1. Introduction

Symi is a small island, rocky and dry, with a cypress forest in the mainland, many gulfs, chapels and monasteries. It has four settlements, Gialos, Chorio, Pedi and Nimporios. The historical course of this small island was determined by its geographical position between Rhodes and Kos, in the gulf of Dotida.

2. History

2. 1. Antiquity

The rather scarce ancient written sources testify to the connection of Symi with the surrounding area and attribute its name to the first inhabitants of the mythical times: to Glaukos who, after stealing Symi, daughter of Ialysos and Dotida, brought her to the deserted island or to Hthonios, son of Poseidon and Symi, an inhabitant who came to the area with Triopas. The name of the mythical king of Symi, Nireas, is mentioned in the list that includes those who participated in the Trojan War and connects Symi to Mycenaean Greece. The ancient names Aigli and Metapontis are attributed to Symi by later sources: Stefanos Vyzantios and by Eftstathios in his book Geography.

The oldest –to date– signs of human presence have been verified by a surface survey in various positions in the countryside of the island and the surrounding islets. They are dating back to the Late Neolithic-Late Chalkolithic and the Early, Middle and Late Chalkolithic Period. During the Early Chalkolithic period, Symi is included in the cultural group of southeastern Aegean, while as it is determined mostly by the remains in the area of Drakounta, there were intense Minoan influences at the beginning of the Late Copper period. Traces of Mycenaean presence have been found in the Castle of Symi.

As reported by Diodoros Sikeliotis, Symi was occupied by Kares, who abandoned the island which was deserted until one of the late phases of the moving of Dorians, around the second half of the 9^th century B.C., when it was colonized by the Argians and Lacedaemonians. Originally, a group was installed there, led by Nafsos, and Xouthos followed, while settlers from Rhodes and Cnidus also followed. As an “island around Karia”, it should have been part of the “Doric Hexapolis” territory, the Amphictyony with its center at the temple of Apollo Triopius in Cnidus. The island was politically integrated in the group of the Dorian cities of the southeast Aegean which, during the Persian wars, where obligated to give ships to Xerxes. Later on, as the tax lists of the Athenian Alliance, Symi also contributed financially to the Alliance. During the Peloponnesian War, it appears to have been occupied by the Athenians, who used the island as an arsenal for the Athenian fleet and possibly as a station of military forces. Thucidides also mentions that during the 20^th year of the war (412/411 B.C.) between Symi and Cnidus, the Athenian and Lacedaemonian went into battle· the latter, after their victory, disembarked on the island and build a trophy. The efforts of some researchers to identify the trophy with various monuments on the island, and especially the tomb that remains today in the hill of Noulias, east of the windmills in the settlement, remains scientifically not documented. The earliest visible phase of fortification of the Symi Acropolis can be dated back to the 5^th century.

During the Hellenistic years, a time when the state of Rhodes was dominant, the Symians are mentioned in inscriptions as the “Kinon ton en Symi en katikounton” (confederation of those inhabiting Symi) and it is argued that the Symians belonged to one of the Rhodian municipalities of Perea, possibly in the municipality of Kassareon.

Most of the monuments that can be found around the island and the near-by islets date back to this last period and they are known as “Kastra” (Symi, Tsagria, Faneromeni, Nymos, Sesklio, etc.) The countryside monuments should be considered to be cottages, country towers or fryktories (fire towers).

The entire area was integrated to the Roman Empire, initially during the reign of Nero (54-68 A.D.), while during the reign of Vespasianus (67-79) it will be finally integrated to the eparchy of Asia.

(Eleni Farmakidou)

2. 2. Byzantium and the Knights of the Order of St. John

The history of Symi continues with no interruption from the Ancient Times onwards, following a common course with Rhodes. During the Paleochristian period, Symi belonged to the eparchy of the Islands (provincia Insulae) and since the 7^th century, to the Theme of the Kibyrrhaiotai. There has been no systematic archaeological survey on the islands and only remains of the 5^th-6^th century have been found in the church of Archangel Michael Avlakiotis in Pedi and in Nimporio, in the position of the three small churches (Koimissi Theotokou, Agia Kara and Metamorphosi Sotiros), a basilica which bears part of a mosaic showing a cameleer with his camel. The existence of architectural members of this period (chapiters, columns, etc) in the church of Agia Irini in Nimporio and in the monastery of Panormitis, lead to the assumption that a basilica pre-existed in the same location.

During the dark centuries (7^th – 9^th century) and the Middle Byzantine times (10^th – 13^th century), there are no written reports relevant to the island. Symi seems to have changed various sovereigns during the 13^th century, since the Siege of Constantinople by the Franks, until the coming of the Knights of the Order of St. John. The only sample of the era is Agios Ioannis of Tsagrias, which bears significant mural decorations of the 13^th century. During the occupation of the Knights (1309-1522), under the sovereignty of the order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, a time which is represented by monuments, such as the frescoes of Agios Prokopios and of Agia Marina of Neras (end of 14^th century) and those of the basement of the katholikon (main church) of the monastery of Roukouniotis (15^th century). At the same time, the castle in Chorio is built, in the position of the ancient acropolis, which was reconditioned by the Great Magister Amboise in 1507, as attested by a built-in coat of arms found in the part of the wall that remains today.

2. 3. Ottoman period

After the Ottomans occupied the island in 1522, Symi was administratively subordinate to the sanjak of Rhodes. According to a firman of 1523, the island paid taxes and maintained its own administration institutions. In exchange, the residents worked as boat-builders. The most important administration institution was the “common of Symi”, which was led by the community’s elders. Many travelers’ texts from the 17^th and 18^th century remain today and include maps that describe the island and its inhabitants.

The inhabitants of Symi are really active in sponge-fishing and mercantile shipping, and make transporting that brings wealth to the island and found commercial houses in European and Mediterranean cities. They are participating in the Hellenic Revolution of 1821, but with the London protocol (1830) they remain under ottoman sovereignty until 1912. For the remaining 19^th century, the island’s privileges are limited, but Symi has significant cultural activity. Except for the foundation of schools, in 1872 “Egli” was also created, the oldest reading room in the Aegean area. Moreover, the inhabitants’ immigration begins and it will be more intense during the period of Italian occupation.

2. 4. Earlier years

In 1912, the Italians occupy the island until 1943. The Germans follow and they in turn, give the island to the British in 1945. Finally, in 1948 Symi is integrated to Greece, together with the rest of the Dodecanese. During the bombings of World War II, most building were wrecked and about 2/3 of the of the population migrated to neighboring Rhodes, Pireaus or America, leaving the population to 2,500 persons, in contrast to the 25,000 persons that were inhabiting the island during the last phase of its prime. Economic recovery and repatriation started in the 1970’s and it was mostly based on tourism.

3. Architecture

The financial prosperity of the 18^th and 19^th century is mostly reflected in the areas of architecture and art. Many churches and monasteries are being renovated, built and painted with frescoes. Research has shown that during the first half of the 18^th century in Symi, there is an active painting workshop, with the Symian painter Grigorios and Neofitos leading the way, which expands to Rhodes and Tilos. Other important paintings of the era can be found in: the katholikon of Megalos Sotiris (1727), Profitis Ilias (1722) and Ipapanti (1734), Mikros Sotiris or Ligis (1802) etc.

The popular architecture, for which Symi has been characterized as an historical preservation settlement since 1974, is a separate topic. From the period of economic prosperity, still remain two-storey and three-storey houses, with courtyards and pebbled floors, mostly in Gialos and Kali Strate which leads to Chorio, while most building are simple in form. The neoclassical elements which decorate the front are characteristic and are corresponding to similar houses in Chios, Syros, Kastellorizo and Smyrna, such as the gabled tiled roofs, pediment with skylight, cornice of the doors and windows, the small balconies with simple railings and the combination of the colors. Internally, the houses are decorated with painting ceilings, wood-carved closets, Venetian mirrors, chests and bedroom separators called “Mousadres”, which bear wood-carved and painted decorations. The reading room “Egli” in Gialos and Spetsaria (municipal drugstore) in Chorio, the Petinaki residence, the Haska residence and the Sala Hatziagapitou, a four-storey mansion with a flat roof (terrace) and the exterior of a castle, are characteristic buildings.

4. The Archaeological Museum

Next to Sala is the residence of Nikolaos Farmakidis, which was given as a donation to the Archaeological Agency in 1961 and is now housing the Archaeological Museum. The mansion comprises of an upper floor with four rooms, a kitchen, a courtyard and a well. The addition of neoclassical elements took place in 1875. The exhibits cover the time frame from prehistory to the Later Years and belonged to smaller, private collections that were given to enrich the museum’s collection.

5. Popular culture

The customs of worship are very intense on the island of Symi. For example: each family “adopts” a chapel, undertakes its care and on the day of the saint’s celebration to which the chapel is dedicated, the family pays all the expenses for its operation and offers the guests coffee and “akoumion” (a kind of Turkish delight) after the saint’s image has been circulated around the village. In the celebration of some chapels, a feast is given for all the visitors while on the day before, there is a celebration in the church’s courtyard. The Panormitis celebration gathers visitors from the surrounding islands. Regarding the traditional arts, those surviving after tourism are ship-building in the Shipyard in Gialos, apiculture, wood-carving, fishing and the production of a certain type of “raki” made from dried figs, which can be found in great quantities in the island’s dry mainland.

6. Panormitis Monastery

The monastery of St. Taxiarhis Michael Panormitis is in the gulf of Panormos and constitutes one of the most well known pilgrimages in the Aegean as well as Greece in general. This is confirmed by the custom in which the pilgrims bring messages in a bottle that is thrown at sea but always reaches the monastery.

Archaeologically, it is assumed that an ancient temple pre-existed in this location and a basilica probably replaced it during the Paleochristian times – excavations have not confirmed this. The existence of the monastery during the 14^th-15^th century is testified by written sources. During the 18^th century, the form that the katholikon has today is documented with the dedicatory inscription next to the entrance, which mentions the year of renovation (1783) by the Rhodian architect Anastassios Karnavas that was followed by the construction of the wood-carved templon by the craftsman Drakos Taliadouros (1783-1787) and its frescoes by local painters, the monk Neofitos and Kiriakos Karakostiou (1792). The image of Taxiarhis bears the silver lining with the name of craftsman Ioannis Peloponnissios (1724), connecting it with the previous construction phase of the temple, as also confirmed by the record of the first abbots in the monastery’s register (1777).

In the 19^th century, the monastery’s activity is more obvious. A firman of sultan Selim (1806) protects the monastery from any intervention and collects sponsorships from the Tsar’s Fund, as shown by the notable Russian offerings. It also participates in the Hellenic Revolution (1821), contributing financially. The monastery’s register is rich in documents, providing valuable information for its history in the 19^th century and during the Italian occupation.