History of Kalymnos - Greek history - Historic places

Traditional houses for sale in Kalymnos, in Greece

Kalymnos' airport is in operation

Rock Climbing holidays in May, in Kalymnos

History

This flourishing season is succeeded by the Allied War that will lead Kalymnos to the occupation by Artemisia and later by the Persians.

Alexander the Great is the one who will free the island from the Persians until it is conquered by the Romans in 129B.C.

Samples of that season are the ruins of the citadel and the temple of Hellenic times near the Palaeochristian basilica of Taxiarhi, in Vathi, which carries an inscription on the ancient buildings, dating back to the 2^nd century. It reports that Aurelius Apellas built a monument for his family and descendants.

During the 5^th and 6^th century the Christian religion is established as an official religion and Palaeochristian temples are erected on the island, like the Basilica of Saint John in Melitsaha, the Taxiarhis in Vathi and the Jesus of Jerousalim in the area of the Temple of Apollo.

They are built in the place of the ancient sanctum in order to sanctify the ancient pagan religion.

In 554A.D., a terrible earthquake hits Kalymnos and the islands around it with disastrous consequences.

Most buildings are destroyed while the great and probably most important settlement Telendos-Myrties floods and the valley in between sinks into the sea.

The peace that reigned in the East is disturbed, as dangerous enemies appear in Asia Minor in the 7^th century. Persians and Arabs cause destructions and pillages in the islands of the Aegean Sea.

On Kalymnos, the fear of raids from the sea, leads to the evacuation of coastal settlements. The inhabitants of the island move to high, inaccessible places where they create new settlements, enclosed in walls.

We can find such settlements in Saint Konstantinos in Telendos, in Galatiani (Skalia), in Vathi and the small fortress in Kastelli.

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