Old Kos

When we booked to go to Patmos, Kos was an inconvenient stop over. Then we have to be here an extra day and miss a day on Patmos because of the ferry situation. It turns out that Kos is an interesting place. First settled in about 1100BC. Mentioned in Homers Illiad. Soldiers from here fought in the Trojan war. The first major Greek style town was begun about 400BC and you can see bits of that. In the 300sBC Hippocrates began his medical work here before moving on, leaving a major medical school that existed for 700 or so years. Over time Kos waxed and wained as democratic maritime state with its port and being on a major sea lane from Egypt to Europe. The Romans came here and added to the fortifications and built a bigger town with running water and a sewage system. Picture 1 is me walking down one of the 2,000 year old streets. Picture 2 is me practicing addressing crowds in what was the town forum called the Odeon, where meetings were held and entertainment like plays and musical concerts were held. Originally it was completely enclosed with a roof. Picture 3 is my audience with Helen sitting on the marble seats reserved for the voters and the wealthy with the top seats being made of concrete for the plebes.

Apostle Paul spent a night on Kos (Acts 21) on his way to Jerusalem and arrest. It was part of the Byzantium Empire ruled from Constantinople, and the local Orthodox Churches are still govenerned from there.Two Bishops from here attended the Coucil of Nicea in 325 and one was instrumental in the creation of the Nicene Creed. In the early 1300's when the Islamic Ottoman Empire took over the old Byzantium Empire Kos became part of the now important pilgrim route by sea from Europe to Israel. The Turks blocking the overland route and killing or capturing Christian pilgrims as slaves and effectively stopping the route brought the time of the Crusades into being.

The Knights of the Order of St John took Kos off the Turks and built a huge fort at the entrance of the Harbour and walled the town. They also built a large hospital. Picture 4 is the fort. Picture 5 is Helen pointing at the crest of the Knights of St John in the wall, also showing they recycled bits of Greek and Roman achritecture to build their walls. Picture 5 - Turkey is only 4km away across the water. The fort and walled town was under almost constant attack from the Turks with Kos finally being taken by the Ottomans in 1523. It remained in their hands for 400 years until transferred to the Italians as part settlement for a war they fought with the Ottomans. There are two old Mosques in Kos Town. One is boarded up and the other is a restaurant.

In 1933 there was an earhquake that destroyed the old medieval town so what is here now is largely a rebuild from that time, including the hotel we are staying in by the looks of it. In WW2 the Germans took the island over when the Italians surrendered to the Allies in 1943. The Italian troops resisted the Germans here so there was fighting in the streets. The Italians lost and 100 officers were executed by the Germans. Shortly after the British invaded and were helped by the Italian garrison still on the island overpowering the Germans. The Germans couter attacked a month later and recaptured the island with great loss of life of British and Italian soldiers. After the war Britain took control of the Island and it was given to Greece.

So much for a boring stop over.