Karpathos ...more on Karpathos

And those that held Nisyrus, Crapathus, and Casus, with Cos, the city of Eurypylus, and the Calydnian islands, these were commanded by Pheidippus and Antiphus, two sons of King Thessalus the son of Hercules. And with them there came thirty ships. The Iliad By Homer (Written 800 B.C.E - Translated by Samuel Butler)

It is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, with an area of 301 square Km (30100 ha) and a coastline of 160 Km (100 miles).  Karpathos lies between Rhodes and Crete.  Its distance from Piraeus is 227 miles, covered by boat in 15 to 25 hours, depending on the course and the number of previous stops at other islands.  Its name is a most ancient one: Homer used to refer to the island as Crapathus and in the Middle Ages it was known as Sparpanto.  Later on it was given back its ancient name, with only a minor change of the place of the second and third letters, interchanged between themselves.

Karpathos is also the second longest island of the Dodecanese (48.5 Km).  A central road connects the one end with the other, passing through various villages, while other roads parallel to this connect the villages among themselves.  On the island, we find highlands with an altitude of 1215 meters and lowlands at sea level.  There is a rich vegetation of trees and low grasses.

Karpathos today targets tourism; it has authentic pure natural beauties, all enhanced by the hospitality of its residents.  Its magnificent beaches, its secluded small bays, its imposing mountain peaks, and its local inhabitants who dress up in their traditional costumes all add to its growing tourist infrastructure and are major attractions of the island.  It is indeed an island with a raw and wild beauty, and with marvelous traditional villages.

Karpathos has ten major villages inhabited by approximately 6,000 people in total.  All of the villages intensively preserve the traditional style of the island.  In the southeast of the island, you will find PIGADIA (Karpathos Town), the capital and main port of the island.  The capital is surrounded by the villages of MENETES, ARKASA, APERI, VOLADA, PILES, and OTHO, with a folkloric museum housed in a typical old house of Karpathos, that is of particular interest.  In the north of the island, one will find MESOCHORI, SPOA, and OLYMPOS, which is the last village in the north and of great folkloric and architectural interest.