Kalymnos, Greece.

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On May 02, 2023 we left Kos for the 30 Nm to Kalymnos with moderate wind and calm seas.
One of Kos' beach resorts in the morning sun as we sailed by.
At 3pm we were already docked in Pothia, the capital of Kalymnos, and exploring the busy port.
View due West from the port with to the right the Church of St. Nicholas. The Cross of Kalymnos on top of the hill indicates the location of two Monasteries.
The City Hall and the Clock Tower, just behind our boat.
Kalymnos has its own Statue of Liberty!!

Kalymnos is known as the center of the Greek sponge diving industry, which dates back to antiquity. The sponge and its usage is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

The sponge diving industry contributed immensely to the economic and social development of the island a few decades ago. The warm waters of the southeastern Mediterranean provide the best conditions for the growth of fine-quality sponge. 

The early divers dove into the sea naked, carrying a flat stone weighing about 15 kilograms, in order to sink to the seafloor quickly. The mates of the divers in the boat would have spotted the presence of sponges on the seafloor with the help of a glass-bottomed cylindrical sight-glass. The divers would go up to 30 meters deep and stay there three to five minutes gathering the sponges in a net.

Stones used from ancient times to about 1865.

The very rewarding business in sponges got a boost after 1865 with the introduction of the compressor diving suit. The green machine to the left is a manually driven air compressor, connected to the dive suit via a long hose. The new technology enabled the divers to go to 70 meters deep and to stay down longer.

Beautifully restored compressor sponge fishing boat in Kalymnos port.

Gone were the days of the small boats in which the naked divers of Kalymnos ventured out to the sea. Now it was time for larger boats and large fleets to mine for sponges on a large scale.

According to Faith Warn, a British journalist and former resident of Kalymnos, the vast sponge diving fleet included 300 ships with 6 to 15 divers for each ship. The ships were launched from Kalymnos, often staying at sea for as long as six months and visiting places as far away as Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.

Spouses waiving their husbands off.

Compressor diving brought serious risk to the divers since Nitrogen saturation and Oxygen poisoning were not understood at the time. The diagnosis on board was simple; if the diver could smoke a cigarette after surfacing without getting sick he was considered OK. If he got sick he had to go back overboard and stay at a “recovery depth” for some more time.

Many divers got paralysed or even died of decompression sickness. According to Warn, the new diving method caused the death of around 10,000 divers between 1886 and 1910; another 20,000 divers were permanently disabled that same period.

Every household on the island had at least one family member who had either died or been paralysed. Therefore the spouses of the divers would be dressed in black during the time their husbands were out at sea.

Returning sponge fishing vessel. (No black flag).

If any crewmember had died during the six months at sea the returning vessel would fly a black flag in the mast. The body of the deceased would be left behind at sea. The (now) widow would be handed over his personal possessions and his wages.

However the rewards outweighed the risks. Commerce flourished and merchants made immense fortunes. The common people also benefited as free healthcare and education were made available to everyone.

Sponge shop in Kalymnos today.
The sponge diving fleet is now reduced to four vessels from a previous high of about 300 in the first half of the 20th century. All that remains in Kalymnos of the sponge industry are several workshops in Pothia, selling sponges to tourists as well as a nautical museum dedicated to the sponge fishing industry.
Homage to the unknown sponge fisherman of Kalymnos.

Our Norwegian friends Laila and Astor docked in Pothia a few days later and we decided to rent a car to explore the island together.

We stopped at Ormos Vathi, a fjord like bay in the SE of the island. The valley is the only area with arable land on this rugged island.
We explored the tiny port that has limited space to dock a yacht. Astor and Laila tried to dock a few days later but didn't stay long since the coming and going of day-tripper boats made it too uncomfortable.
A local old-timer showed us a brackish water well where they kept the fresh fish for the restaurants.
Next stop was the sleepy hamlet of Emporeios. Astor and Laila had anchored in the bay a few days earlier.
The stark inland cliffs have turned Kalymnos into Greece's premier destination for rock climbers. It has over 3500 marked routes from beginners up to daredevils level. You will see people clinging to the rock walls on many places.
Lunch in Drossia Cafe, a climbers hangout.
We parked the car at the beach of Panormos, the starting point for our hike of today.
The goal was to follow the coastal trail in SW direction to the tiny church of St. Photios (810 - 893 AD), who is regarded the most powerful church leader in Constantinopel.
It took us about 45 min. to get there. Despite the sunny skies, it was with 18 C a chilly and windy day.
Interior of the church.
We could not resist to look behind the curtain in the iconostasis to the sanctuary. That area is reserved for the priest only, so we did not enter. Only looking.
On the way back to the car we made a detour to climb up to the Monastery of the Holy Cross. We were surrounded by "music" of the goats' bells. They where too far away to get on foto, but they were clearly loud enough.
As with many Monasteries, also this one is no longer inhabited. They are used during religious festivities.
Interior of the rock-hewn church with the steps leading up to the sanctuary.
Nice view of the rugged landscape of Kalymnos and Panormos below. Arriving at the car we had spend a bit over three hours on the trail.

Back in Pothia we drove up the mountain towards the Cross of Kalymnos where the Monastery of St. Peter, the Church of All Saints and the Monastery of St. Savvas is located. The latter is inhabited.

Left Monastery of St. Savvas. Richt Church of All Saints.
St. Savvas the New (1862 - 1947) is the Patron Saint of Kalymnos where he lived the last years of his live.
His icon at the entrance of the church.
Beautiful view from the monastery over Pothia and the port of Kalymnos. TWO B is indicated by the arrow.

The next day we would hike to the Chapel of the Prophet Ilias on top of Kalymnos highest (676m) mountain. The trail starts in Chorio at the foot of the Castle of Chora (ancient Pothia). 

View of the ancient walled city from the trail.

The air on the trail was perfumed with the scents of the Mediterranean herbs of sage, thyme and oregano. There were a lot of fat juicy crickets on the trail as well. Surprisingly we only saw one lizard.

Big juicy crickets laying their eggs.
Praying Mantis. (Very appropriate on route to a chapel).
Close to the top we found this itsypitsyteenywheeny chapel.
Good excuse for a quick rest.
Interior of the chapel. Note; the flowers on the floor WERE FRESH. It took us 1.5 hours over steep terrain to get here. Those flowers must have been brought up by a very dedicated believer.
At the top with beautiful views over the entire island. In the background Vathys valley and port.
The chapel at the top.
Left Pothis. Right Panormos. The brown strip is the airport.
After having spend 4 hours on the trail we had no more energy to visit the ancient city of Pothia. We left that for the next day. Replenishing our lost body-fluids was more important. Cheers on a successful hike.
The next day we went up to Paleopothia (Old Pothia). In the valley behind the city you can see the trail we hiked yesterday.

Homer states in the Iliad that Kalymnos, Kos, Nissyros, Kassos and Karpathos took part in the expedition against Troy with thirty warships.

Early fortifications were build by the Byzantines in the 11th century. The main reason was the raids of the islands by Tzachas, the Seljuk Türkish emir of Smyrna (present day Izmir) who rebelled against the Byzantines. The incursions led to the abandonment of the coastal areas and the inhabitants moved behind the ever expanding walls of the 5 forts on the island of which this one was by far the biggest.

In 1310 the island came under control of the Knights Hospitaler who further fortified the city in defence against the Ottoman Turks who eventually conquered it in 1522. Unlike Rhodes and Kos, during the Ottoman period (1522 – 1912), there was no Turkish immigration to Kalymnos.

The threat of piracy gradually eased after 1850 and the population slowly abandoned the city and moved back to the valley and built present day Pothia..

Approaching the entrance gate of Paleopothia.

The Castle is marketed as one of the most famous attractions of Kalymnos, but…..is it?

The site was renovated starting Jan 1999 and completed in May 2001 funded by the EU at 1.115.053 euros. What a waste of money that was! Non of the improvements implemented at the time were in working order or still standing.

The visitor reception complex, including a café with court yard, a shop and exhibition rooms were dangerous to enter since the roofs were rotten and had partly collapsed. Restrooms had no water nor electricity. In fact, not a single copper wire could be found in the complex. Signboard with the obvious intend to explain what te pile of rubble in front of you was supposed to be, were either missing or not legible.

The whole site was a sad collection of grey stones and rubble.
One of the 10 churches on site.

The only structures that are maintained are the 10 churches on the site. Volunteers, dedicated to their religion spend money, time and effort to keep the buildings in a respectable condition.

But volunteers with good intentions are not experts. A 600 year old wall painting destroyed by splashes of white paint during "maintenance" of the ceiling.
In short; the site is not worth a visit unless for the view of Pothia and the port. In fact we were the only visitor that day.
The Folk Museum in the Kalymnian House comes highly recommended. This villa turned museum was built by a merchant who made his fortune in the sponge trade.
The museum is chockablock with everyday household items for a 19 and 20th century Greek family. The explanations by Irena give great insight in Greek family life at the time. Irena is standing in front of the only bed in the house. The whole family slept together in one bed.
The brides' attire on her wedding day. It was (and in some area's still is) common practise that the brides' father would provide the couple with; a house - everything in the house like furniture and linen, and some money. But there was also a contract that stated that all those possessions would be returned to the brides family if the couple was childless upon her death. Otherwise those possessions had to go to the children.
Picture on the veil of a girls that is single.
Picture on the veil of a married girl.

This photo of Vlichadia beach concludes our visit to Kalymnos. We would leave for Leros soon hereafter.

Thank you for reading our stories. Love Liza and Frits.

 

2 thoughts on “Kalymnos, Greece.”

  1. Loek Claessens

    Thanks again Frits and Liza for a new s tory again with beautiful pictures.
    Greets
    Loek

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