attracts a large number of young tourists
- Many of whom used to sleep on their sleeping bags during the 1970s on the popular beach of Mylopotas after partying through the night
- Today Mylopotas beach has been developed to an equivalent mass package tourism resort
- Like Platys Gialos and Paradise Beach of Mykonos
