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Greek Islands
> Saronic
Gulf
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Poros
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Poros
island in Greece
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Poros related
sites
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 Poros
covers a distance of 31,3 sq. Km., and population of 4,000 people. It is
situated 32 nautical miles from Piraeus. The town is built on two rocky
hills of a triangular islet that is called Spheria and it has been
characterized as a scheduled settlement. The houses, without any specific
architectural plan, are built one next to the other.
Poros is a traditional holiday resort for
the Athenians. It's touristy industry is well developed and you will
find all shorts of the related shops.
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Poros Island related sites
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Ancient history |
There was a limited presence of Dryopes in Poros during the end of post-Helladic
era, in the area where later the town around Poseidon's temple was developed.
The powerful Mycenaean nautical station of the area was the steep rocky island
Modi or Liontari (= lion) to the eastern coast of Poros. The people of Troizina
took part in the Trojan War. Kalavria, until the Archaic era, was under the
domination of Troizina. In the middle of the 7thcentury BC, the amphictyony of
Kalavria appeared, with Poseidon's temple as a seat, which preexisted in Poros
since the end of 8thcentury BC. It was a nautical, religious and political
confederation with members the cities of Athens, Aegina, Epidavros, Nafplia,
Prassia and Orchomenos; they all joined forces to protect their independence and
trade from the Argives. In the beginning of 5th century BC, the Persian fleet
sailed in the Aegean Sea.
The spring of 480 BC, the Persians attempted to attack Greece for a second time.
The invasion ended with the naval battle of Salamis where the Persians were
defeated. The Kalavrians offered many ships to fight in that battle. When
the two most powerful cities, Athens and Sparta decided to overcome each other,
the dreadful Peloponnesian War broke out which expanded to the area of Argo-saronic
gulf. When, in the middle of 4thcentury BC, the Macedonians appeared in the
Greek area, the Greek cities reacted and Troizina offered refuge to Athinogenis,
an anti-Macedonian who became the tyrant of the region. In the summer of 323 BC,
when Alexander died, he returned triumphantly in Athens. The following year the
Athenians were beaten by Macedonians in the Lamia War and Demosthenes sought
refuge in the temple of Poseidon. Pausanias, according to the letters which were
sent by the Macedonian Commander in Rhodes, in which he mentions by name all
those who had been bribed by Arpalos, he questions Demosthenes's guilt whose
name is not mentioned despite being a fanatic anti-Macedonian.
In 273 BC the volcano in Methana erupted for the last time and changed
the morphology of the gulf. During the Roman domination, Kalavria was
under the domination of Troizina. In the beginning of 1st century BC, the
ambitious king of the Black Sea, Mithridate VI of Eupator, having the
pirates of Kilikia and Crete on his side, fought the Romans, inciting the
Greeks to rebel. Kalavria citizens followed him, resulting to annihilation
of the area. |
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Medieval |
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In the years of the Byzantine emperor Leontas VI, the Wise, a wealthy
officer who had in his possession, tracts of land in the region, renamed
Troizina to Damalas. During the Turkish domination, a great merchant fleet
was formed in Poros. This fleet didn't have the same reputation as the
corresponding fleets of Hydra and Spetses because it didn't develop an
equivalent war activity. |
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Modern history |
However, Poros played an important role during the Independence War
because, since it is located near the Peloponnese, it became a passage and
a place of meeting of several personalities of that time, despite the fact
that in the opposite coast there was a Turkish guard. In 1828, the
deployments of the first Greek navy yard were formed and remained there
until 1878.
In September of the same year, the ambassadors of the three powerful
nations of the times -England, France and Russia- gathered in Poros for a meeting with Kapodistrias,
the prime minister of the new born Greek country, to discuss the
definition of the borders of the New Greek state. On July 1831, tragic
events took place in the port of Poros by the naval battle fighters who
had previously won glory for the national fleet. Poros was also a source
of inspiration for many great artists of our century, Greeks and
foreigners. |
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Poros island today |
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Poros has a developed tourist substructure.
Modern hotels and rent rooms will serve the
visitors. The port of Poros, the center of
life of the island, presents a bright and
pleasant sight with the anchors, the cannons
and the marvelous shops. A festival that no
one should miss is the nautical week, which
is organized during summer months.Sightseeing
- Temple
of Poseidon: The
ancient ruins of the Temple of Poseidon are to found 5 km from the main
town, on the road to the monastery of Zoodochos Pighis. The temple was
built in the 6th century B.C. According to legend, this is where Demosthenes
drank the "konio" poison in 322 B.C. and died.
- The
Monastery: The
history of the Monastery reaches back to the beginning of the 18th
century, when a bishop from Athens, Iakovos
II, was cured by drinking water from a spring
at Poros
"I don't know which
affected me more deeply-the story of the lemon groves just opposite us or
the sight of Poros itself when suddenly I realized we were sailing through
the streets. If there is one dream which I like above all others it is
that of sailing on land. Coming into Poros gives the illusion of the deep
dream. Suddenly the land converges on all sides and the boat is
squeezed into a narrow strait from which there is no egress. The men and
women of Poros are hanging out of the windows just above your head. You
pull in right under their frosty nostrils, as though for a shave and a
haircut en route. The loungers on the quay are walking with the same speed
as the boat. They can walk faster than the boat if they choose to quicken
their pace." .......Henry
Miller-The Colossus of Marousi |
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Poros hotels Visit this page to find more about
Poros
hotels
or, if you like me to assist you with
your choice, please
send me an e-mail with your questions and enquiries. I will be glad to reply and
assist you, wherever I possibly can. |
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