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Position-Geophysical
Condition
The island of Halki is situated 35 nautical miles west of the city
of Rhodes and just 5 miles from me promontory of Monolithos, Rhodes.
With an area of 37.0 square kms and 34 kms of coastline, it is one
of the smallest islands of me Dodecanese group. It has an irregular
rectangular shape with a length of 10 kms from west to east and
width of approximately 3 kms from north to south. The landscape
is mountainous with the most important peaks being those of Prophet
Elias (5184 Kapouli (512) and Kapnikari (500m). With the exceptions
or the main port of Imporio and the beach or Pontamos, the other
beaches found of the island are small and rocky
History
The
historical references to Halki are rare. The island has gone through
the centuries of history in me shadow of Rhodes and its his-tory
can only be deduced in me main only with reference to the his-tory
of Rhodes and to the general area of the south eastern Aegean. Halki
has been inhabited from the prehistoric period. During histor-ical
times, Halki is from time to time a subject of Kamiros and is later
referred to as being part of the Athenian Alliance in the tax catalogues
of the Dilian Alliance. Which means that Halki was administratively
independent during this time. Later it seems that I come once again
under the control of Kamiros and it follows the fortunes of Rhodes
in the following centuries. In the 14th century the Knights of Rhodes
granted Hold to the Assanti family of Ischia as a fief The Assanti
family built their fort upon the ruins of the ancient acropolis.
Amongst the coat of arms saved today is the coats of arms of the
Grand Magister D' Aubusson (1476-1503), who rebut the fort after
me catastrophic invasion of the Venetians. The inhabitants would
flee to the fort for refuge during such invasions. In the 19th century
and under Turkish domination, Hold together with Symi, Kalymnos
and Kostellorizo enjoyed their golden age of prosperity, developing
trade and sponge fishing. Schools are established and the literary
level or the inhabitants rises considerably. In the find years of
Turkish rule and during Italian domination the privileged rights
once given to the islands are removed. This has the effect or damaging
trading and the sponge industry and the "bleeding" or the population,
which immigrates to other lands, begins. In 1912 Halki, as did all
the Dodecanese islands, come under Italian dominance and in 1923
was politically subject to Italy as well. During the Second World
War Halkite heroes, as was Lieutenant Alexandros Diakos and Captain
Diogenis Fanourakis, brought glory to the island.
Population
There
is only one settlement on the island named Halki or Imporios, which
is both the port and capital . It was established during the 19th
century when the steam ships of the sea police wiped out pira-cy
completely in the area and allowed the establishment of coostal
settlements. The village of Chorio, west of Halki, I built round
the hill upon which the fort I built and has and has olden style
stone houses. The village of Chorio was aban-doned gradually and
today is deserted. The town of Halki, built during prosperous times,
is architectural aristocratic, with traditional two and three story
houses positioned amphitheatrically around the harbour. Of speed
interest are the neoclassical Concil building, the stone clock tower
and the church of St. Nicholas (built in 1861) with its characteristic
bell tower and finely worked wooden iconostasis. Behind the town
tower (he bore and precipitous mountains or the island. Although
these mountains are not particularly tall, the highest peak of Maistro
located a tittle east of the centre of the island is only 593 metres
high, they seem extremely tall due to their gloomy and grand haughty
appearance
Activities
Theophrastos
refers to the extremely fertile valleys of Halki as being able to
be cultivated twice a year, thanks to the excellent temperate climate.
Famous were the large delicious figs and the honey of Halki as well
as the numerous flocks of partridge, which even today bring many
hunters to the island every year. Today, in common with all the
Dodecanese islands, tourism is tend-ing to become the only activity.
A sizeable hotel and tourist infra-structure has been developed
lately on me island. Halki was declared n 1983 01 island of worldwide
frienship of young people by the Ministry d the New Generation.
The works completed then by the government body, helped considerably
in the development d the tourist industry of Halki
Festivals
The
feast d St. John of Alakra celebrated on the 29th of August at the
well known monastery and pilgrimage site on the western edge of
the island, gathers Halkites from all over the world. At a small
distance are the monasteries of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Cross.
All the festivals of Halki are celebrated in the traditional way
and are extremely colourful.
Culture-Sites
Of
special interest to linguists and historians an folklore is the
unique linguistic idiom of the people of Halki, as well as the periodical
cus-toms and festivals, the monuments of folkloric literature (proverbs,
songs, two-versed sayings etc) and the rural, nautical and shepherding
customs etc Halki is literally in "monasteries", 'chapels" and cisterns
of common use. The need for God and water in such a land can only
be subject to the logic of sharing. Rainwater has been collected
from very ancient times in wells and cisterns because there are
no natural springs on the island. Older Halkites speak of cypress
and pine trees and other vegetation coverage but today vegetation
is sparse and the once fruit bearing trees of the valleys are few.
The only vegetation found today is the small bushes, sage, thyme,
rhododendron etc
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