Kos trivia: 50 facts about this Greek island!

Kos is one of the Greek islands that belong to the Dodecanese islands. And one that has many visitors each year!

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about it!

1. Kos or Cos is a Greek island
2. It is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea
3. Off the Anatolian coast of Turkey
4. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area
5. After Rhodes and Karpathos
6. It has a population of 33,388 (2011 census)
7. Making it the second most populous of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes
8. The island measures 40 by 8 kilometres (25 by 5 miles)
9. And is 4 km (2 miles) from the coast of the ancient region of Caria in Turkey
10. Administratively, Kos constitutes a municipality within the Kos regional unit
11. Which is part of the South Aegean region
12. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Kos Town
13. The name Kos is first attested in the Iliad
14. And has been in continuous use since
15. Other ancient names include Meropis, Cea and Nymphaea
16. In many Romance languages, Kos was formerly known as Stancho, Stanchio, or Stinco
17. And in Ottoman and modern Turkish it is known as İstanköy
18. All from the reinterpretation of the Greek expression εις την Κω ‘to Kos’
19. The similar Istanbul and Stimpoli, Crete
20. Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, it was known as Lango or Langò
21. Presumably because of its length
22. In The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the author misunderstands this and treats Lango and Kos as distinct islands
23. In Italian, the island is known as Coo
24. A person from Kos is called a “Koan” in English
25. The word is also an adjective, as in “Koan goods”
26. The island has a 14th-century fortress at the entrance to its harbour
27. It was erected in 1315 by the Knights Hospitaller
28. And another from the Byzantine period in Antimachia
29. The ancient market place of Kos was considered one of the biggest in the ancient world
30. It was the commercial and commanding centre at the heart of the ancient city
31. It was organized around a spacious rectangular yard 50 metres (160 ft) wide and 300 metres (980 ft) long
32. It began in the Northern area and ended up south on the central road (Decumanus) which went through the city
33. The northern side connected to the city wall towards the entrance to the harbour
34. Here there was a monumental entrance
35. On the eastern side there were shops
36. In the first half of the 2nd century BC, the building was extended toward the interior yard
37. The building was destroyed in an earthquake in 469 AD
38. In the southern end of the market, there was a round building with a Roman dome and a workshop which produced pigments including “Egyptian Blue”
39. Coins, treasures, and copper statues from Roman times were later uncovered by archeologists
40. In the western side excavations led to the findings of rooms with mosaic floors which showed beastfights
41. A theme quite popular in Kos
42. The ancient physician Hippocrates is thought to have been born on Kos
43. And in the center of the town is the Plane Tree of Hippocrates
44. A dream temple where the physician is traditionally supposed to have taught
45. The limbs of the now elderly tree are supported by scaffolding
46. The small city is also home to the International Hippocratic Institute and the Hippocratic Museum dedicated to him
47. Near the Institute are the ruins of Asklepieion
48. There Herodicus taught Hippocrates medicine
49. Kos is the location of Skirmisher Publishing’s Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting
50. And also appears in a number of its affiliated adventures and works of fiction