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109-551: Due to its position near the ancient Ionian towns, such as Miletus , Halicarnassus and Ephesus , Amorgos became one of the first places from which the Ionians passed through to the Cycladic Islands and onto the Greek mainland . Throughout history, Amorgos was also known as Yperia, or Platagy, Pagali, Psichia, and Karkisia. Amorgos features many remnants of ancient civilizations. At

218-520: A Samian colony on Amorgos. The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax mentions it as Tripolis . It was a member of the Delian League . It participated in the Second Athenian League . The names of the three cities given by Stephanus Byzantinus are Arkesini, Minoa, Aigiali or Melania which, according to inscriptions, are the most correct. The three towns are on the island's west coast because that

327-473: A find place in Amorgos. This is the earliest of the 'canonical types' – a reclining female with folded arms. They tend to have slender and elongated proportions. At this time, anatomical features such as arms are modeled three-dimensionally. With the later types, sculptors tended to render this feature with incised lines. 'Dokathismata Cycladic figurines' date from a somewhat later period of 2400–2100 BC. Compared to

436-523: A flourishing city. In the eighth century, Ionian Greeks are recorded in Near Eastern sources as coastal raiders: an inscription of Sargon II (ca 709–07, recording a naval expedition of 715) boasts "in the midst of the sea" he had "caught the Ionians like fish and brought peace to the land of Que Cilicia and the city of Tyre ". For a full generation earlier, Assyrian inscriptions had recorded troubles with

545-453: A land tax and a heavy tax on trade, the latter taking advantage of the wealthy Greeks to fill the state coffers. Greeks, like other Christians, were also made to pay the jizya , or Islamic poll-tax which all non-Muslims in the empire were forced to pay instead of the Zakat that Muslims must pay as part of the 5 pillars of Islam. Failure to pay the jizya could result in the pledge of protection of

654-498: A large earthquake occurred that generated a local tsunami of up to 30 m (98 ft). The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.7 and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX ( Violent ). Fifty-three people were killed and 100 were injured. The island was featured in Luc Besson 's film The Big Blue (1988) and "Two tickets to Greece", France, 2023 in which Agia Anna and the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa can be seen. The island

763-613: A large expedition to Asia Minor to defend the cities and attack the Persians, which landed in Ephesus. From there he invaded Phrygia and Lydia, sacking Sardis in 395 BC. But the outbreak of the Corinthian War forced him to withdraw in 395 BC. The region was under Persian control by about 390 BC, when the Persian satrap arbitrated a boundary dispute between Miletus and Myus. Sparta, Athens, and

872-628: A refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and engage in guerrilla warfare . The Cyclades islands, in the middle of the Aegean, were officially annexed by the Ottomans in 1579 although they had been under vassal status since the 1530s. Cyprus fell in 1571 , and the Venetians retained Crete until 1669 . The Ionian Islands were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of Kefalonia (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500), but remained under

981-557: A skirt or a wrap around shift down to the knee, not trousers. The shift may, however, be worn over trousers. As of July 2012, the monastery is active and houses three practicing monks. Tourism is increasing slowly, although the island's geographical features prevent mass tourism. It is accessible only by boat. The three main tourist accommodations are located in Katapola, Aegiali and Chora. Hiking paths are relatively well maintained. Other activities include scuba diving, free-diving, and visiting

1090-546: Is Younan (یونان), a transliteration of "Ionia", through Old Persian Yauna . The same is true for the Hebrew word, "Yavan" (יוון) and the Sanskrit word " yavana ". The word was later adopted in Arabic , Turkish , and Urdu as well as in other places. Ionia appears as the major setting in these novels: Many scholars believe the biblical Yavan refers to the alleged ancestor of

1199-436: Is situated on the cliffside, northeast of Chora. It was built early in the second millennium in order to protect a religious icon, dating from the year 812, from intruders. The icon is on public display inside the monastery. Opening time for visitors every day from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Visitors have to be dressed in a specific way in order to enter. Men have to wear long trousers and women

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1308-416: Is where bays and natural ports that could provide the proper positioning for seaside towns and forts exist. Aigiali was on the north East Side of the island close to the present day locations of Tholaria and Stroumvos. Minoa was situated at the center of the northern side near the present day village of Katapola and Arkesini close to the present-day location Kastri. In 322 BC, Athens and Macedonia fought

1417-764: The Chronicle of Galaxeidi ) and the Peloponnese, led by the Melissinos brothers and others. They were crushed by the following year. Short-term revolts of local level occurred throughout the region such as the ones led by metropolitan bishop Dionysius the Philosopher in Thessaly (1600) and Epirus (1611). During the Cretan War (1645–1669) , the Maniots would aid Francesco Morosini and

1526-615: The Bronze Age collapse , but the lack of contemporary sources makes the sequence of events unclear. The ancient Greeks believed that the Ionians were the descendants of Ion (either a son or grandson of Hellen , the mythical ancestor of the Greeks) and had migrated from Greece to Asia Minor in mythic times. The story is attested from the Classical period. Herodotus states that in Asia the Ionians kept

1635-711: The Constantinople massacre of 1821 and similar pogroms in Smyrna. Simultaneous risings were planned across Greece, including in Macedonia , Crete , and Cyprus . With the initial advantage of surprise, aided by Ottoman inefficiency and the Ottomans' fight against Ali Pasha of Tepelen , the Greeks succeeded in capturing the Peloponnese and some other areas. Some of the first Greek actions were taken against unarmed Ottoman settlements, with about 40% of Turkish and Albanian Muslim residents of

1744-689: The Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church as the leader of all Orthodox, Greeks or not, within the empire. The Patriarch was accountable to the Sultan for the good behavior of the Orthodox population, and in exchange he was given wide powers over the Orthodox communities, including the non-Greek Slavic peoples. The Patriarch controlled the courts and the schools, as well as the Church, throughout

1853-512: The Gediz ), to Miletus in the south near the mouth of the river Maeander , and included the islands of Chios and Samos . It was bounded by Aeolia to the north, Lydia to the east and Caria to the south. The cities within the region figured significantly in the strife between the Persian Empire and the Greeks. Ionian cities were identified by mythic traditions of kinship and by their use of

1962-512: The Ionic dialect , but there was a core group of twelve Ionian cities that formed the Ionian League and had a shared sanctuary and festival at Panionion . These twelve cities were (from south to north): Miletus , Myus , Priene , Ephesus , Colophon , Lebedos , Teos , Erythrae , Clazomenae and Phocaea , together with the islands of Samos and Chios . Smyrna , originally an Aeolic colony,

2071-572: The London Conference of 1832 with the northern frontier running from Arta to Volos , and including only Euboia and the Cyclades among the islands. The Greeks were disappointed at these restricted frontiers, but were in no position to resist the will of Britain, France and Russia, who had contributed mightily to Greek independence. By the Convention of May 11, 1832, Greece was finally recognized as

2180-753: The Maniot Kladas brothers, Krokodelos and Epifani, were leading bands of stratioti on behalf of Venice against the Turks in Southern Peloponnese. They put Vardounia and their lands into Venetian possession, for which Epifani then acted as governor. Before and after the victory of the Holy League in 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto a series of conflicts broke out in the peninsula such as in Epirus, Phocis (recorded in

2289-587: The Peloponnese in 1460. The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and Venetians and Genoese clung to some of the islands, but by the early 16th century, all of mainland Greece and most of the Aegean Islands were in Ottoman hands, excluding several port cities that were still held by the Venetians (notably Nafplio , Monemvasia , Parga and Methone ). The mountains of Greece were largely untouched and were

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2398-562: The Persian invasion of Greece . But the fleet of the Ionians was defeated off the island of Lade , and the destruction of Miletus after a protracted siege was followed by the reconquest of all the Asiatic Greeks, insular as well as continental. The victories of the Greeks during the Persian invasion of Greece and the liberation of Thrace , Macedon , and Ionia from the Persian Empire had

2507-585: The Phanar district of Constantinople, became increasingly powerful. Their travels to Western Europe as merchants or diplomats brought them into contact with advanced ideas of liberalism and nationalism , and it was among the Phanariotes that the modern Greek nationalist movement was born. Many Greek merchants and travelers were influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution and a new Age of Greek Enlightenment

2616-503: The Roman , Byzantine and Ottoman Empires but were forced to vacate the region in 1922 after the events of the Greek Genocide which culminated with the population exchange between Turkey and Greece. The suburbs of Nea Ionia and Nea Smyrni were primarily settled by refugees from Ionia and still maintain an Ionian identity. From the 7th century BC, Ionia, and in particular Miletus ,

2725-722: The Stato da Mar were not incorporated in the Ottoman Empire. The Mani Peninsula in Peloponnese was not fully integrated into the Ottoman Empire, but was under Ottoman suzerainty . The Eastern Roman Empire , the remnant of the Roman Empire , which ruled most of the Greek-speaking world for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since the sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders in 1204. The Ottoman advance into Greece

2834-669: The United States . They also gained support from sympathizers in Western Europe, as well as covert assistance from Russia. The organization secured Capodistria, who became Russian Foreign Minister after leaving the Ionian Islands, as the leader of the planned revolt. On March 25 (now Greek Independence Day) 1821, the Orthodox Bishop Germanos of Patras proclaimed a national uprising. The Ottomans, in retaliation orchestrated

2943-516: The prokritoi (πρόκριτοι in Greek), which were called kocabaşis by the Ottomans. They were essentially bureaucrats and tax collectors and gained a negative reputation for corruption and nepotism. On the other hand, the Phanariots became prominent in the imperial capital of Constantinople as businessmen and diplomats, and the Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarch rose to great power under

3052-738: The 12th century BC together with the collapse of the Empire. Ionia was settled by the Greeks probably during the 11th century BC. The most important city was Miletus (the Millawanda/Milawata of Hittites). There is no record of any people named Ionians in Late Bronze Age Anatolia but Hittite texts record contact with Ahhiyawans ("Achaeans") without being clear on their location. Miletus and some other cities founded earlier by non-Greeks received populations of Mycenaean Greeks . Greek settlement of Ionia seems to have accelerated following

3161-463: The Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, Cyprus and Crete remained Venetian territory and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1670. The only part of the Greek-speaking world that was never under Ottoman rule is the Ionian Islands , which remained Venetian until 1797. Corfu withstood three major sieges in 1537 , 1571 and 1716 all of which resulted in

3270-587: The Archaic period, "the Ionian poleis were among the cultural, intellectual, and political leaders of the Greek world." The region prospered economically due to the contributions of immigrants , traders, and other social classes from at least 750 BCE to well after 510 BCE . The twelve Ionian cities formed a religious and cultural (as opposed to a political or military) confederacy, the Ionian League , of which participation in

3379-454: The Christian's life and property becoming void, facing the alternatives of conversion, enslavement, or death. Like in the rest of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks had to carry a receipt certifying their payment of jizya at all times or be subject to imprisonment. Most Greeks did not have to serve in the Sultan's army, but the young boys that were taken away and converted to Islam were made to serve in

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3488-527: The Great in 335 BC. Ephesus was conquered by Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC in preparation for the invasion of Persia, which took place under his son Alexander the Great . After the battle of the Granicus in 334 BC most of the Ionian cities submitted to Alexander, except for Miletus, which was taken only after a long siege. Alexander presented his invasion as a liberation of the Greeks of Asia and therefore treated

3597-556: The Great Powers to intervene. In October 1827, the British, French and Russian fleets, on the initiative of local commanders, but with the tacit approval of their governments, destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Navarino . This was the decisive moment in the war of independence. In October 1828, the French landed troops in the Peloponnese to evacuate it from Ibrahim's army, while Russia

3706-572: The Greek communities of the empire. This made Orthodox priests, together with the local magnates, called Prokritoi or Dimogerontes, the effective rulers of Greek towns and cities. Some Greek towns, such as Athens and Rhodes , retained municipal self-government, while others were put under Ottoman governors. Several areas, such as the Mani Peninsula in the Peloponnese, and parts of Crete (Sfakia) and Epirus , remained virtually independent. The Patriarchate of Constantinople in general remained loyal to

3815-460: The Greeks did not rebel, disillusioning their Russian patrons. The Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774) gave Russia the right to make "representations" to the Sultan in defense of his Orthodox subjects, and the Russians began to interfere regularly in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire. This, combined with the new ideas let loose by the French Revolution of 1789, began to reconnect the Greeks with

3924-715: The Hellenistic period was the Synod of the Dionysiac Artists of Ionia and the Hellespont, which was established around 250 BC and had its headquarters successively in Teos, Ephesus, Myonnesus , and Lebedus. Ionia became part of the Roman province of Asia in 133 BC, which had its capital at the Ionian city of Ephesus. Ionia had no formal place in the Roman administration of the province, which

4033-592: The Ionian League was primarily a religious organisation rather than a political one. Although they did sometimes act together, civic interests and priorities always trumped broader Ionian ones. They never formed a real confederacy. The advice of Thales of Miletus to combine in a political union was rejected. In inscriptions and literary sources from this period, Ionians generally identify themselves by their city of origin, not as "Ionians." The cities became prosperous. Miletus especially was, in an early period, one of

4142-547: The Ionians generously, granting them freedom, autonomy, and tax-free status. In the conflict that broke out between Alexander's successors after his death in 323 BC and throughout the Hellenistic Age that followed, Ionia was a contested territory, divided between the Antigonid , Seleucid , and Ptolemaic kingdoms. Cities were regularly forced to switch allegiance from one monarch to another, but they were also able to play

4251-442: The Ionians" had married girls from Caria . He defines Ionians as all peoples who were descended from Athenians and celebrated the Apaturia festival, which aligns with the expansive Athenian definition of Ionian identity. The Spartans dissolved the Athenian Empire at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. The Spartans installed harmosts (governors) in the cities, but had to withdraw them because they had promised Ionia and

4360-403: The Ionians, who escaped on their boats. About 700 BC Gyges , first Mermnad king of Lydia , invaded the territories of Smyrna and Miletus, and is said to have taken Colophon. His son Ardys conquered Priene. In the middle of the 7th century, the Cimmerii ravaged a great part of Asia Minor, including Lydia, and sacked Magnesia on the Maeander , but were defeated when they attacked Ephesus. It

4469-449: The Maeander ; Glaucus of Chios , Melas, Micciades, Archermus, Bupalus and Athenis of Chios . Notable works of the school still extant are the famous archaic female statues found on the Athenian Acropolis in 1885–1887, the seated statues of Branchidae, the Nike of Archermus found at Delos, and the objects in ivory and electrum found by D. G. Hogarth in the lower strata of the Artemision at Ephesus. The Persian designation for Greek

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4578-651: The Neo-Martyr or Saint Demetrios the Neo-martyr while others became Crypto-Christians (Greek Muslims who were secret practitioners of the Greek Orthodox faith) in order to avoid heavy taxes and at the same time express their identity by maintaining their secret ties to the Greek Orthodox Church. Crypto-Christians officially ran the risk of being killed if they were caught practicing a non-Muslim religion once they converted to Islam. There were also instances of Greeks from theocratic or Byzantine nobility embracing Islam such as John Tzelepes Komnenos and Misac Palaeologos Pasha . Treatment of Christian subjects varied greatly under

4687-467: The Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Lepanto , however, Greek ships often became the target of vicious attacks by Catholic (especially Spanish and Maltese ) pirates. The five century period of Ottoman rule had a profound impact in Greek society, as new elites emerged. The Greek land-owning aristocracy that traditionally dominated the Byzantine Empire suffered a tragic fate and was almost completely destroyed. The new leading class in Ottoman Greece were

4796-417: The Ottoman military. In addition, girls were taken in order to serve as odalisques in harems. These practices are called the "tribute of children" ( devshirmeh ) (in Greek παιδομάζωμα paidomazoma , meaning "child gathering"), whereby every Christian community was required to give one son in five to be raised as a Muslim and enrolled in the corps of Janissaries , elite units of the Ottoman army. There

4905-424: The Ottoman state to feed the ranks of the Janissary corps. Violent persecutions of Christians did nevertheless take place under the reign of Selim I (1512-1520), known as Selim the Grim, who attempted to stamp out Christianity from the Ottoman Empire. Selim ordered the confiscation of all Christian churches, and while this order was later rescinded, Christians were heavily persecuted during his era. Greeks paid

5014-412: The Ottomans against the western threats (as for example during the Dionysios Skylosophos revolt, etc.) The Orthodox Church assisted greatly in the preservation of the Greek heritage, and adherence to the Greek Orthodox faith became increasingly a mark of Greek nationality. As a rule, the Ottomans did not require the Greeks to become Muslims , although many did so on a superficial level in order to avert

5123-455: The Ottomans to establish either military or administrative presence. The Sultan sat at the apex of the government of the Ottoman Empire. Although he had the trappings of an absolute ruler, he was actually bound by tradition and convention. Ottoman rule of the provinces was characterized by two main functions. The local administrators within the provinces were to maintain a military establishment and to collect taxes. The military establishment

5232-430: The Pan-Ionic festival was a distinguishing characteristic. This festival took place on the north slope of Mt. Mycale in a shrine called the Panionium . The foundation took place late in the Archaic period, but the exact date is unclear. This is also when stories of the Ionian migration are first attested. All of these initiatives were probably aimed at emphasising Ionian distinctiveness from other Greeks in Asia. But

5341-516: The Peloponnese killed outright, and the rest fleeing the area or being deported. The Ottomans recovered, and retaliated in turn with savagery, massacring the Greek population of Chios and other towns. This worked to their disadvantage by provoking further sympathy for the Greeks in Britain and France. The Greeks were unable to establish a strong government in the areas they controlled, and fell to fighting amongst themselves . Inconclusive fighting between Greeks and Ottomans continued until 1825 when

5450-438: The Persian king. Art and archaeology show that Ionia was characterised by "openness and adaptability" towards the Lydians, Persians, and their eastern neighbours in this period. Lydian products and luxury objects were widespread. The Persians used "Yaunā" (Ionian) as a catch-all term for all Greeks, dividing them into "Yaunā of the mainland" in Asia Minor, "Yaunā dwelling by the sea" in the Aegean islands, "Yaunā dwelling across

5559-445: The Sultan sent a powerful fleet and army who were mainly Bedouin and some Sudanese from Egypt under Ibrahim Pasha to suppress the revolution, promising to him the rule of Peloponnese, however they were eventually defeated in the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The atrocities that accompanied this expedition, together with sympathy aroused by the death of the poet and leading philhellene Lord Byron at Messolongi in 1824, eventually led

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5668-447: The Sultan's protection and gained religious control over the entire Orthodox population of the empire, whether it spoke Greek, Albanian, Latin or Slavic. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the Despotate of the Morea was the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to hold out against the Ottomans. However, it fell to the Ottomans in 1460, completing the conquest of mainland Greece. While most of mainland Greece and

5777-409: The Turkish squadrons in the Aegean Sea , captured the island of Kastelorizo and engaged the Turkish fleet in naval battles until 1790. A secret Greek nationalist organization called the "Friendly Society" or "Company of Friends" ( Filiki Eteria ) was formed in Odessa in 1814. The members of the organization planned a rebellion with the support of wealthy Greek exile communities in Britain and

5886-461: The Venetians in the Peloponnese. Greek irregulars also aided the Venetians through the Morean War in their operations on the Ionian Sea and Peloponnese. A major uprising during that period was the Orlov Revolt (Greek: Ορλωφικά) which took place during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and triggered armed unrest in both the Greek mainland and the islands . In 1778, a Greek fleet of seventy vessels assembled by Lambros Katsonis which harassed

5995-435: The advent of the Renaissance (though the large scale migration of Greeks to other parts of Europe, most notably Italian university cities, began far earlier, following the Crusader capture of Constantinople ). This trend had also effect on the creation of the modern Greek diaspora . The second entailed Greeks leaving the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettling in the mountains, where the rugged landscape made it hard for

6104-408: The ancient peoples of Ionia. [REDACTED] Media related to Ionia at Wikimedia Commons 38°12′N 27°30′E  /  38.2°N 27.5°E  / 38.2; 27.5 Ottoman Greece The vast majority of the territory of present-day Greece was at some point incorporated within the Ottoman Empire . The period of Ottoman rule in Greece , lasting from the mid-15th century to

6213-402: The cities located on a narrow band between the sea and the mountains, which varies in width from 60 to 90 kilometres (40 to 60 mi). So intricate is the coastline that the voyage along its shores was estimated at nearly four times the direct distance. The location of the eastern border with Lydia and Caria was vague in antiquity. The region comprised three extremely fertile valleys formed by

6322-420: The cities of Ionia, but also Aeolis and Mysia to the north. Caria to the south was initially its own region, but was folded into the Ionikos phoros in 438 BC. The Athenians advanced an expansive definition of Ionian identity, which included most of the communities under their control and emphasised common descent from Athens. This was probably intended to legitimise their rule over the region. It clashed with

6431-678: The cities of the Province of Asia in the Roman Imperial period, Ionian cities emphasised their Ionian identity as "one of the purest, 'primordial' forms of Greekness," while their rivals denounced Ionians as overly influenced by oriental luxury and recalled their support for the Persians in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. Most sources discussing Ionian founding myths belong to this period. Ionian cities retained local month names and continued to count years by eponymous magistrates rather than adopting era dating like most other cities in Asia Minor. Distinctive Ionian personal names remained common. Greeks continued to live in Ionia through

6540-444: The corps of Janissaries for military training in the Sultan's army. Such recruitment was sporadic, and the proportion of children conscripted varied from region to region. The practice largely came to an end by the middle of the seventeenth century. Under the Ottoman system of government, Greek society was at the same time fostered and restricted. With one hand the Turkish regime gave privileges and freedom to its subject people; with

6649-434: The country, and wealthy Europeans began to collect Greek antiquities. These " philhellenes " were to play an important role in mobilizing support for Greek independence. Greeks in various places of the Greek peninsula would at times rise up against Ottoman rule, mainly while taking advantage of wars the Ottoman Empire would engage in. Those uprisings were of mixed scale and impact. During the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) ,

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6758-426: The division into twelve cities that had prevailed in Ionian lands of the north Peloponnese, their former homeland, which became Achaea after they left. However, the story of the migration is recounted most fully by the Roman-period authors Strabo and Pausanias . They report that the Ionians were expelled from the Peloponnese by Achaians , and were granted refuge in Athens by King Melanthus . Later, when Medon

6867-414: The effect of enfranchising their kinsmen on the other side of the Aegean, and the Battle of Mycale (479 BC), in which the defeat of the Persians was in great measure owing to the Ionians, secured their emancipation. They henceforth became the dependent allies of Athens within the Delian League . In the Athenian tribute lists , one of the regions of the empire is the Ionikos phoros , a region that includes

6976-441: The families bribed the officers to ensure that their children got a better life as a government officer. After the 16th century, many Greek folk songs ( dimotika ) were produced and inspired from the way of life of the Greek people, brigands and the armed conflicts during the centuries of Ottoman rule. Klephtic songs (Greek: Κλέφτικα τραγούδια), or ballads, are a subgenre of the Greek folk music genre and are thematically oriented on

7085-418: The hitherto free Greek peasants to serfdom , leading to further poverty and depopulation in the plains. On the other hand, the position of educated and privileged Greeks within the Ottoman Empire improved greatly in the 17th and 18th centuries. From the late 1600s Greeks began to fill some of the highest and most important offices of the Ottoman state. The Phanariotes , a class of wealthy Greeks who lived in

7194-553: The intense presence of Amorgos during the prehistoric years, particularly during the first period of Cycladic civilization (3200 to 2000 BC). Almost a dozen separate inhabited centres are known in this period. Amorgos is the origin of many famous Cycladic figurines. ‘Dokathismata style’ figurines were originally found here. Cycladic sculptures had been discovered from the cemeteries at Aghia Paraskevi, Aghios Pavlos, Dokathismata, Kapros, Kapsala, Nikouria and Stavros. 'Kapsala Cycladic figurines', dating around 2700 B.C., are named after

7303-464: The island's beaches (although this isn't its main attraction, like other Greek islands). Another landmark in the area is a group of windmills that can be seen on a hill above Chora. A couple of them can be visited, while others are either locked or in ruins. It's easy to reach the location either by car or on foot, going through Chora. There is no admission to enter the area. Ionia Ionia ( / aɪ ˈ oʊ n i ə / eye- OH -nee-ə )

7412-420: The kings off against one another in order to get better terms for themselves. Despite the political situation, the Ionian League continued to operate throughout the period. Following their victory in the War with Antiochus in 189 BC, the Romans placed Ionia under the control of the Attalid Kingdom , which retained the region until it was annexed by Rome in 133 BC. One of the major theatrical associations of

7521-458: The life of the klephts. Prominent conflicts were immortalised in several folk tales and songs, such as the epic ballad To tragoudi tou Daskalogianni of 1786, about the resistance warfare under Daskalogiannis . Over the course of the eighteenth century Ottoman landholdings, previously fiefs held directly from the Sultan, became hereditary estates ( chifliks ), which could be sold or bequeathed to heirs. The new class of Ottoman landlords reduced

7630-454: The malpractices of its administrative personnel over which the central government had only remote and incomplete control. Despite losing their political independence, the Greeks remained dominant in the fields of commerce and business. The consolidation of Ottoman power in the 15th and the 16th centuries rendered the Mediterranean safe for Greek shipping, and Greek shipowners became the empire's maritime carriers and made tremendous profits. After

7739-446: The most important commercial cities of Greece, and in its turn became the parent of numerous other colonies, which extended all around the shores of the Euxine Sea and the Propontis from Abydus and Cyzicus to Trapezus and Panticapaeum. Phocaea was one of the first Greek cities whose mariners explored the shores of the western Mediterranean. From an early period, Ephesus , though it did not send out any colonies of importance, became

7848-493: The naval Battle of Amorgos . Heraclides Lembus wrote that the island produced much wine, as well as olive oil and fruits. With the passing of time, the island's name changed to Amolgon and Amourgon . In the 5th century, Bishop Theodore, who attended a synod in Constantinople , signed as Bishop of the Parians, Sifnians, and Amoulgians. It was known as Yamurgi during Ottoman rule between 1566 and 1829. On 9 July 1956 ,

7957-513: The other Greek communities in Asia to the Persians. In 401, the Ionian cities and Sparta supported Cyrus the Younger , the Persian overlord of Asia Minor, in his attempt to seize the throne from his brother, King Artaxerxes II but he failed. Artaxerxes tasked Tissaphernes , the satrap of Lydia and Caria , with retaking the Ionian cities, and the Spartans opposed him. In 396 BC, Agesilaus led

8066-402: The other it imposed a tyranny deriving from the malpractices of its administrative personnel over which it exercised only remote and incomplete control. In fact the "rayahs" were downtrodden and exposed to the vagaries of Turkish administration and sometimes to the Greek landlords. The term rayah came to denote an underprivileged, tax-ridden and socially inferior population. The Sultan regarded

8175-534: The other mainland Greek states formally acknowledged Persian possession of Ionia and the other Greek cities in Asia Minor in the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC. In this period, Ionia was a separate satrapy, rather than part of Lydia - the only time in the region's history that formed an administrative unit. Ionian cities appear to have retained a considerable amount of autonomy until the conquest of Asia Minor by Alexander

8284-718: The outflow of three rivers, among the most considerable in Asia Minor: the Hermus in the north, flowing into the Gulf of Smyrna , though at some distance from the city of that name; the Caÿster (modern Küçük Menderes River ), which flowed past Ephesus; and the Maeander , which in ancient times discharged its waters into a deep gulf between Priene and Miletus, but which has been gradually filled up by this river's deposits. Two east–west mountain ranges divide

8393-500: The outside world and led to the development of an active nationalist movement, one of the most progressive of the time. Greece was peripherally involved in the Napoleonic Wars , but one episode had important consequences. When the French under Napoleon Bonaparte seized Venice in 1797, they also acquired the Ionian Islands , thus ending the four hundredth year of Venetian rule over the Ionian Islands . The islands were elevated to

8502-602: The pre-Ottoman Christian nobility, and shifted their allegiance to the Ottomans following the conquest of the Balkans. Conversion to Islam was not a requirement, and as late as the fifteenth century many timariots were known to be Christian, although their numbers gradually decreased over time. The Ottomans basically installed this feudal system right over the top of the existing system of peasant tenure. The peasantry remained in possession of their own land and their tenure over their plot of land remained hereditary and inalienable. Nor

8611-657: The region and extend out into the Aegean as peninsulas. The first begins as Mount Sipylus between the Hermus and Caÿster river valleys and continues out as the Erythrae peninsula , which faces the island of Chios. The second is the Messogis range between the Caÿster and Maeander ranges, which becomes the Mycale peninsula, which reaches out towards the island of Samos. None of these mountain ranges exceed 1,200 metres (3,940 ft). Ionia enjoyed

8720-437: The region stretching from the Archaic philosophers down to his own day - in contrast to the intellectual life of mainland Greece, which he presents as a thing of the past. Other authors sometimes use "Ionia" as a metonym for the whole province of Asia. Decreased political agency for the Greek cities under Rome, led to increased focus on cultural identity as a source of civic prestige. In the fierce rivalries that raged between

8829-707: The repulsion of the Ottomans. Other areas that remained part of the Venetian Stato da Màr include Nafplio and Monemvasia until 1540, the Duchy of the Archipelago , centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros until 1579, Sifnos until 1617 and Tinos until 1715. The consolidation of Ottoman rule was followed by two distinct trends of Greek migration. The first entailed Greek intellectuals, such as Basilios Bessarion , Georgius Plethon Gemistos and Marcos Mousouros , migrating to other parts of Western Europe and influencing

8938-557: The reputation in ancient times of being the most fertile region of Asia Minor. Herodotus declares "in terms of climate and weather, there is no fairer region in the whole world." The etymology of the word Ἴωνες ( Íōnes ) or Ἰᾱ́ϝoνες ( Iā́wones ) is uncertain. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain its origins. Frisk suggests that it stems from an unknown root, * Ia -, which would be pronounced as * ya -. Nonetheless, there are several alternative hypotheses as well: The term Ἰᾱ́ϝoνες ( Iā́wones ) in turn became

9047-652: The restrictive definition of Ionian identity that was maintained by the Ionian League. Herodotus, who came from Halicarnassus , a Dorian city in southwestern Asia Minor which was also part of the Athenian Empire, writes in opposition to the Ionian League's claims that "it would be stupid to say that they are more truly Ionian or better born ...." He lists other ethnic populations among the settlers: Abantes from Euboea , Minyans from Orchomenus , Cadmeians, Dryopians , Phocians , Molossians , Arcadian Pelasgians , Dorians of Epidaurus , and others. Even "the best born of

9156-512: The rule of the Republic of Venice . It was in the Ionian Islands that modern Greek statehood was born, with the creation of the Republic of the Seven Islands in 1800. Ottoman Greece was a multiethnic society . However, the Ottoman system of millets did not correspond to the contemporary notion of multiculturalism . The Greeks were given some privileges and freedom, but they also suffered from

9265-518: The rule of the Ottoman Sultans. Bayezid I , according to a Byzantine historian, freely admitted Christians into his society while trying to grow his empire, in the early Ottoman period. Later, although the Turkish ruler attempted to pacify the local population with a restoration of peacetime rule of law, the Christian population also became subject to special taxes and the tribute of Christian children to

9374-566: The sea" in the Greek mainland, and "Yaunā with shields on their heads" in Macedonia. It was at the instigation of one of the tyrants, Histiaeus of Miletus , that in about 500 BC the principal cities ignited the Ionian Revolt against Persia. They were at first assisted by the Athenians and Eretria , with whose aid they penetrated into the interior and burnt Sardis, an event which ultimately led to

9483-709: The socioeconomic hardships of Ottoman rule or because of the alleged corruption of the Greek clergy. The regions of Greece which had the largest concentrations of Ottoman Greek Muslims were Macedonia , notably the Vallaades , neighboring Epirus , and Crete (see Cretan Muslims ). Under the millet logic, Greek Muslims , despite often retaining elements of their Greek culture and language, were classified simply as "Muslim", although most Greek Orthodox Christians deemed them to have "turned-Turk" and therefore saw them as traitors to their original ethno-religious communities. Some Greeks either became New Martyrs , such as Saint Efraim

9592-522: The source for words for Greeks in many languages of the Near East, compare Aramaic 𐡉𐡅𐡍𐡉𐡍 (* Yawnayīn ), Hebrew יָוָן ( yāwān ), Arabic يُونَان ( yūnān ), Demotic Egyptian wynn (/wəjˈniːn/) and Coptic ⲟⲩⲁⲓⲛⲓⲛ ( ouainin ). From the 18th century BC the region was a part of the Hittite Empire with possible name Arzawa , which was destroyed by invaders during

9701-505: The statuettes of the Spedos type—the most common and renowned type of figurines featuring finely modeled and somewhat rounded shapes—the statuettes of the Dokathismata type tend to have a more slender and sometimes angular silhouette. Part of the island is named Aspis, where the ancient temple of the goddess Aphrodite stood. In approximately 630 BC, the poet Semonides led the foundation of

9810-594: The status of a French dependency called the Septinsular Republic , which possessed local autonomy. This was the first time Greeks had governed themselves since the fall of Trebizond in 1461. Among those who held office in the islands was John Capodistria , destined to become independent Greece's first head of state. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Greece had re-emerged from its centuries of isolation. British and French writers and artists began to visit

9919-516: The successful Greek War of Independence that broke out in 1821 and the First Hellenic Republic was proclaimed in 1822 (preceded by the creation of the autonomous Septinsular Republic in 1800), is known in Greek as Tourkokratia ( Greek : Τουρκοκρατία , "Turkish rule"; English: "Turkocracy" ). Some regions, however, like the Ionian islands and various temporary Venetian possessions of

10028-449: The time of Archaic Greece , there were three independent city-states there. They are believed to have featured autonomous constitutions but the same currency. Amorgos is distinguished by the size and quality of the walls surrounding the city of Arkesini, the ancient towers whose remains are scattered around the island, ancient tombs, stone tools, inscriptions, vases and by other antiquities. Arcesine or Arkesine ( Ancient Greek : Ἀρκεσίνη )

10137-547: Was afterwards occupied by Ionians from Colophon, and became an Ionian city. The Ionian school of philosophy , centered on 6th century BC Miletus , was characterized by a focus on non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena and a search for rational explanations of the universe, thereby laying the foundation for scientific inquiry and rational thought in Western philosophy. Ionia was of small extent, not exceeding 150 kilometres (90 mi) in length from north to south, with

10246-499: Was also featured in Giorgos Kordelas' film Ariadni (2002). Amorgos has been referenced online due to the similarity of its name to that of the video game Among Us . The municipality of Amorgos is subdivided into the following communities (population at 2021 census and constituent villages within brackets): Amorgos has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate with mild temperatures all year. The monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa

10355-414: Was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia . It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who had settled in the region before the archaic period . Ionia proper comprised a narrow coastal strip from Phocaea in the north near the mouth of the river Hermus (now

10464-512: Was an ancient town on the island of Amorgos in the eastern Cyclades . It was one of the three main settlements on the island in antiquity. Due to the name Minoa, it is suspected that Amorgos had been colonized by the Cretans from ancient times, but there is no archeological evidence supporting this view. The island was visited by the British explorers Theodore and Mabel Bent in 1883/4. Excavations and findings, especially burial tombs, prove

10573-449: Was any military service ever imposed on the peasant by the Ottoman government. All non-Muslims were in theory forbidden from carrying arms, but this was ignored. Indeed, in regions such as Crete, almost every man carried arms. Greek Christian families were, however, subject to a system of brutal forced conscription known as the devshirme . The Ottomans required that male children from Christian peasant villages be conscripted and enrolled in

10682-558: Was divided into conventus districts that were totally distinct from the traditional ethnic divisions of the region. However, the Ionian League continued to function in this period. The geographer Strabo treats Ionia as the narrow coastal strip from the Hermus river in the north to the Maeander river in the south (though noting that other authorities included the plain south of the river). He treats Ephesus as its most important city and presents an unbroken tradition of intellectual culture in

10791-476: Was feudal in character. The Sultan's cavalry were allotted land, either large allotments or small allotments based on the rank of the individual cavalryman. All non-Muslims were forbidden to ride a horse which made traveling more difficult. The Ottomans divided Greece into six sanjaks , each ruled by a Sanjakbey accountable to the Sultan , who established his capital in Constantinople in 1453. The conquered land

10900-474: Was home to the renowned Ionian school of philosophy . The Ionian school, founded by Thales and his student Anaximander , pioneered a revolution in traditional thinking about Nature. Instead of explaining natural phenomena by recourse to traditional religion/myth, the cultural climate was such that men began to form hypotheses about the natural world based on ideas gained from both personal experience and deep reflection. According to physicist Carlo Rovelli , this

11009-530: Was initiated at the beginning of the 19th century in many Ottoman-ruled Greek cities and towns. Greek nationalism was also stimulated by agents of Catherine the Great , the Orthodox ruler of the Russian Empire , who hoped to acquire Ottoman territory, including Constantinople itself, by inciting a Christian rebellion against the Ottomans. However, during the Russian-Ottoman War which broke out in 1768,

11118-421: Was much resistance to this. For example, Greek folklore tells of mothers crippling their sons to avoid their abduction. Nevertheless, entrance into the corps (accompanied by conversion to Islam) offered Greek boys the opportunity to advance as high as governor or even Grand Vizier . Opposition of the Greek populace to taxing or paidomazoma resulted in grave consequences. For example, in 1705 an Ottoman official

11227-480: Was not until the reign of Croesus (560–545 BC) that the cities of Ionia fell completely under Lydian rule. The defeat of Croesus by Cyrus the Great was followed by the conquest of all the Ionian cities in 547 BC. These became subject to the Persian monarchy with the other Greek cities of Asia, forming part of the satrapy of Lydia. In this position they enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy, but were subject to local despots (called " tyrants "), who were loyal to

11336-461: Was parceled out to Ottoman soldiers, who held it as feudal fiefs ( timars and ziamets ) directly under the Sultan's authority. This land could not be sold or inherited, but reverted to the Sultan's possession when the fief-holder ( timariot ) died. During their life-times they served as cavalrymen in the Sultan's army, living well on the proceeds of their estates with the land being tilled largely by peasants. Many Ottoman timariots were descended from

11445-671: Was preceded by victory over the Serbs to the north. The Ottomans first won the Battle of Maritsa in 1371. The Serbian forces were then led by the King Vukašin of Serbia , the father of Prince Marko and the co-ruler of the last emperor from the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty. That was followed by an Ottoman victory during the 1389 Battle of Kosovo . With no further threats, the Ottomans besieged and took Constantinople in 1453, then advanced southwards into Greece and captured Athens in 1456 and

11554-664: Was selected as King of Athens, his brothers, the "sons of Codrus", led a group of Ionians and others to Asia Minor. Simultaneously, the Aeolians of Boeotia settled the coast to the north of the Ionians and the Dorians settled in Crete , the Dodecanese and in Caria . According to Pausanias, the sons of Codrus were as follows: Pausanias reports that other cities were founded or became Ionian later: In

11663-436: Was sent from Naoussa in Macedonia to search and conscript new Janissaries and was killed by Greek rebels who resisted the burden of the devshirmeh . The rebels were subsequently beheaded and their severed heads were displayed in the city of Thessaloniki . In some cases, it was greatly feared as Greek families would often have to relinquish their own sons who would convert and return later as their oppressors. In other cases,

11772-518: Was since April at war against the Ottomans. Under their protection, the Greeks were able to reorganize, form a new government and defeat the Ottomans in the Battle of Petra , the final battle of the war. They then advanced to seize as much territory as possible before the Western powers imposed a ceasefire. A conference in London in 1830 proposed a fully independent Greek state (and not autonomous as previously proposed). The final borders were defined during

11881-498: Was the "first great scientific revolution" and the earliest example of critical thinking, which would come to define Greek, and subsequently modern, thought. Ionia has a long roll of distinguished men of letters and science (notably the Ionian School of philosophy) and distinct school of art. This school flourished between 700 and 500 BC. The great names of this school are Theodorus and Rhoecus of Samos; Bathycles of Magnesia on

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