1. Settings – Environment

It is the seventh largest island of the Dodecanese and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It is connected with the port of Rhodes and Piraeus with ships. In the summertime, a power boat connects it on a daily basis with Rhodes. In winter, itineraries of large ships are scarcer. It also has a heliport.

It is a mountainous island, culminating in mount Profitis Ilias (612 m). It has natural springs and some fertile land at Kambos of Megalo Chorio, Eristos and Livadia. In the past, the production of wine, olive oil, cereals and almonds used to cover local needs. Nowadays, cultivations are few (mostly truck), whereas mostly goats and sheep are raised. Cheese and excellent honey are produced for local consumption. Residents usually occupy themselves with fishing. During the summertime, tourism and the jobs related to it attract locals. There are no forests; mountain slopes are only covered with shrub. Tilos has two main settlements, where residents have split: Megalo Chorio and Livadia. A few residents also live, mostly during the summertime, at Aghios Antonios.

2. History

Ancient writers’ references to the island’s name vary. Strabo called it Tilos and included it in the Sporades complex. Stafanos Vyzantios and Pliny called it Agathousa and included it in the Cyclads. Significant paleontological findings and bones of dwarf elephants have been found at cave Charchadio, as well as Neolithic pottery and clay vessels, whereas recent researches attest the presence of the Minoan civilization. In the Archaic period, colonists from Tilos and Lindos founded the city of Gelas on Sicily. According to tax lists (427/426 B.C.), the island was a member of the First Athenian League in the 5th century B.C.. Plenty of inscriptions and coins found on the island inform us that Tilos was independent during the 4th century, while from the mid-3rd century up to Roman Times it was a part of the Rhodian state. Among other islands, Tilos is referred to as the homeland of celebrated poetess Erinna, who probably lived in the 4th century B.C.. Tilos has been a part of the Theme of Samos during the Byzantine period, while it belonged to the Eparchy of Rhodes, just like today. In the early 14th century (1309), the Knights Hospitaller took over the island and ruled it for 200 years. In 1522, it surrendered, like the rest of the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire. In 1912, the Italians took it over and ruled until 1943, when the Germans succeeded them. On March 31 1947, the Dodecanese were integrated into liberated Greece.

3. Archaeological sites and monuments

3. 1. Megalo Chorio

The island’s chief archaeological site is Megalo Chorio with its castle, built on the top of the bulge. An ancient settlement had grown up all over the steep slope of the hill, as demonstrated by extant walls of houses and the circumferential wall that protected them. A great part of the wall can still be seen in the modern settlement behind the church of Taxiarchis and other places of the village. On the steep incline of the hill, extant still are parts of many ancient and mediaeval residences, as well as small Byzantine churches, some of which have frescoes. At the castle, a fortified acropolis had developed, where the ancient temple of Zeus Polieus and Athena Polias had been located, according to inscriptions found there. The church of Taxiarchis was built in the 14th–15th century on the ruins of those temples. In Mediaeval Times, some additaments had been made at the Hellenistic acropolis: a parapet with machicolations, loops and a tower to the east. From the castle, they superintended the gulfs of Aghios Antonios and Eristos, as well as island Nisyros. The uninterrupted habitation at the settlement of Megalo Chorio from its founding up to now has seen an early residential core develop into a city.

The extended necropolis of the ancient city lay in the meadows of Megalo Chorio at Potamies, Marmara, Aghia Paraskevi and Kena. Underground chamber tombs had also been used during the Middle Ages, indicating uninterrupted use. Valuable jewels (e.g. a diadem and a necklace) come from a chamber tomb. Cist-tombs, probably Early Christian ones, have been explored near the church of Aghii Asomati and the modern field. Near Aghios Georgios, sepulchral altars and bases of steles have been uncovered. In the modern cemetery, the church of Aghios Constantinos has been built on the ruins of a paleochristianic basilica. Some of its architectural parts and a mosaic are extant in citu. Plenty of inscribed parts, sepulchral steles and altars come from the same area. Some of those can still be seen now.

3. 2. Eristos

Bones of dwarf elephants (7000 years old), Neolithic pottery, stone tools and shards of all periods have been uncovered in the Charchadio cave, in the Mesaria area. All these attest uninterrupted habitation up to the Knights’ Rule.

On a low rocky bulge stands the castle of Mesaria, dating from the Byzantine Era, with repairs and additaments of the Knights’ period. It is small with an irregular shape. It also has remains of buildings in its interior.

3. 3. Mikro Chorio

Mikro Chorio, a mediaeval settlement inhabited up to 1940, now stands deserted. Its churches attest its prime. The most important ones are: Sotiras (15th century), Aghios Ioannis at Avalas (14th century), Aghia Elesa at Arnos (14th century) and Kimisi tis Theotokou (1787). All of them have frescoes. The remains of a small mediaeval castle are still extant. From the castle, a semicircular tower has been preserved better.

3. 4. Agios Antonios

At Aghios Antonios, a small natural port used since the Antiquity and some rock-cut and chamber tombs of the Classic and Hellenistic era have been unearthed. In the adjacent church of Aghia Anastasia sepulchral altars and bases of steles have been preserved.

3. 5. Livadia

At Livadia, at the place where the later church of Aghios Panteleimon is located, a paleochristianic basilica had been built. Now, one can only see screens and parts of its mosaic. At Kastellos, the nearby low hill, prehistoric remains have been uncovered, as well as parts of Classical and Hellenistic walls. Some of the most important painted churches of Tilos, such as Aghios Nikolaos (13th century) and Sotiras (1430), are located at Livadia.

3. 6. Monastery of St Panteleimon

The island’s most significant place of worship is the Aghios Panteleimon monastery, secluded in a verdant slope on the bulge of Kryallos. According to exquisite frescoes uncovered in 1986 in the narthex, the katholicon (of the cross-in-square type with a dome) dates at least from the late 15th century.

The island has over a hundred painted churches. Save the aforementioned, the most significant ones, are Aghios Vasilios (15th century) at the homonym location, Aghios Nikolaos (15th century) at Cheili, Aghia Triada (13th century) at Spitakia, Taxiarchis (15th century) at Kambi, Aghia Varvara (13th century) at Sanianous, Aghios Nikolaos (14th century) at Misoskali, Aghia Triada (14th century) at Kambos, Aghios Nikolaos of Michalantou (15th century) at Megalo Chorio and Aghia Anna (14th century) at Kastello.

4. Traditional architecture

The deserted ruined village of Megalo Chorio is quite interesting from an architectural and zoning point of view. The gardens and alleys of Megalo Chorio create colorful images attracting many visitors. The building of the command post at Livadia, now housing the Police Station and the Harbor Master’s Office, is a notable example of the Italian architecture between the two World Wars.

5. Museums

Since 1994, the paleontological museum of Tilos has been housed in the small building on the central street of Megalo Chorio, near the Town Hall. It includes fossilized bones of dwarf elephants, as well as other findings from the excavations at cave Charchadio of Mesaria.

6. Folk culture – folk art

The folk culture of Tilos is quite interesting. It is expressed through the island’s traditional songs, organ grinders, extemporary poems and verses during celebrations and feasts, local customs, textiles and embroidery.