Astypalaia

It is the most west island of the complex, situated exactly where Dodecanese meets Cyclades. Thus, the island preserve many Cycladic features in landscape as well as in architecture.

Astypalaia, with its white-washed sugar cube house, narrow alleys and windmills, has a more Cycladic character than Dodecanesean where it belongs to. Astypalaia is a butterfly-shaped island -a narrow isthmus a mere 100 meters wide connecting its two winds- with citrus groves and decent mountainous walking country.

Getting There - There are ferry links 3 times a week with Piraeus, Kalymnos, Amorgos, Mykonos, Syros, Tinos and Rhodes. Once a week with Paros, Naxos, Rafina (Athens). There is a flight service from Athens International Airport several times a week.

Astypalaia is naturally divided by a string of land less than 100m wide, shaping the  Mesa [Inner]  (west part) and the Exo Nisi [outer island] (east part). The island extends over a surface of 97 km2, its coastline is 110 km long and it has 1,300 inhabitants.

Its name derives from Astypalaia, the daughter of the Phoenician Perimidis, while in older times it was also known as Ichthioessa, due to great number of fishes.  It was firstly inhabited during Prehistoric Age, while after 1204 passed to Venetians, mainly to the Querini family- except for a small interval, during which the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire (1269-1310).  The Querinis remained the lords of the island, until it was conquered by Turks in 1537.  As it happened with all Dodecanese islands, it remained under Turkish sovereignty until 1912 then passed to Italians, British and Germans only to be united with Greece in 1948. It can be reached by ferry from Piraeus and Kalymnos and by airplane via Athens and Rhodes.