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Symi  HALF-WAY between Rhodes and Old Knidos and just off the tip of the Loryma peninsula lies the island of Symi. Mythology relates that it was originally colonised by Lakedaimonians, Argives, Rhodians and Knidians, but since at least the fifth century BC it belonged to Rhodes, into whose political and social structures it was incorporated as an integral part of the Rhodian state. Like the other small islands in the area it remained Rhodian until the dismemberment of the Rhodian system of local government at an unknown date in the Byzantine period.


Symi has good harbours at its capital on the north coast, which comprises Yialos (the port) and Chorio (on the hillside above), and at the Bay of Panormitis in the south, where there is now a large monastery. It was known for its timber and sponges in ancient times, but it has little agricultural land, and was of relatively little account. Its heyday was in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries AD, when its population, at over 30,000, outnumbered that of Rhodes; its prosperity was then based again on timber for ship building, on coastal trade, and on sponges. The advent of the iron ship spelt the end of the fi rst two trades (and in any case only a few stretches of the original pine-forests still survive), and the sponges have long ago been fi shed out. Now there are only about 3,000 Symiots, but the island’s former prosperity is reflected in the splendid neoclassical archontika (“bosses’ houses”) on the slopes above the harbour. Many of these have been colourfully restored in recent years, and Yialos has become, in a mercifully small way, a haunt of Beautiful People. But lack of water has fortunately restricted the development of tourism, and the bulk of visitors are day-trippers from Rhodes or Kos, who are efficiently fleeced and sent on their way.


Few ancient remains are extant, but on the way up to Chorio there is a small museum, although the writer has never succeeded in fi nding it open. The climb to Chorio is well worth the effort for the views, particularly from the Church of the Panagia on the top of the ancient acropolis. This is believed to have been built on the site of a temple of Athena Polias, Athena Protectress of the City. Some walling of the classical fortress can be seen here surmounted by walling of the Castle of the Knights of St John, in which is embedded a shield with the arms of the Knights quartered with those of one of the last Grand Masters, Pierre d’Aubusson.

WESTMINSTER CLASSIC TOURS