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Symi
(also spelled Simi) Island Greece, is one of the smallest island in the Dodecanese, its small size did not hold it back from being of the most important sea
ports of the Aegean Sea. Symi was
known best for its skilled ship builders and sponge exporters. It was because of these traders the small
island flourished.
With
the invention of the diver’s suit many men lost their lives with the bends
while others become cripples. The people
of the island began to loathe what once was a natural God-given talent. Instead of the divers suit helping to make
diving cashier the heavy helmet made it a chore. Men from other islands were hired to do the
work. This brought about an industrial
revolution to the island. By 1920 the
one time population of 32,000 dwindled down to approximately 3,000. The ship owner went to the island of Kalimnos where they could find employees.
When
the sponge fleet left so did all the other industries. The inhabitance of Symi went to Rhodes,
Piraeus, Egypt, the Congo, Australia and the Unites States of America.
In
the Untitled States the Sarris and Xynidis families settled in settled in St.
Augustine, Florida where they continued the
families trade, ship building.
The Arfaras, Galolurakis, Kantonis, Katsaras and many other families
went to Tarpon
Springs, Florida where they opened wholesale sponge exchange
companies. The majority of the islands
people went to New
York, Pennsylvania and Ohio taking jobs in the mills and factories.
Their dreams were of
returning to their wealthy little island after five years. Little did they realize that one leaves Symi
never to return.
Wherever the people of Symi went they carried two things
with them, their love for Symi and their worship of Archangel Michael, the
patron Saint of the island. This was
depicted in , Symi Circle in Morehead City, North
Carolina, Archangel Michael Shrine, Tarpon Springs, Florida, and Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, Campbell, Ohio. The same was
true wherever the people of Symi went all over the world.
Although fame and fortunes have come to many of the people
of Symi in other lands the love of Symi in other lands the love of Symi and
Archangel Michael is obvious in the third generation, American teenager’s
remark upon his arrival in Symi’s harbor.
“I have never been in Symi but I feel like I have always lived here from
the stories I have heard.”
In Homer's
Iliad
the island is mentioned as the domain of King Nireus,
who fought in the
Trojan War on the side of the Greeks.
Thucydides writes that during the
Peloponnesian War there was a
Battle of Syme near the island in January, 411 BC,
in which an unspecified number of Spartan
ships defeated a squadron of Athenian vessels.
Little is known of the island until the
14th century, but archaeological evidence indicates it was
continuously inhabited, and ruins of citadels suggest it was an
important location. It was first part of the
Roman Empire and then the
Byzantine Empire, until its conquest by the
Knights of St. John in 1373.
This conquest, fuelled by the Knights'
interest in shipping and commerce, launched what was to be a period of
several centuries of prosperity for Symi, as its location amidst the
Dodecanese made it an important waypoint for trade until the advent of
steam-powered shipping in the
19th century. The island was conquered from the Knights by the
Ottoman Empire in 1522 (along
with nearby
Rhodes) but it was allowed to retain many of its privileges, so its
prosperity continued virtually uninterrupted. It attained the height of
its prosperity in the mid 19th century, and many of the peculiarly
colorful
neoclassical mansions covering the slopes near the main city date
from that period.
The island, along with the rest of the
Dodecanese, changed hands several times in the
20th century: in 1912 it was
occupied by
Italy, formally ceded to Italy in 1923, and
finally rejoined with Greece in 1948.
Notable sites
The Monastery of the
Archangel Michael Panormitis is a
Greek Orthodox
monastery built on the southwest coast in the early
18th century. It overlooks a bay, and is still inhabited by monks.
The "Knight's Castle" overlooks the
main town of Symi. It was built by the Knights of St. John as an
expansion of a Byzantine castle on the same site, many parts of which
are still visible. There are also remnants of an ancient citadel on
which the two later castles were built.
There are two monuments at the main
port that date back to the
Classical era.
The town of Symi alone has thirteen
major churches and dozens of chapels, some dating back to the
Byzantine era.
The northern port of Emborios (also
called Nimborio) has surviving ancient
Pelasgian walls and a set of twelve domes remaining from workshops
used by artists
