A Chronological History
Firstly if you were not aware Kastellorizo was not its original name. Its ancient name was Megiste, Megisti or Meyisti and was changed to Castello Rosso by the Italians and to Kastellorizo when Greece resumed occupancy. The chronology was based upon Castellorizo: An Illustrated story of the island and its Conquerors by Nicholas Pappas and published by Halstead Press. The following history was approved by Nicholas for which we are most grateful.
The population figures quoted in this chronology may surprise many, as the figure of 14,000 is commonly quoted. In fact, the highest resident population ever officially recorded was in 1910 at 9,000, still a sizable population for a small island. However, an 1811 chart of Kastellorizo and the Anatolian coast (then known as Karamania), prepared by Francis Beaufort, labels the mainland opposite the island as the “rovince of Meis” (turkish for Megiste); an indication of the rising importance of Kastellorizians in the hinterland of Antifilo (modern Kas). If one included the Kastellorizian colonies on the mainland inthe population figures then maybe one could arrive at 14,000 but there is no evidence that the population on Kastellorizo itself was ever over 9,000.
The Islets of Kastellorizo
From an excerpt of Nicolas Pappas’ book “Castellorizo: An Illustrated History of the Island and its Conquerors” “Kastellorizo has 14 independent islets. The two largest, Rho (also known as Ayios Yioryios) and Strongili (Ipsili), were both inhabited sporadically until fairly recently and retain lighthouses to this day.
Rho has a sheltered harbour and the remains of a castle. Strongili is laregly inaccessible and precipitous rising to a height of 197 metres. The other islets dependenet on Kastellorizo are Psoradhia, Polifadhos, Psomi, Agrielia, Ayios Yioryios tou Nisiou (with its small church), Mavro Pini, Mavro Pinaki, Kalikanatzaraki, Koutsoumbas, Tragonera and Savoura (both near Rho) and Nisi tou Navlaka, off the east coast of the island, before 1933, Kastellorizo had a further nine dependent islets which lie close to the Turkish coast.
In 1933 Italy ceded these nine islets to Turkey thus extending Turkey’s territorial waters. Note: The change in spelling Castellorizo to Kastellorizo was a result of a decision of the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria.
1530 -1821 Ottoman domination. It is generally accepted that Kastellorizo surrendered to the Turks on condition that the island be granted commercial priveleges. It had not been formally occupied after the fall of Rhodes. Dodacanese islands which had surrendered, such as Kastellorizo, had only one fixed tax called a “maktou’ which was not heavy. The “maktou’, a once-a-year tax, is first imposed on Kastellorizo in 1552. Decrees of Sultans between 1644 and 1770 confirmed the “maktou”. Kastellorizo also enjoyed freedom of trade and freedom of religion.
In 1570 the Venetians, at war with Turkey, briefly occupied the island. From 1653 Turkish citiznes were encouraged to live on the island because of the Venetian presence in the area. The Church of St Nicholas and the Church of St Demetrious of the Castle were built besie the Knights’ Castle probably circa 1650. In 1659, he Venetian fleet under Captain-General Gremonville, occupied Kastellorizo, and destroyed the Castle. (The Turks later rebuilt it). The Greek population was allowed to remain, providing an annual tribute was paid to the Venetian public. The Venetain reign was short-lived and about two or three years, and contributed to the ilands de-population.
By the early 18th century it was overrun by marauding pirates. By the mid-18th century the inhabitants had re-established themselves as they resumed sailing and trade. In 1788 Lambros Katsonis, a Greek pirate, took possession of the island from the Turkish 1,150 strong garrison, and destroyed the Castle which the Turks has rebuilt after its destruction by the Venetians. Occupation by Greek pirates is sometimes referred to as a time of ‘freedom’ but it was a time of great duress with other pirates also plundering the island. Turkey re-took the island in 1792, after a brief Russian military occupation.
By the close of the 18th century Kastellorizo was gain firmly under Turkish rule. About that time Kastellorizo established a sister settlement which became known as Antifilo (now Kas) on the Turkish coast near the ancinet Hellenistic town of Antiphellus. The settlement provided fresh vegetables, and wood, some of which was later processed and coinverted to charcoal. It is possible that there was another total evacuation circa 1805 when it was learned that the pirates from Syria were on their way back to the island.
1821 – The Greek War of Independence. It appears that women and children were evacuated to other islands at the outbreak of war. Kastellorizo enjoyed independence until, under the London Protocol in 1830, it is bartered back to Turkey in exchange for Euboea (Evia) which was vital to the new regime in order to safeguard Greek security. Kastellorizo then enters another period of affluence under a tolerant Ottoman rule. In 1833 Turky enacted legislation for the special protection of Kastellorizo – ‘no officers, General or Admiral to molest this island”.
1866 – Ahmed Pacha, Governor of the Aegean, imposed direct local rule on Kastellorizo. The Kastellorizian (greek) Mayor Papalazaros was imprisoned. Adminstrationswings back to Turkish central control. Shipping in the region is forbidden to fly the Greek flag. Between 1850 and 1900 population increased from 3500 to 8500. New schools, churches and otehr civic buildings were financed by local benefactors.
The Santrapeia school Astiki Scholi” funded by Loukas Santrape (1852-1911), opened in late 1903, on the site of an earlier school, with 308 students. Santrape also funded the erection in 1906 of the Church of St George (known as ‘tou Louka”) on the foundations of the earlier Church of St george. It was never completed. Other benefactors were Nicholaos Stamatiou who financed the construction of a nursery and the school of St George, and Theodosios Penglis, who financed the erection of the “arthenagogeion” or girls’ school.
1913 – Revolution on Kastellorizo, without official support from Greece. The island is in disarray with the merchant fleet stranded in the harbour, due to the uncertain political climate, resulting in severe food shortages. Sel-government failed to bring any stability, fraught as it was with constant bickering and change. The outbreak of War in 1914 further complicated the situation.
1916 – 1917 – Inevitably the island suffered from its occupation by the French, and in January 1917 German – Turkish artillery assaulted teh French and British ships in the harbour, sinking several, and continued its bombardment. Many islanders emigrated to Egypt and to Crete. In 1917 the French, with the help of the islanders, build a road to install anti-aircraft guns.
1921 – 1943 – Italian occupation. Harsh restrictions imposed on shipping and trade, and sponge fishing banned. Inhabitants are legally Italian protected citizens, exempt from conscription, but liable to taxation and without political rights. Education was under the control of the Itlaian education system and any reference to Greece in the classroon was prohibited. Attemps to force severence of the Greek Orthodox Chruch’s dependency on Constantinople lead to riots throughout the Dodacanese. In Kastellorizo local church festivals and pilgrimages were banned, and Orthodox rites for weddings and funerals rqeuired express permission. The economy floundered. (These harsher measures did not come into effect until 1936. Initially Italian rule was fairly benign).
The earthquake of 1926 caused large scale destruction. There were however a number of benefits. All th islands were mapped systematically, maintenance of ancient and medieval monuments commenced and under public works programs, hospitals were built in Rhodes, Kos, Kallymos and Leros to serve all islands. However, Kastellorizo itself did not benefit greatly from the Italian occupation and public works programs but improved shipping connections with Italy and between the islands allowed interaction with other islands. Postal and telephone communications were improved.
In 1933 high cutoms duty was imposed on flour, sugar, coffee, petrol and oil and the island took a stand against the local authorities, putting forward several demands including the resignation of the Mayor. These protests, the “Mouzahres”, were mainly led by the women and continued for some time. In the end nothing much was gained. The Mouzahres are better described as a social protest rather than resistence to Italian rule. Many factors contributed to the increasing emigration of the inhabitants, including loss of trading opportunities, loss of priveleges, the outbreak of WWII in 1939 and Italy’s enrty into the War in 1940.
Population fell from 2,742 in 1922 to 1,386 in 1940. In February 1941 British commandos attack and occupy Kastellorizo, but only very briefly. There is much damage. Assistance given to the British commandos by the locals is punished and 29 male citizens are charged and eventually convicted and transported to Brindisi.
Throughout 1944 the island was an important base for the British in the region and vast storesof fuel were held on the island. The summer of 1944 was unusually hot and dry. It is not clear where the fire started, but it is purported to have broken out in a petrol store later spreading to the ammunition dump. Houses along the waterfront went up in flames as the fire quickly spread. Other accounts say the fire started first in the houses. Allegations of looting prior to the fire and looting after the fire and suspicions of British involvement abounded. Compensation was offered.
1945 – World War II ends leaving the Dodacanese under British military control, but the citizenship of the inhabitants remains Italian. Kastellorizo is in ruins and the British remain to help the evacuees. The first 50 evacuees return from the Turkish mainland in early July 1945, followed by 151 from Nuseirat on 13th July and some who had remained at Strongili. By the end of July the total population is 192.
Repairs and rebuilding began with supplies and rations provided by the British. At the end of August 1945, 70 Kastellorizians remained in Cyprus, the majority in Paphos and at least 640 in Nuseirat in Palestine. In September, 494 refugees borded the 3334 ton British vessel SS Empire Patrol. It caught fire and sank soon after leaving Port Said on 29th September, 1945 leading to the tragic death of 32 Kastellorizian refugees.
The wrangle over the future of Kastellorizio is extraordinary. First the British stated their intention that the Dodacanese islands should return to Greece with the exception of Kastellorizo which should revert to Turkey. There was no clear rationale why this should be so, except that it might appease the Turks for the loss of the Dodacanese. However, Greece had never claimed Kastellorizo. Foreign Ministers from several countries agreed to cede the island to Turkey, but the Soviet union asked for additional time to consider, and the island’s future remained unresolved until the Council of Foreign ministers met in April and May 1946 to hear presentations, primarily from Australia (Herbert “Doc” Evatt) was very active on this issue.
The US and Britain, stressed that to sever Kastellorizo from the Dodacanese would be artificial as its population was totally Greek. The Greek Government also made representations to the Council that it needed Kastellorizo. Finally, when the Peace Treaty with Italy was signed, the entire Dodacanese, including Kastellorizo, was ceded to greece on 15th February 1947.
1970 – 2005 – The late 1970′s signalled the beginning of a “renaissance” for Kastellorizo as tourism expanded, and by the mid 1980′s frequent ferries from Rhodes, and an airstrip, brought in summer tourist trade and expatriatesmainly from Australia, who began claiming their homes and rebuilding and renovating. This flurry of expatriate activity continues up to the present as Kastellorizians and their decendants in Australia, and a few other countries, claim or buy land and build there, or renovate.
A very proud moment for Kastellorizians, locals and the many Australian visitors, occured in 2004 when the eyes of the world were on Greece’s most eastern point – Kastellorizo – as the Olympic flame was borne through the island.
Where did the Kastellorizians go?
Many went to Australia which included Perth and Darwin. This migration was as early as 1880, some being the first Greek communities to emigrate to Australia. Others settled in Sydney and Townsville. Some journeyed to New York and others settled in Brazil. When Kastellorizo was proclaimed part of Greece in 1948 there were only 600 people on the island and this number dwindled to around 400. From mostly shop-keepers the second-generation was succeeded by an over-representation of high achievers for such a small population. Theirs is an extensive list of such people and some of the well=known names are:
Nicholoas Pappas – Solicitor, Chairman of the Rabbitohs and author of Castellorizo and it’s Conquerors.
John Mangos – TV personality
Nick Moraitis – Fruit & Veg giant, Melbourne Cup Winner
Nick Bolkus – former Labour Party Senator
Ken Michael – Governor of Western Australia
Chris Sidoti – Former Human Rights Commissioner
Alex Perry – Fashion Designer
Marilynne Paspaley – Successful actress and part of the Paspaley empire
George Spartels – Actor
Thaao Penghlis – Actor
and many more