Muslim Kos

Defeterdar Mosque



Kos and Rhodes were the two islands which experienced Muslim immigration under the 400 years of Ottoman rule and being under Italian control were not affected by the “population transfers” (or ethnic cleansing in modern language) after the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. The Knights of St. John



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/knights-of-malta.html



surrendered Kos and the mainland fortress of St. Petrium (now days Turkish Bodrum and 10 miles from Kos) , which between them controlled the sea straits, to the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent (known in Islam as Suleiman the Lawgiver) in 1523 and this began a 390 year Turkish domination. The Turks renamed the island “Stanköy” and whilst the Greeks refer to Turkish rule as barbaric and refer to it as an “occupation” the truth is that under the Ottomans Kos was for the most part benignly neglected with a toleration towards other religions and a mix of Greek, Turkish, Armenian and Jewish population.



There were flare ups in that 390 year history. In 1603 the Knights of St. John unsuccessfully tried to retake the island and Kos was looted by the Ottoman mercenaries who retook the island. It was hit by a terrible epidemic of the plague in 1810/11 and it took part in the Greek Revolt of 1821. The retribution was savage by the Ottomans with a massacre on the island of Chios in the Sporades and the Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople (Istanbul) being executed and his body thrown in the Bosporus. On Kos more than 90 Greek rebels were hanged around the Plane Tree of Hippocrates. The Turkish rule came to an end in 1912 in the Italian / Turkish war where Italy invaded Ottoman North Africa and to Italy were ceded to Italy to “ensure the due performance of the Treaty of Cyrenia.” Well the Ottomans did “perform” by leaving the area of North Africa known as Libya (and Italy embarked on a shameful and vicious colonial enterprise in Africa) but the Italians stayed in the Dodecanese. However despite the repression at times of rebellion, trade flourished under the Ottomans, religious freedoms were respected and the rule was generally even handed but the infrastructure was neglected.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/08/kos-town.html







The indigenous Muslim population in Greece is not homogeneous since it consists of different ethnic, linguistic and social backgrounds which often overlap. The Muslim faith is the creed of several autochthonous ethnic groups living in the present territory of Greece, namely the Pomaks, ethnic Turks, certain Roma groups, and Greek Muslims, who embraced the Muslim faith mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries. The country's Muslim population decreased significantly as a result of the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and the new Turkish Republic, which also uprooted approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor.





Turkish Cemetery, Platani



In 1923, under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Muslims living in Greece were required to immigrate to Turkey; whereas, the Christians living in Turkey were required to immigrate to Greece in an "Exchange of Populations" – nowadays this process is called “Ethnic Cleansing” and prosecuted as a war crime. The Muslims of Thrace and the Christians of Istanbul and the islands of Gökçeada and Bozcaada (Imvros and Tenedos) were the only populations not exchanged.







There is also a small Muslim community in some of the Dodecanese islands which, as part of Italy between 1912 and 1947 were not subjected to the exchange of the population between Turkey and Greece in 1923. They number about 4,000 most of whom espouse a Turkish identity and speak Turkish. The community is strongest on the island of Kos, and in particular the village of Platanos.



Kos at one time had a large Turkish minority but with the tensions over Cyprus, many have left the island. About 50 Muslim families remain on Kos and they mostly reside in Platani along with a Greek minority. Everyone seems to get along just fine but the good news is the Turkish restaurants that await visitors.



Colonised by the Italians after the Ottoman administration in 1912, 12 Aegean islands were occupied by the Germans in 1942 and then by the English after World War II. The problems of Turkish islanders - or Greek Muslim citizens, according to the terminology used in Greece - who were handed over to Greece with the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1947, still affects the local political agenda. Local politicians are also sensitive about the problems of Turks and other Muslims living on the islands. Alderman Nikos Milonas, who prepared a report titled "Problems of Muslim Society on Kos Island" in the first year of New Democracy party (ND) rule, began his report saying, "We generally avoid mentioning the problems of the small Muslim society living on Kos Island. Falsely-internalised nationalistic feelings keep us silent about this issue. However, such issues should come to the agenda and be discussed within the framework of efforts to reconstruct an open democracy in our country, just like other European Union countries."







Another significant problem is language and religious education. Turkish has not been taught at schools on Rhodes and Kos since 1972. There were no problems with native-language instruction from 1912 until 1947, when the islands were passed to Greece. Turkish schools also survived from 1947 on, but the lessons were taught both in Greek and Turkish. However, after Turkey banned Greek at schools on Gökçeada and Bozcada in 1972, Turkish teaching was totally excluded from the curriculum. Children must learn Turkish at home from their families now. They learn reading and writing in their native language only after they learn the Latin alphabet in high school to learn English. Nineteen-year-old Emine, who recently graduated from high school, will study tourism in Rhodes. Emine, who currently works in sales, says: "I attended English courses after school. I could improve my Turkish after I learned the Latin alphabet thanks to English. I took private Turkish courses. I improve my Turkish by reading Turkish novels."



The problem of religion and language education forces Turkish families to send their children to Turkey for secondary and high school education. This results in the separation of the children from their families at a tender age. The integration of these children into the island community also becomes difficult when they come back to their homeland. Another way of learning Turkish is Turkish lessons from the Mediterranean studies department at the university in Rhodes. Students have the opportunity to learn their native language as a foreign language at undergraduate level in the department, which has few students.





Turkish Gravestones, Kos Town



The first immigrants of Islamic faith arrived in the early 1970s from the Middle East, mostly from Palestine, and are concentrated in the country's two main urban centres, Athens and Thessalonica. Since 1990, there has been an increase in the numbers of immigrant Muslims, fifty percent of whom come from Albania. The remainder are from various countries of the Middle East, as well as from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The immigrant Muslim community numbers around 150,000 people.



During the last decades, as part of a Europe-wide trend of populations moving from rural areas to urban areas, many Greek Muslims, along with other Greek citizens, have left their birthplaces to move to bigger cities, most notably Athens and Istanbul. In the past, a considerable number of them were deprived of their citizenship after leaving Greece (especially for Turkey) and their properties were subsequently confiscated by the state under Article 19 of the Citizenship Law, which was repealed non-retroactively in June 1998.



Today on Kos the evidence of Ottoman rule is still highly visible and the small Turkish community struggles to maintain its identity and culture. In the main square of Kos Town, Eleftheria (Freedom) Square, one side is taken up by the Defeterdar Mosque (Defeterdar Mahmut Efendi Mosque). This was constructed in the 18th Century and is well preserved although it could do with some TLC. The Defeterdar was the Treasury minister of the Ottoman Empire. It is characterised by the minaret and the octagonal ablution fountain with its domed roof next to it. Behind it is the so called Forum Gate which leads into the remains of the walled Crusader Town of Kos. Little remains of this as it was built on the site of the impressive Roman Agora which was excavated following the earthquake of 1933.





Hippocrates Plane Tree Square



At the end of the walk (today known as “Bar Street”) you come to Kos’s most famous public spaces, Hippocrates Plane Tree Square. Under the huge and gnarled plane tree the Father of Medicine is meant to have lectured 2,500 years ago. It is huge and impressive and possibly the oldest tree in Europe but it can not be the one Hippocrates lectured under as plane trees generally live about 600 years. It none the less is a lovely space with the bridge to the Knights Castle of Neratzia, the Italian modernist court buildings and the Loggia Mosque framing it. As well as Hippocrates, the Apostle Paul is meant to have preached Christianity here in Roman times. There is a beautiful Ottoman fountain to the north of the plane tree, one of the many to be seen around Kos Town, which incorporates an ancient sarcophagus and it contains an inscription in Arabic characterising the water as “the water of Hippocrates” and giving the date of construction as 1786. Like all the Ottoman fountains in Kos this was an ablution fountain to clean the hands of the faithful before prayer and to wash their feet before entering the mosque. All the fountains, mosques and Mederessa in Kos are inscribed with the Shahaadah, the Muslim declaration of Faith “"There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."









Hassan Pasha Mosque



1786 was also the foundation year of the Lotzia (Loggia) Mosque also known as the Hassan Pasha Mosque which was founded by the Turkish admiral Gazi Irli Hassan. Ancient architectural elements from Roman remains have been incorporated into the fabric of the mosque and its minarets. The three story building is locked and unused and still bears the marks of wartime bombardment, especially in the tracery of the upper windows. The ground floor – like that of its near contemporary the Defeterdar Mosque – is taken up by several shops. The building looks sad and forlorn and is of such quality and presence that it cries out to be used better, ideally as a museum of Muslim Kos. At the east side of the square there is the more satisfying sight of an original 18th Century Hamman which has been restored with the help of EU funds. However if you leave the square to walk down to the harbour through a small park you notice on your left the site of two ancient Muslim gravestones which have been vandalised and covered with graffiti. Ahead the go ahead Mayor of Kos replaced a taxi rank with a fine fountain and public space which provides a handsome approach from the harbour to the plane tree but there is the sight of a large Hamman which has been converted to a nightclub with extract vents crudely cut into the ancient domes.





Hamman nightclub



Kos heavily touts its “Old Town” without actually telling you this was the Ottoman Old Town of Haluvazia. You enter the Old town from behind the covered Merkato on Platia Eleftherias and continue on a pedestrianised street which begins as Ifestou and then becomes Appelou before ending at Platia Dhiagoras overlooking the Western Archaeological Zone further on. It is a satisfying walk through Haluvazia; off the pedestrianised narrow main street you can see the sturdy Ottoman homes and courtyards which survived the 1933 earthquake. This was long considered an undesirable area, but while all the rickety townhouses nearby collapsed in the 1933 earthquake, the sturdy stone built houses and shops here survived. Today the area is crammed with tourist shops and cafes but if you look upwards you can see Turkish and Arabic inscriptions on the stones. There is a dry Turkish fountain where the walkway crosses Venizelou and another one juts out from the wall at the barber shop at the corner of Hristodoulou and Passanikolaki beside the minaret-less but still functioning Atik Mosque.





Ottoman Old Town of Haluvazia



Continuing in the same direction you can make a detour west of Platia Dhiagoras to Nikita Nissiriou to the Anatolian Hamman. During the Ottoman Period this was the residence of a local pasha whose descendants emigrated to Izmir in 1950; The small Turkish bath inside (the Hamman of the name) functioned as the neighbourhood spa until 1970 or so after which the premises operated as a brothel (legal in Greece) before falling into complete disrepair. It has now been restored (since 1992) with the original cedar floors and painted ceilings and has a lovely Arabic style garden at the back and is a stylish restaurant. I complimented the waitress that the excellent Arabic style hummus – the Chef came out and it turned out he was Coptic from Alexandria hence the authentic feel to the food.













Anatolian Hamman



For an insight into what it means to be Turkish in Kos these days head 2Km south of Kos Town on the road to the Asklepion to the Greek – Turkish village of Platani. Until 1964 it was most commonly known as Kermetes (Germe in Turkish) and the Turkish community had its own primary school. But in the wake of the Cyprus crises of that year the village was given a Greek name and education provided in Greek only. Subsequent emigration to Anatolia caused Turkish numbers on Kos to drop from three thousand to less than a thousand today. Only those Turks owning real estate and businesses have stayed put but, as on Rhodes, the long term outlook is bleak.



Platani’s older domestic architecture is similar to styles in Crete from where some of the village’s inhabitants came between 1898 and 1913. There is a working Ottoman fountain near the crossroads and several excellent Turkish tavernas; Arap, Asklipios, Sherif and Gin’s Palace. They all offer Anatolian-style mezedhes and kebabs and enjoy a reputation, including among the Greeks, as the best eateries on the island. We dined at Arap where all the vegetables are grown on the owners land and the meats sourced on the island. We enjoyed an excellent meal with our Greek friends who are regulars here. I expressed my surprise to Mr. Arap that the menu included a pork chop but he said there was not necessarily a strict interpretation on this before saying he had to earn a living. Well for myself I thought Al Qur’aan was clear;



“He has forbidden you only the Maytah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine…”

[al-Baqarah 2:173]





Arap









Platani



The truth is that Kos, the Dodecanese and the Turkish mainland (Asia Minor) have since time immemorial been diverse lands which have hosted many religions and races, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Armenians, Turks, Crusaders, Italians and many more professing Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrian, Alevis, and the Gods of the Ancient World. Kos has gained its unique identity from this diversity and the sectarianism and mono-cultures are very much a product of these modern times. We need grown up discussions amongst grown up people and does a culture as strong as that of Greece really need to be so defensive? Does it have so little confidence in itself? So let us see in the 21st Century a new engagement where diversity is celebrated and embraced, where Turkish schools are reopened and Kos Town celebrates its unique patrimony with a heritage trail embracing the people’s who have made it unique in various museums; Greek, Roman, (Casa Romana), Jewish (The Old Synagogue;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/jewish-kos.html



Muslim (Loggia Mosque), Crusader (Neratzia Castle)and so on.



It is time to move on from the sterile nationalism of the past and the poisonous delusion of Megali Idea (Modern Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα, "Great Idea"), that irredentist delusion which has only ever brought disaster to Greece and suffering to Greeks from the farcical “invasion” of Asia Minor in 1923 to the disaster in Cyprus in 1974. It is time to recognise after 586 years that Byzantium had its day in the sun of history



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/fall-of-byzantium.html



and instead of blaming everybody else recognise that an Empire where 26 out of 92 Emperors were murdered or had “unexplained” deaths and where the word “Byzantine” entered the English language for all the wrong reasons may not have been the most competent outfit and contributed to its own demise. Most of all Greece needs to look forward not to the past and decide what sort of society it wants to be. By embracing Muslim communities, many of whose people go back several generations on Kos,and being proud and confident in its diversity the special isle of Kos, which has always been a crossroads of humanity, can lead the way for a New Greece.

Muslim Kos

Defeterdar Mosque



Kos and Rhodes were the two islands which experienced Muslim immigration under the 400 years of Ottoman rule and being under Italian control were not affected by the “population transfers” (or ethnic cleansing in modern language) after the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. The Knights of St. John



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/knights-of-malta.html



surrendered Kos and the mainland fortress of St. Petrium (now days Turkish Bodrum and 10 miles from Kos) , which between them controlled the sea straits, to the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent (known in Islam as Suleiman the Lawgiver) in 1523 and this began a 390 year Turkish domination. The Turks renamed the island “Stanköy” and whilst the Greeks refer to Turkish rule as barbaric and refer to it as an “occupation” the truth is that under the Ottomans Kos was for the most part benignly neglected with a toleration towards other religions and a mix of Greek, Turkish, Armenian and Jewish population.



There were flare ups in that 390 year history. In 1603 the Knights of St. John unsuccessfully tried to retake the island and Kos was looted by the Ottoman mercenaries who retook the island. It was hit by a terrible epidemic of the plague in 1810/11 and it took part in the Greek Revolt of 1821. The retribution was savage by the Ottomans with a massacre on the island of Chios in the Sporades and the Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople (Istanbul) being executed and his body thrown in the Bosporus. On Kos more than 90 Greek rebels were hanged around the Plane Tree of Hippocrates. The Turkish rule came to an end in 1912 in the Italian / Turkish war where Italy invaded Ottoman North Africa and to Italy were ceded to Italy to “ensure the due performance of the Treaty of Cyrenia.” Well the Ottomans did “perform” by leaving the area of North Africa known as Libya (and Italy embarked on a shameful and vicious colonial enterprise in Africa) but the Italians stayed in the Dodecanese. However despite the repression at times of rebellion, trade flourished under the Ottomans, religious freedoms were respected and the rule was generally even handed but the infrastructure was neglected.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/08/kos-town.html







The indigenous Muslim population in Greece is not homogeneous since it consists of different ethnic, linguistic and social backgrounds which often overlap. The Muslim faith is the creed of several autochthonous ethnic groups living in the present territory of Greece, namely the Pomaks, ethnic Turks, certain Roma groups, and Greek Muslims, who embraced the Muslim faith mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries. The country's Muslim population decreased significantly as a result of the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and the new Turkish Republic, which also uprooted approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor.





Turkish Cemetery, Platani



In 1923, under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Muslims living in Greece were required to immigrate to Turkey; whereas, the Christians living in Turkey were required to immigrate to Greece in an "Exchange of Populations" – nowadays this process is called “Ethnic Cleansing” and prosecuted as a war crime. The Muslims of Thrace and the Christians of Istanbul and the islands of Gökçeada and Bozcaada (Imvros and Tenedos) were the only populations not exchanged.







There is also a small Muslim community in some of the Dodecanese islands which, as part of Italy between 1912 and 1947 were not subjected to the exchange of the population between Turkey and Greece in 1923. They number about 4,000 most of whom espouse a Turkish identity and speak Turkish. The community is strongest on the island of Kos, and in particular the village of Platanos.



Kos at one time had a large Turkish minority but with the tensions over Cyprus, many have left the island. About 50 Muslim families remain on Kos and they mostly reside in Platani along with a Greek minority. Everyone seems to get along just fine but the good news is the Turkish restaurants that await visitors.



Colonised by the Italians after the Ottoman administration in 1912, 12 Aegean islands were occupied by the Germans in 1942 and then by the English after World War II. The problems of Turkish islanders - or Greek Muslim citizens, according to the terminology used in Greece - who were handed over to Greece with the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1947, still affects the local political agenda. Local politicians are also sensitive about the problems of Turks and other Muslims living on the islands. Alderman Nikos Milonas, who prepared a report titled "Problems of Muslim Society on Kos Island" in the first year of New Democracy party (ND) rule, began his report saying, "We generally avoid mentioning the problems of the small Muslim society living on Kos Island. Falsely-internalised nationalistic feelings keep us silent about this issue. However, such issues should come to the agenda and be discussed within the framework of efforts to reconstruct an open democracy in our country, just like other European Union countries."







Another significant problem is language and religious education. Turkish has not been taught at schools on Rhodes and Kos since 1972. There were no problems with native-language instruction from 1912 until 1947, when the islands were passed to Greece. Turkish schools also survived from 1947 on, but the lessons were taught both in Greek and Turkish. However, after Turkey banned Greek at schools on Gökçeada and Bozcada in 1972, Turkish teaching was totally excluded from the curriculum. Children must learn Turkish at home from their families now. They learn reading and writing in their native language only after they learn the Latin alphabet in high school to learn English. Nineteen-year-old Emine, who recently graduated from high school, will study tourism in Rhodes. Emine, who currently works in sales, says: "I attended English courses after school. I could improve my Turkish after I learned the Latin alphabet thanks to English. I took private Turkish courses. I improve my Turkish by reading Turkish novels."



The problem of religion and language education forces Turkish families to send their children to Turkey for secondary and high school education. This results in the separation of the children from their families at a tender age. The integration of these children into the island community also becomes difficult when they come back to their homeland. Another way of learning Turkish is Turkish lessons from the Mediterranean studies department at the university in Rhodes. Students have the opportunity to learn their native language as a foreign language at undergraduate level in the department, which has few students.





Turkish Gravestones, Kos Town



The first immigrants of Islamic faith arrived in the early 1970s from the Middle East, mostly from Palestine, and are concentrated in the country's two main urban centres, Athens and Thessalonica. Since 1990, there has been an increase in the numbers of immigrant Muslims, fifty percent of whom come from Albania. The remainder are from various countries of the Middle East, as well as from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The immigrant Muslim community numbers around 150,000 people.



During the last decades, as part of a Europe-wide trend of populations moving from rural areas to urban areas, many Greek Muslims, along with other Greek citizens, have left their birthplaces to move to bigger cities, most notably Athens and Istanbul. In the past, a considerable number of them were deprived of their citizenship after leaving Greece (especially for Turkey) and their properties were subsequently confiscated by the state under Article 19 of the Citizenship Law, which was repealed non-retroactively in June 1998.



Today on Kos the evidence of Ottoman rule is still highly visible and the small Turkish community struggles to maintain its identity and culture. In the main square of Kos Town, Eleftheria (Freedom) Square, one side is taken up by the Defeterdar Mosque (Defeterdar Mahmut Efendi Mosque). This was constructed in the 18th Century and is well preserved although it could do with some TLC. The Defeterdar was the Treasury minister of the Ottoman Empire. It is characterised by the minaret and the octagonal ablution fountain with its domed roof next to it. Behind it is the so called Forum Gate which leads into the remains of the walled Crusader Town of Kos. Little remains of this as it was built on the site of the impressive Roman Agora which was excavated following the earthquake of 1933.





Hippocrates Plane Tree Square



At the end of the walk (today known as “Bar Street”) you come to Kos’s most famous public spaces, Hippocrates Plane Tree Square. Under the huge and gnarled plane tree the Father of Medicine is meant to have lectured 2,500 years ago. It is huge and impressive and possibly the oldest tree in Europe but it can not be the one Hippocrates lectured under as plane trees generally live about 600 years. It none the less is a lovely space with the bridge to the Knights Castle of Neratzia, the Italian modernist court buildings and the Loggia Mosque framing it. As well as Hippocrates, the Apostle Paul is meant to have preached Christianity here in Roman times. There is a beautiful Ottoman fountain to the north of the plane tree, one of the many to be seen around Kos Town, which incorporates an ancient sarcophagus and it contains an inscription in Arabic characterising the water as “the water of Hippocrates” and giving the date of construction as 1786. Like all the Ottoman fountains in Kos this was an ablution fountain to clean the hands of the faithful before prayer and to wash their feet before entering the mosque. All the fountains, mosques and Mederessa in Kos are inscribed with the Shahaadah, the Muslim declaration of Faith “"There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."









Hassan Pasha Mosque



1786 was also the foundation year of the Lotzia (Loggia) Mosque also known as the Hassan Pasha Mosque which was founded by the Turkish admiral Gazi Irli Hassan. Ancient architectural elements from Roman remains have been incorporated into the fabric of the mosque and its minarets. The three story building is locked and unused and still bears the marks of wartime bombardment, especially in the tracery of the upper windows. The ground floor – like that of its near contemporary the Defeterdar Mosque – is taken up by several shops. The building looks sad and forlorn and is of such quality and presence that it cries out to be used better, ideally as a museum of Muslim Kos. At the east side of the square there is the more satisfying sight of an original 18th Century Hamman which has been restored with the help of EU funds. However if you leave the square to walk down to the harbour through a small park you notice on your left the site of two ancient Muslim gravestones which have been vandalised and covered with graffiti. Ahead the go ahead Mayor of Kos replaced a taxi rank with a fine fountain and public space which provides a handsome approach from the harbour to the plane tree but there is the sight of a large Hamman which has been converted to a nightclub with extract vents crudely cut into the ancient domes.





Hamman nightclub



Kos heavily touts its “Old Town” without actually telling you this was the Ottoman Old Town of Haluvazia. You enter the Old town from behind the covered Merkato on Platia Eleftherias and continue on a pedestrianised street which begins as Ifestou and then becomes Appelou before ending at Platia Dhiagoras overlooking the Western Archaeological Zone further on. It is a satisfying walk through Haluvazia; off the pedestrianised narrow main street you can see the sturdy Ottoman homes and courtyards which survived the 1933 earthquake. This was long considered an undesirable area, but while all the rickety townhouses nearby collapsed in the 1933 earthquake, the sturdy stone built houses and shops here survived. Today the area is crammed with tourist shops and cafes but if you look upwards you can see Turkish and Arabic inscriptions on the stones. There is a dry Turkish fountain where the walkway crosses Venizelou and another one juts out from the wall at the barber shop at the corner of Hristodoulou and Passanikolaki beside the minaret-less but still functioning Atik Mosque.





Ottoman Old Town of Haluvazia



Continuing in the same direction you can make a detour west of Platia Dhiagoras to Nikita Nissiriou to the Anatolian Hamman. During the Ottoman Period this was the residence of a local pasha whose descendants emigrated to Izmir in 1950; The small Turkish bath inside (the Hamman of the name) functioned as the neighbourhood spa until 1970 or so after which the premises operated as a brothel (legal in Greece) before falling into complete disrepair. It has now been restored (since 1992) with the original cedar floors and painted ceilings and has a lovely Arabic style garden at the back and is a stylish restaurant. I complimented the waitress that the excellent Arabic style hummus – the Chef came out and it turned out he was Coptic from Alexandria hence the authentic feel to the food.













Anatolian Hamman



For an insight into what it means to be Turkish in Kos these days head 2Km south of Kos Town on the road to the Asklepion to the Greek – Turkish village of Platani. Until 1964 it was most commonly known as Kermetes (Germe in Turkish) and the Turkish community had its own primary school. But in the wake of the Cyprus crises of that year the village was given a Greek name and education provided in Greek only. Subsequent emigration to Anatolia caused Turkish numbers on Kos to drop from three thousand to less than a thousand today. Only those Turks owning real estate and businesses have stayed put but, as on Rhodes, the long term outlook is bleak.



Platani’s older domestic architecture is similar to styles in Crete from where some of the village’s inhabitants came between 1898 and 1913. There is a working Ottoman fountain near the crossroads and several excellent Turkish tavernas; Arap, Asklipios, Sherif and Gin’s Palace. They all offer Anatolian-style mezedhes and kebabs and enjoy a reputation, including among the Greeks, as the best eateries on the island. We dined at Arap where all the vegetables are grown on the owners land and the meats sourced on the island. We enjoyed an excellent meal with our Greek friends who are regulars here. I expressed my surprise to Mr. Arap that the menu included a pork chop but he said there was not necessarily a strict interpretation on this before saying he had to earn a living. Well for myself I thought Al Qur’aan was clear;



“He has forbidden you only the Maytah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine…”

[al-Baqarah 2:173]





Arap









Platani



The truth is that Kos, the Dodecanese and the Turkish mainland (Asia Minor) have since time immemorial been diverse lands which have hosted many religions and races, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Armenians, Turks, Crusaders, Italians and many more professing Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrian, Alevis, and the Gods of the Ancient World. Kos has gained its unique identity from this diversity and the sectarianism and mono-cultures are very much a product of these modern times. We need grown up discussions amongst grown up people and does a culture as strong as that of Greece really need to be so defensive? Does it have so little confidence in itself? So let us see in the 21st Century a new engagement where diversity is celebrated and embraced, where Turkish schools are reopened and Kos Town celebrates its unique patrimony with a heritage trail embracing the people’s who have made it unique in various museums; Greek, Roman, (Casa Romana), Jewish (The Old Synagogue;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/jewish-kos.html



Muslim (Loggia Mosque), Crusader (Neratzia Castle)and so on.



It is time to move on from the sterile nationalism of the past and the poisonous delusion of Megali Idea (Modern Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα, "Great Idea"), that irredentist delusion which has only ever brought disaster to Greece and suffering to Greeks from the farcical “invasion” of Asia Minor in 1923 to the disaster in Cyprus in 1974. It is time to recognise after 586 years that Byzantium had its day in the sun of history



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/fall-of-byzantium.html



and instead of blaming everybody else recognise that an Empire where 26 out of 92 Emperors were murdered or had “unexplained” deaths and where the word “Byzantine” entered the English language for all the wrong reasons may not have been the most competent outfit and contributed to its own demise. Most of all Greece needs to look forward not to the past and decide what sort of society it wants to be. By embracing Muslim communities, many of whose people go back several generations on Kos,and being proud and confident in its diversity the special isle of Kos, which has always been a crossroads of humanity, can lead the way for a New Greece.

Kos Town

Loggia Mosque (Hassan Pasha)


Town Hall

Built around a busy harbour which has been guarded since the 14th century by the Castle of the Knights of St John Kos Town is a wonderful mixture of the ancient and modern and a worthwhile holiday destination both in its own right as well as a base for touring the island of Kos with the other Dodecanese Islands and the Turkish mainland with Bodrum (ancient Hallincarnassus) just a short boat ride away.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/02/kalymnos-island-of-sponge-divers.html )

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/09/taxi-driver-of-nisyros.html

The town of Kos was founded in 366 BC, in the same area where modern Kos is nowadays found. It reached the apogee of its importance during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, being a crossroad between civilisations, between East and West, the meeting point for both culture and trade. Its public market was of great fame during antiquity and still is thriving today. All around Kos Town you can find signs of the past, reminders of the civilisations that passed through its harbour. There are numerous buildings, built in imitation of the Italian architecture of the colonies in North Africa, most typical being the Municipal Buildings and Court House as well as modern Greek and Ottoman.


Nefterdar mosque

For such a bustling town there are a surprising number of peaceful retreats among the landscaped gardens and shady squares. Traditional tavernas and cafés around the waterfront also provide a place to escape the air of business that surrounds the island's capital. Most parts have either been carefully preserved or thoughtfully developed to produce a pleasing resort full of character.



“Phoinikon" (Palm Trees) Avenue

Its ancient Mandraki (Harbour) guarded by the Castle of Nerazia provides a pleasant hive of activity and a focal point although the ferries and inter island catamarans and hydrofoils go from a landing stage on the far side of the Castle. Despite regular and devastating earthquakes throughout its history Kos Town has remained on this site benefiting from the seaborne trade. It is the last major earthquake in 1933 (when the island was under Italian occupation) which gives us the shape and form of the contemporary city which spreads out from the harbour and which is home to half the island’s population. The Italians rebuilt with wide palm lined avenues and excavated the extensive Hellenistic and Roman archaelogical remains which were revealed by the earthquake. So modern Kos Town provides a fascinating mix of the Greek and Roman, the Crusader Knights who held out here until 1522, the Ottomans who left mosques, Hammans and fountains, the Italians who laid out the modern town and endowed it with fine public buildings, mock North African, fascist Internationalist and art Deco and modern Greece of which Kos only became a part of in 1948. The maze like Ottoman Centre apart (known as Kos Old Town) this is a planned town with the pines, palms and shrubs planted by the Italians now fully matured.

Museum Eleftherias (Freedom) square


Asklepia arriving in Kos

Eleftherias (Freedom) square is the centre of Kos Town. It is the atmospheric open air "Drawing Room" of Kos where everybody goes for their evening stroll, to see and to be seen. It is overlooked on one side by the Nefterdar mosque which was built at the end of the 18th century and the ablution fountain, on the other by the Italian Colonial style Merkato, and by the Theatre and library and the Archeological Museum on the other sides. Towered over at night by the illuminated crosses of the Orthodox Cathderal and adjoined by the ancient Roman Agora it provides a superb urban set piece symbolising the rich mix of influences which have made this unique island. A good pit stop for food and drink is Ideal snack bar on Martiou Street just off Eleftherias Square. Ideal is delightful and always friendly and the Gyros (Chicken or Pork Souvlaki) are the best value and tastiest on the island. It is run by Zoë and her family; She is Greek American from Boston and totally cool. She is also an unfailing source of reliable advice on what to do and what to see but nobody can give you reliable advice in Greece on ferry timetables! Nobody stacks a Gyros like Timo, the chef at Ideal; these are not bought in but made fresh every day by Timo and Zoë’s dad, Kostaes.



Merkato

There is a “bar street” by the Agora with late night delights including a night club in an original Turkish Hamman. More satisfying though is to head up to Haluvazia, the atmospheric Ottoman Old Town. Off the pedestrianised narrow main street (Apelou Ifestou)you can see the sturdy Ottoman homes and courtyards which survived the 1933 earthquake. Following this street you come to a cross roads where you find on one side the Old Town Café and on the other side The Old Town Bar. The café is run by the much travelled and amusing Alex who plays excellent lounge music whilst selling the best Frappe on the island – essential fuel on a warm day beneath the canopy of bougainvillea. The bar on the other side is run by Mines and his Mohitos are the real deal! It is a good place to hang out and if you turn up the second time you are greeted as an old friend and free nibbles and drinks are normal hospitality. Across from the café is Olive (Elia in Greek) at 27. Apelou Ifestou, a traditional Greek Restauraunt affiliated to the Slow Food movement which specialises in authentic local dishes and local produce and which I cannot recommend too highly. At the end of the meal you will be presented with their coup de theatre, a saucer of Olives! When you eat them you will react strangely for these are sweet olives marinated in honey and taste surprisingly delicious. Indeed they are so popular and unique that Elia now sells them in jars to take away.




Old Town

What must be also said about Kos Town is it is very clean and well run – it had an energetic mayor for many years who is now the local MP and the contrast with the chaos and inept administration elsewhere (such as Kalymnos) is refreshing. There are two strips by the coast on either side of the harbour Lambi which is more down market (Sky TV and Coronation Street) and along an elegant promenade past the smart new marina Psaldi which contains more up market hotels including my personal favourite, the excellent and well managed Continental Palace. Bicycles are often seen in Kos Town and the cycle tracks are well used especially by Dutch and German visitors. Another quiet haven is Hippocrates Plane Tree and the Loggia Mosque which are in a pleasant square with an ancient Ottoman fountain.

Hippocrates Plane Tree



Kos is the most fertile of the Dodecanese blessed with rich volcanic soil and plentiful water. In the ancient Mediterranean the trade routes did not go in straight lines but hugged the coast and on the height above Kos Town occupied by the Asklepia (the Temple where one of its priests Hippocrates practiced medicine) you have a wonderful view over the straights as far as Bodrum (as Hallincarnassus home of one of the wonders of the ancient world, the tomb of Mausulos, King of Caria) on the mainland of Asia Minor and you can imagine the scene with ancient galleys. For the Roman Empire this was the stopping off point to / from Syria, Palestine and Egypt where they took on provisions (including the Cos lettuce), used the gymnasia and baths and left the sick to follow on after recovering in the Asklepia and sanatoria. And from guilt or longing they would buy their Roman ladies, Coan draperies, the somewhat saucy translucent numbers for which the island was famous!

Kos is basically a large, long narrow plain and measures 290 square kilometers, with the obvious exception of a mountainous region in the north west of the island. This region comprises of a series of peaks, the tallest of which is Dikaio Christo (which in Greek means "The Just Christ"). A castle of the Knights of the Order of St. John still survives on one of the many peaks of Dikaio near Thimiana.


Crusader House 14C

In order to get a taste of the ancient wonders that Kos has to offer, make a stop at the Archaeological Museum, located at Eleftherias square which exhibits a wide collection of archaeological treasures, such as the mosaic of Hippocrates, the Hellenistic sculptures of Aphrodite, Eros and one believed to be of Hippocrates himself. It was built by the Italians in the Fascist International style as a none too subtle propaganda exercise with a distinct Latin bias. Whilst there are some Hellenistic exhibits many of the exhibits are in fact Roman including the mosaic which shows Hippocrates welcoming Asklepios to Kos.



The Hellenistic period is the brightest period in Kos' history. In the creation of the new city (366 BC) many marble monuments were built such as the sanctuary of Hercules, Pandimou and Pondias Aphrodite, the Market, the Gymnasium, the Stadium, the Theatre, the Altar of Dionysus and the Acropolis. The relics of these monuments were brought to light by the diggings of Italian archeologists. King Ptolomeos II of Egypt was born in Kos at this time. He adored Greek literature and was know as the Philadelphos. During the Hellenistic period, the island thrived economically and culturally. Kos was not only rich in agricultural and livestock products but also started developing its export trade in wine, olive oil, fruit, perfumes, silk and wool.

It then became part of the Roman Empire and then part of Byzantium where it remained until after the 4th Crusade and the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders and the Venetians.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/fall-of-byzantium.html

The centuries that followed were marked by the presence of foreign conquerors. After a short occupation of the island by the Venetians and the Genoans, Kos came under the control of the Knights of St John in 1314. The Order was a force to be reckoned with, with its own governors, who were constituted by the Council of the Knights of Rhodes. At the same time Kos was attacked by the Turks. The knights however successfully managed to repulse them for a time largely due to the fortifications of the Perimeter Wall and the Castle of Nerazia (city), the Castle of Antimachia, which was unsuccessfully attacked - mostly in 1457, the Castle of old Pyli and the Castle of Kefalos. Even today the restorations to the damage done by the Turkish attacks of the two most important castles, those of Nerazia and Antimachia, are clearly visible. The Dodecanese eventually fell to the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522 – This time the Knights did not attempt to defend Kos but retreated to Rhodes which they eventually left before ending up some time later in Malta.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/knights-of-malta.html




The island slumbered in largely benign neglect under Ottoman rule for nearly 400 years being culturally diverse with Greek, Muslim and Jewish populations. Kos (along with Rhodes) was one of the Dodecanese which had inward immigration from Turks and the town has 3 mosques, four Hammans and numerous fountains and minarets. At Platani on the way to Asklepion there are still Turkish villages with restaurants reputed to have the best food on the island. Also on the way to Platani you can see the old Jewish and Muslim cemeteries side by side.

On May 20th 1912 the Italians conquered Kos from the crumbling Ottoman Empire. The inhabitants intialy welcomed them as their liberators. Soon they found out that their promise of a short occupation of the Dodecanese was insincere. The answer to the ulterior motives of the Italians was vigorous and included an upsurge in nationalist sentiments and promotion of Enosis (unification) with Greece. After the treaty of Lausanne the Italian domination of the Dodecanese was consolidated and the inhabitants of those islands were considered Italian citizens with singular citizenship. Kos became vice - governorship (Reggenza) and was under the jurisdiction of the governor (Governatore) of Rhodes. In all sectors (language, education, religion, economy etc.) there was a sweeping program under Mussolini of fascist italicisation of the Dodecanese. The people of Kos, being Greek, naturally resisted.

After the disastrous earthquake on April 23rd 1933 the new city of Kos was rebuilt by the Italians. The archeologists dug up and repaired a lot of monuments. A large number of sculptures of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman era are kept and exhibited at the archeological museum at Eleftherias square. When the 2nd World War was declared, many volunteers took part in the "Dodecanese's Regiment". The Dodecanese Regiment fought with the Army of Central Macedonia against the Germans. After the Italian truce (03.09.1943) there was a landing of a small English force on the island, which was accepted by the Italians in order to face a potential German attack. On October 3rd 1943 the island was conquered by German troops. A new period of terrorism and brutality began. Two of the most poignant reminders of this traumatic time can be seen in Kos Town. The Jewish synagogue has a plaque outside “In memory of the Jewish Community of Kos – 16th century to 1944”. The large Catholic Church opposite the Municipal Buildings is no longer in use and the small catholic community instead uses the elegant circular church near the Casa Romana. This was originally the funerary church of the catholic cemetery and the Orthodox cemetery is behind it. Hear you can see the gravestones of the Italians executed on 3rd October including several to “Fante Ignoto” – an unknown child.

Synagogue


Italian cemetery

In 1948 after the years of war and occupation Kos, just four miles from Turkey was united with Greece for the first time in its history. The 50s and 60s were years of inertia when many emigrated from this shattered island (indeed from all the Greek islands) to America and Australia. Mass tourism, for all its woes, saved and regenerated Kos.

There is a wealth of archaelogical remains in and around Kos Town. Just some of the more notable are;

Asklepion of Kos; Situated 4 km west of Kos, Asklepeio is the most significant archaeological site on the island. Aesculapius in the Greek religion was a son of Apollo and was the God of health assisted by his two handmaidens, Hygeia, goddess of cleanliness and Panacea, goddess of pain relief. The excavations here began in 1902, by Lakovos Zaraftis from Kos and Dr. Hertsok from Germany. Asklepeio was built in a green area full of cypress trees. During the ancient years, it served as a sanatorium and it was dedicated to Aesculapius, son of Apollo, protector of health and medicine. Many significant people taught and worked here, one of them being the father of Medicine, Hippocrates. Due to the steep ground, Asklepeio consist of four connecting levels, called "andira". The first is characterized by ruins of Roman constructions of the 1st century AD. The second, where the medical school is said to have been housed, is known for its arches and statues. The spas were here and they were watered from the spring of King Halkon and the spring of Vournika on Mount Dikeo.



Asklepion of Kos

Hippocrates was born around 460 BC on the island of Kos, Greece. He became known as the founder of medicine and was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He based his medical practice on observations and on the study of the human body. He held the belief that illness had a physical and a rational explanation. He rejected the views of his time that considered illness to be caused by superstitions and by possession of evil spirits and disfavour of the gods. Hippocrates probably had very little to do with the oath which bears his name taken by all doctors which enjoins them to “do no harm” and keep secret what is told to them by a patient. He did certainly write a treatise on healing entitled “Air, Water and Places” on the importance of environment to health whose holistic approach now seems positively contemporary.

The Agora, built right next to the harbour in order to facilitate trade, was a building 80m wide with a length of about 300m. An impressive stairway leads from the road to the internal yard. Two columns that have been restored form a type of portico. It is estimated that the first construction of the Agora was between the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., while the few pieces from the buildings that have been preserved clearly show many construction periods.

Castle of Nerazia 12C. The castle of the Knights of the Order of Saint John is situated at the entrance of Kos harbour on what used to be an island in antiquity, communicating with the inland through a bridge that one can still see even today namely the bridge of “Phoinikon" (Palm Trees) Avenue. The castle consists of two defensive precincts. The interior one has four circular towers in the corners; the south-eastern tower forms part of the exterior precinct, which is the larger one of the two, with massive bastions on the four corners, battlements and gun ports. The two precincts are separated by a large moat and communicate with a drawbridge.


Castle of Nerazia


The western archaelogical remains contain both the Roman baths and the Hellenistic Gymnasium. The 3rd century Thermes Nymfeo or Forica are part of the bath complex. When the building was first discovered, its elegance initially led archaeologists to the conclusion that this was a sanctuary dedicated to the nymphs, but it was finally determined that the building was in fact a luxury public urinal.

Gymnasium

The Hellenistic Gymnasium (i.e. athletics gym) was known as "Xysto". The Gymnasium was thus named from the habit of the athletes of scraping (xisoun) their bodies in order to clean it from the oil they anointed themselves before the races began. A row of 17 restored columns from the ancient Gymnasium are an impressive sight. There was a water tank in the middle of the Gymnasium where athletes could wash themselves, and the western Thermes were adjacent for the same reason.

The Roman Odeon, built in the 2nd century, has been well preserved. The concave opening has nine marble rows that have been restored, a landing and then another five rows made of granite. The lower stands made of marble were for the more "respectable" citizens while the higher stand made of stone was for the remaining spectators. Other sections that were also saved are the floor of the proscenium and the wings, as well as the orchestra pit.

The Roman Odeon

Kos Casa Romana: Casa Romana, which means the “Roman House”, is an important excavation area. This house shows the architectural style that dominated on the island in the Hellenistic and the Roman Times. It is a beautiful mansion with a style similar to the buildings found in Pompeii. It dates from the 2nd century and was built on the ruins of another house of the Hellenistic period. Apart from its nice architecture, the house stands out due to its frescoes, the most remarkable of which depicts a panther attacking a bear, as well as its elaborated decoration and statues, which date from the late Hellenistic period and are currently exhibited at the Museum of Kos. This and the rest of the mosaics date from the 3rd century AD. The scale of the house can be gauged from the fact that it spreads over 36 rooms and 3 atria.


Mandraki

To understand Kos and the Dodecanese you must realise that these stepping stones en route to the Middle East and Anatolia have always been fated for invasion and occupation; too rich to be ignored but never powerful enough to rule themselves. To understand the people you must understand the history of the Balkan Wars of 1912 – 13, Greece’s 1917 -18 involvement in the First World War and the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 which led to massive population exchanges – essentially regulated ethnic cleansing. Refugees from Asia Minor make up a significant proportion of the population of Kos and the wider Greek Diaspora. Kos today is not multi cultural but is still an interesting and pleasant island which has largely kept its character. Kos Town is one of the more pleasant places as a holiday base with good facilities, a fascinating history whose remnants surround and sometimes astound you and a great hopping off point for the other Dodecanese and the Turkish coast.

Location: Dodecanese, Greece.


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