| About Kalymnos
Kalymnos is the island where you can taste
the Greek hospitality.
Here you feel free and have a good time. On
the island you find nice accommo-dations and
you can create your own holiday. If you like
you can rest in the sun on one of the beautiful
beaches or you can go climb a mountain.
You can also visit the sponge factory or the
monastery in the mountain. Maybe you prefer
to sit in the harbour or have a walk over
the mountain. Kalymnos offer it all and let
you feel free as guest on the island.
The terrain of this fourth
largest of the Dodecanese is mountainous,
except for two fertile valleys. It is along
these valleys that its biggest villages have
sprouted Kalymnos or Pothia and Vathi.
Castles, remnants of
fortresses, archaeological finds, and old
churches bear witness to the continuous importance
of Kalimnos in the history of the Aegean.
Its natural attractions - caves, lovely beaches,
unspoilt scenery - make it a mini earthly
paradise.
Kalimnos is widely known as the spongefishers'
island, since such a large portion of the
population is engaged in this age - old occupation.
Once the island's capital
was located at Horio, which benefited from
the protection offered by the castle of the
Knights of St. John just above it. Today's
capital is pothia or Kalymnos, founded around
1850 by the inhabitants of Horio. Its brightly
coloured houses surround the port like the
seats in an amphitheatre, arranged along the
hillsides down to the caiques and fishing
boats bobbing below. ?n old church dedicated
to Christ the Saviour adoms the waterfront.
It is decorated with frescoes and valuable
icons, while its iconostasis is the work of
the well known sculptor, ?ian??lis Halepas.
Kalimnos has other channing
villages, like Vathi, set in a fertile valley
fuli of citrus tress, and Metohi, on the southeast
side of the island. The quiet hamlet of Emborios
lies to the north.
To the west are Massouri, Mirties, Kamari
and Panormos where one can try sea-food delicades
such as «fouskes» and «chtapokeftedes».
?n the road to Panormos, y?u will notice the
remains of a three - aisled basilica dedicated
to Ch?ist of Jerusalem, which was erected
around the 6th century on the site of an ancient
temple where Delian ??oll? was worshipped.
To the north of the main
town is Pera Kastro, also called the Castle
of the Golden Hands (Hrissoheria), because
the chapel in its interior has an icon of
the Virgin whose hands are covered with gold
leaf. Northeast of Pothia, at the f?ot ?f
Flaska hill, is the cave of the Seven Virgins
or Nymphs (not to be visited).
Kalimnos boasts two other
caves, the richly decorated Skalies, about
100 metres from the village of Skalia in the
north of the island (not to be visited), and
Kefalas or Trypas Kefalas to the south (which
can be visited and one can approach it by
boat).
At Therma, only one kilometre or so from Pothia,
there are radioactive springs and therapeutic
bathing installations, rooms where visitors
may spend the night, and specially trained
personnel to assist them. Among the lovely
beaches on Kalimnos are Massouri, Mirties
and Arginondas along the west coast and Vlyhadia
in the south.
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