Permanent population 6,565 inhabitants
Karpathos together with Kasos are the southernmost islands of the Dodecanese. Karpathos (Krapathas) is mentioned by Homer. The earliest habitation of the island dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. from Crete, as mentioned by Diodorus the Sicilian. Remains of Mycenaean tombs and settlements from the same period demonstrate the rotation of the inhabitants of Karpathos. He is mentioned as taking part in the Trojan War. Later the Dorians occupy Karpathos, writers refer to it as Tetrapolis, because it has four cities (Arkesia, Vrykous. Karpathos and the autonomous Saros). In the era of Diocletian between 245 - 313 AD. it belongs to the Province of the Islands (provincia insularum) and is a naval station of Rome in the Mediterranean. About three centuries (mid-7th - mid-10th c.) of decline and desolation follow, when pirates spread terror in the coastal settlements that are abandoned and the medieval mountain villages that are preserved to this day are created. From 1206 to 1224 the island had come under the rule of Leos Gavalas, together with Kasos and Rhodes. In 1282 Karpathos was under the Genoese of Andrea Moresco, to pass in 1306 to the ruler of Crete Andrea Cornaro. He, being persecuted, gave it in turn, in 1313, to the John Knights. However, Andreas Kornaros returned in 1315 and his family ruled Karpathos until 1538, when the Ottomans of Barbarossa conquered it. The privileges granted, fiscal and administrative, helped substantially in the development of democratic institutions of self-government and the creation of a prosperous economic life. An example of the administrative self-sufficiency of Karpathos during this period is that, until the last years of the Italian occupation, Olympus was governed by aldermen, elected every year. For a short period only (1823 - 30) it rests freely as a member of the Greek province, only to return through diplomatic force to the Ottomans. 1912 marks the beginning of the last period of slavery for Karpathos, that of the Italian occupation that ends in 1947 with the Integration.
Karpathos impressed the ancient Greeks and they believed that many mythical people were hosted here. According to a mythological version, the first inhabitant of Karpathos was the Titan Iapetus, son of Uranus and Gaia and brother of Saturn, the father of Zeus.
Another version wants all the Titans to live on the island before the famous Battle of the Titans that Hesiod tells us about followed, in which the Titans who were gathered on the top of Orthes were defeated by Zeus and the twelve gods who had Mount Olympus as their base. Thessaly.
Regarding the name of Karpathos there are various versions. One of them connects the name of the island with the karpaso plant that thrived in Karpathos. The same plant, however, gave its name to Karpasia, a city in Cyprus.
Homer mentions in the Iliad, that "Karpathos" took part in the Trojan War, sending ships. Another people who lived on the island were the Phoenicians, a seafaring people, who at that time crossed the Mediterranean with their ships and transported their products to various countries, thus developing trade and possibly also used Karpathos as their station.
A typical activity of the inhabitants of Karpathos in ancient times was the collection of red shells and by boiling them they created a color that was used to dye fabrics. From the red color that was called purple, it also received the name Porphyria. Something characteristic of the presence of the Phoenicians on the island of Karpathos is the name of the small port of Finiki, which is located on the west coast of the island and today is an attraction for visitors mainly in the summer.
After the Mycenaeans and the Phoenicians, the Dorians came to the island around 1000 BC. The Dorians brought the greatest prosperity to the island. At that time, four fortified cities flourished and that is why Karpathos was called Tetrapolis during the Dorian era. These cities were Potidaeus or Poseidius, Arkesia or Arkesia, Vrykous and Nisyros, which is a rocky islet north of Karpathos.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou