Symi

Symi, also transliterated as Syme or Simi (Σύμη), is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and has the harbour town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller population centres, beaches and areas of significance in history and mythology. Symi is part of the Rhodes regional unit.

The economy of Symi was traditionally based on the shipbuilding and sponge industries. The population reached 22,500 at its peak during that period. Symi's main industry is now tourism, and in 2021 its permanent population had declined to 2,603 with a larger population during the summer.

Symi is known for its unique shrimps. Named "Symi's shrimps", these are small and are pan fried and eaten whole, shell and all.

Geography


Symi is part of the Dodecanese island chain, located about 41 km north-northwest of Rhodes and 425 km from Piraeus, the port of Athens, with 58.1 km² of mountainous terrain. Its nearest land neighbors are the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas of Muğla Province in Turkey. Its interior is characterised by small valleys, and its coastline alternates between rocky cliffs, beaches and isolated coves.

Its main town, located on the northeast coast, is named Symi. The lower town around the harbour, is referred to as Yialos, and the upper town is called Horio or Ano Symi. Other townships are Pedi, Nimborio, Marathounda and Panormitis. Panormitis is the location of the island's famous monastery which is visited by people from all over the world, and many Greeks pay homage to St Michael of Panormitis each year. The island has 2,603 inhabitants, mostly engaged in tourism, fishing, and trade. In the tourist season which lasts from Easter until Panormitis Day in early November, tourists and day-trippers increase the number of people on the island to as much as 6,000.

In addition to its many historical sites, the island's isolated beaches, many reachable only by small boats, are popular with tourists. The Municipality of Sými includes the uninhabited offshore islets of Gialesíno, Diavátes, Kouloúndros, Marmarás, Nímos, Sesklío, and Chondrós. Its total land area is 65.754 km².

History
In Greek mythology, Symi is reputed to be the birthplace of the Charites and takes its name from the nymph Syme. In antiquity the island was known as Aigli and Metapontis. Pliny the Elder and some later writers claimed that the name was derived from simia, "a monkey".

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 and was described as the most handsome man in the Achaean forces, after Achilles. 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 about the island before the 14th century. Archaeological evidence indicates that it was continuously inhabited, and ruins of citadels suggest that it was an important location. It was part of the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire, until its conquest by the Knights of St. John in 1309.

Early modern: Hospitaller and Ottoman eras
This conquest, fueled by the Knights' interest in shipping and commerce, launched 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. In 1522, Symi was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, along with nearby Rhodes, but it was allowed to retain many of its privileges, so its prosperity continued virtually uninterrupted.

Under the Ottomans the island was called Sömbeki. Symi was noted for its sponges, which provided much of its wealth. It attained the height of its prosperity in the mid 19th century. Many of the colorful neoclassical mansions covering the slopes near the main city date from that period. Although Symiots took part in the Greek War of Independence of 1821–1829, it was left out of the new Greek state and remained under Ottoman rule.

Modern era


The island, along with the rest of the Dodecanese, changed hands several times in the 20th century. In 1912, the Dodecanese declared independence from the Ottomans to become the Federation of the Dodecanese Islands, though they were almost immediately occupied by Italy. The island was formally ceded to Italy in 1923, and on 12 October 1943 it was occupied by the Nazis. At the end of World War II, the surrender of German forces in the region took place on Symi to the British. The island was occupied by Britain for three years as a result. Symi was rejoined with Greece in 1948.

The island has become popular with tourists from abroad, especially British and Italians, and is now the permanent home of about 120 non-Greek residents, some 50 of whom are British. The influx of tourists has led to the restoration of a great number of homes, many of which were destroyed during World War II. These restorations, by law, have to conform to "guidelines laid down by the Greek culture ministry's Archaeological Service." Between 1998 and 2006, it is estimated that the price of a "ruin" on Symi increased fivefold. The growing population of EU expatriates has led to demographic as well as political changes, since EU citizens are allowed to vote in local elections and have attempted to exert influence on the island's politics. Opinions on whether this is a sign of growing integration differ.

There has been considerable restoration of many houses in Symi in the past decade, by architects including Haris A. Kalligas and Anastasia Papaioannou, both winners of the Europa Nostra Awards for their work on Symi and elsewhere in Greece.

On 5 June 2024, British TV and radio presenter Michael Mosley went missing on the island while on holiday with his wife. After four days of searching, his body was found on 9 June, on the rocky slope outside the wall of a private resort called Agia Marina. It appeared that he had taken the wrong path sometime after leaving the town of Pedi.

Landmarks

 * 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 Kastro overlooks the main town of Symi, Ano 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 remnants of an ancient citadel, on which the two later castles were built.
 * The municipal clock tower which was built circa 1880
 * The War memorial in the harbour consists of a monument, "the Dove of Peace", in front of a bas-relief sculpture of a Trireme
 * The town of Symi has thirteen major churches and dozens of chapels, some dating back to the Byzantine era.
 * The village of Nimborio has surviving ancient Pelasgian walls and a set of twelve domes remaining from workshops used by artists.
 * In late 2020 the renovated Historical Museum of Symi reopened. The collections include many artefacts found by the early 20th-century Symian antiquarians Michael and Niketas Chaviaras, sons of Demosthenes Chaviaras (1849–1922), himself an important figure in local historical research. In the 1980s, the Chaviaras family archive was donated to the museum.

Festival
Since 1995, Symi has hosted the Symi Festival during July to September. This festival was founded by Greek political journalist, Yannis Diakogiannis, who established it in the birthplace of his father Eleftherios C. Diakogiannis. Since its inception, it has attracted many Greek musicians, Katy Garbi, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Glykeria, Alkistis Protopsalti, Dimitra Galani, Miltos Pasxahildis, etc., to perform at free open-air concerts in the main square of Yialos, and includes many dance and theatre events.

Sister cities
In 2008, Tarpon Springs, Florida, a town with a high percentage of Greek Americans, established a sister city-relationship with Symi. Located on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Tarpon Springs attracted many Greek sponge fishermen to Florida, for the "sponge rush" at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Local media
The island has one local amateur AM radio station, Radio Symi, broadcasting on 1485 kHz.

Notable people

 * Costas Valsamis, sculptor
 * Ioannis Diakidis, writer