GEOGRAPHY

Leros Island belongs to the “Dodecanese”, which in Greek language means twelve islands. These are a group of islands lying in the South-East of the Aegean Sea. Leros is a longish island and its axis is directed from North-West to South-East. It looks like a flying butterfly, with a varying span, from a minimum of 1.2 km (3/4 of a mile) to a maximum of 5.6 km (3.5 miles). Its length is 15 km (9.3 miles). The coastline is some 44.5 km (27.65 miles).

Map of Leros

Its surface, 54.27 squared kilometers, is covered by steep hills. The terrain is rocky and the vegetation very poor. Bushes of thistle and oregano are the only plants which grow up naturally.

Deep bays brake up the coastline. In the north part of the island there is the Partheni bay (NW), Blefutis bay (N) and Vaghia bay (NE). In the central part, two deep cuts, the Alinda bay (E) and the Gurna bay (W), form a narrow (1.2 km) neck of land between them. In the south part of the island, there is the Lakki bay, which is the biggest of all (4.5 km long, 2.5 wide, with an entrance narrowed to 0.4 km) and the Xerokampo bay.

The so-called “mountains” are heights with steep rocky slopes. The highest is the mount Scumbarda (327 m) in the south-east part, followed by the mount Clidi (320 m) in the north. The central part of the island is dominated by mount Meraviglia (150 m) while Rachi ridge (103 m) runs from north to south along the isthmus between Alinda and Gurna Bay. 

The biggest town of the island is Lakki (former Porto-Lago). Other significant villages are Platanos (former Leros), Panteli, Agia Marina, Xerokampos.

BRIEF HISTORY

Archeological excavations in Partheni and Gurna showed that the human presence in Leros is dated back to the 4^th millennium B.C., about the end of Neolithic Era.  Since then the island is continually inhabited.

Some scholars argue that “the Kalydna Islands”, mentioned in Stravon’s ‘Geography”, are today’s islands of Kalymnos and Leros. If that is correct, the most ancient citation of Leros is in Homer’s “Illiada”. In the 7^th century B.C. Leros was colonized by the Miletians and later on formed part of the Athenian Alliance until the end of the Peloponnesian War. Then passed to the Spartans and after that became territory of the Persian Empire. In 344 B.C. was conquered by Alexander the Grade.

As part of the Roman Empire, Leros belonged to the province of the islands of the Asia Minor Command. From the 4^th century until the beginning of the 14^th century, Leros was Byzantine territory. The Byzantines ceded Leros to Genoa and in 1306 the Order of St. John Knights occupied the island. In 1522 St. John Knights capitulated with the Ottoman Turks and Leros became part of the Ottoman Empire.