The island
Down the centuries, the
beauty of the Aegean landscape and the bountiful natural resources on Kos contributed to its emergence as an island with a long
history and rich cultural heritage perhaps disproportionate to its small size.
The island’s present-day character owes much to the material witnesses of the
past: the classical antiquities, the plethora of early Christian monuments and
the architecture and urban layout from the Italian occupation.
Lying between Karpathos and Nissiros, Kos
is the third largest island in the Dodecanese.
The first signs of human presence and activity have been confirmed by
archaeological finds from the Neolithic settlement in Aspri Petra cave, and the
fortified Early Bronze Age settlement on Serai Hill in the island capital.
Burials rich in ceramic grave goods bear witness to the presence of Mycenaeans
on the island, backed up by a reference to Kos
in the Iliad, in the catalogue of cities
that took part in the expedition against Troy.
Historic times found Kos participating alongside
Cnidos, Halicarnassus
and three Rhodian cities in the Doric Hexapolis, a federation of cities settled
by the Dorians of the Peloponnese. The island subsequently
passed into Persian hands, even taking part in their campaign against Greek
cities.
After the Persians were
defeated in 478 BC, Kos became part of the
Delian League. At that time it would appear that the island capital was
Astypalaia, on the site of present-day Kefalos. Excavations at Astypalaia have
revealed temples dating to the 5th century BC, dedicated to Demeter, Asclepius
and Omonoia, as well as a theatre and a wall. In 366 BC, while under the
control of Mausolus, the famed ruler of Caria,
the island's oldest villages were settled and new capital was founded at
Meropis, on the site of the present-day capital. Despite discord over its
political allegiance vis-à-vis the successor kingdoms of Alexander's empire, in
Hellenistic times Kos and its large temples
(including the panhellenic sanctuary of Asclepius) served as a major religious
centre. This was also the heyday of Ancient Alasarna, a settlement on the site
of what is now Kardamena.
From its inception in the 2nd
century BC, the Roman period on Kos was
hallmarked by high taxation, elaborate public works projects and modifications
and additions to the ancient temples. Major events in the first Christian
centuries include the arrival of the Apostle Paul in to preach Christianity in
57 AD, and a powerful earthquake in 142. In the reign of Emperor Diocletian
(284-305), Kos was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Caria (Regio Cariae) and the
Province of the Islands (Provincia Insularum).
As Christianity spread in
the Aegean, Kos
was organized into a diocese relatively early on - sources confirm that bishops
Meliphron and Julian took part in the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325) and Chalcedon (451) respectively.
The beginning of the Early Christian era on Kos
can apparently be traced to another powerful earthquake, in 469, which caused
severe damage across the island and resulted in many ancient temples being
abandoned. The impressive number of basilicas built in the 5th and 6th
century is not only indicative of the predominance of Christianity, but also of
contemporary wealth and prosperity. To date, eighteen basilicas and
settlements have been excavated in three rural areas (Mastichari, Kardamena and
Kefalos) and at least sixteen others have been located; in Kos
town, excavations have brought to light private buildings with elaborate mosaic
floors. Together with the production of marble architectural members and
mosaics, small scale installations such as pottery kilns and glass workshops
give an indication of the inhabitants’ commercial activities, attesting to the vitality
of both town and country. The previously held view that the flourishing Christian
era on Kos was brought to an end by an
earthquake in 554 is gradually being abandoned, since recent excavation data have
revealed that life continued until the mid-7th century, when the Arabs raided
the island in 654/655. From the early 5th to the early 7th century Kos suffered raids by the Vandals, Isaurians, Onogurs,
Bulgarians and probably the Avar Slavs. The 7th century was marked
by assault and plundering by the Persians of Chosroes II and the Arabs of Moab.
Very little is known of the period up until the mid-11th century, the so-called
"Dark Ages" of systematic Arab raids on the Aegean islands, which
resulted in dwindling settlements and a general climate of fear and uncertainty.
Existing information notes the administrative integration of Kos
into the Theme of Kibyrrhaiotai. Following the Byzantine defeat at
Manzikert (1071), and Seljuk and Turkmen raids in Asia
Minor, Kos played host to
refugees, including Christodoulos Latrenus, the monk who later founded the
Monastery of St John the Theologian on Patmos.
A chrysobull issued by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus granted the monk two areas
“[…] the one known locally as Kastelon, and that called Pilés’ place”, where Christodoulos founded the Monastery of
the Virgin Mary, also known as Monastery of Our Lady of Kastrianon (“the Castle
dwellers”), and erected Palaio Pyli Castle on the hill.
In the 12th century the Venetians
laid claim to Kos. From 1124 to 1126 the
island suffered raids after John II Comnenus refused to grant them privileges
in the islands; a chrysobull issued by Emperor Alexius III Angelus in 1198 finally
ratified Venetian economic privileges in parts of the empire including Kos. After the fall of Constantinople
to the Franks in 1204, the Partitio Romaniae assigned Kos
to the rule of the Latin emperor, though there is no written record of a Latin
diocese being established. The island was briefly recaptured by John Vatatzes
in 1224, and then passed back and forth between the Byzantines and the
Venetians before coming under the more permanent control of the latter in 1284.
The Knights Hospitaller
arrived in Kos between 1306 and1309. Another
round of exchanges between the Byzantines, the Venetians and the Hospitallers ended
in a lasting victory for the Knights from 1337 onwards. In the 14th century
they proceeded to shore up the island’s defences. Among other things they
repaired the existing walls at Antimachia and Kos
town, and even erected a strong perimeter wall with bastions around Kos Castle,
also known as Nerzantzia
Castle.
In the first half of the
15th century the island was plagued by attack from the Egyptians (1440 and
1444). From the fall of Constantinople to
Sultan Mehmed II up until the end of the century it was the turn of the
Ottomans to launch repeated raids on the island. The most significant assault
was in 1457, when a siege on the castle at Antimachia resulted in the
countryside being razed and depopulated. A major earthquake in 1493 rounded off
the distressing picture of dereliction. Kos
was surrendered to the Ottomans under Suleiman the Magnificent three decades
later, in 1523, a year after the Knights Hospitaller capitulated on Rhodes. Now subject to poll tax, Kos
lost its fertile lands, which were granted to the Ottomans as fiefs or vakufs.
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