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Kastellorizo - History

In antiquity, the island was called Megiste, possibly after the person called Meges whom Homer mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships, or- and this is more likely- because it is the largest (Megiste) of the surroundings islets. None of the sources link Meges with Castellorizo.

The 'Megisteas' whom Stephanus of Byzantium (following Alexander Cornelious Polyhistor) names as the first colonist of the island is surely quite different person. Yet another explanation is that the name 'largest' may have been a euphemistic term for the island in view of its actual small size, in a manner similar to the way in which the Cape of Good Hope and the Euxine acquired their names.

It has been argued by some that the Byzantine name of the island is a corruption of the borrowed name Castello Rosso.
This, however, cannot be substantiated, for there and no red rocks on the island, as has been quite correctly observed, nor would the red coats-of-arms of the Knights of St John have been sufficient to give the island its nomenclature.

In fact, as proved by C. Papachristodoulou, that much-lamented and sharp- witted scholar of the history, folklore and linguistics of the Greek islands, in Byzantine times we known sources as Procopius, Hesychius and others that the names castellos, castelli, etc. (with Latin roots) were used frequently, while the foothills of mountains in Rhodes are called rizovounia and there are place names such as Rizoros. In fact, as proved by C. Papachristodoulou, that much-lamented and sharp- witted scholar of the history, folklore and linguistics of the Greek islands, in Byzantine times we known sources as Procopius, Hesychius and others that the names castellos, castelli, etc. (with Latin roots) were used frequently, while the foothills of mountains in Rhodes are called rizovounia and there are placenames such as Rizoros.  

Given that Castellorizo and its castle-, which is prominent-, stand at the foot of the hill, there are surely sufficient grounds in etymology and usage for accepting this explanation.

As for the foreign name, it stems from the fact that when the Knights occupied the island in 1306 they did not understand the meaning of the word 'Castellorizo' and corrupted it into Castello Rosso (or Castel Rougio).
The observation that this is the name used on the Greek portolan of Tagias proves nothing, since we know that map was printed in Venice in 1573 and drew heavily on an earlier Italian portolan.
In any case, it is common knowledge that the Greek portolans used the nautical terminology of the age, which was couched in the Venetian dialect.

The excavations of archaeologists have revealed notable traces of occupation in Neolithic times. According to Michael G. Petridis, the islanders called these stones 'thunderbolts'.
At Vigla, there are the remains of the Cyclopean wall built in the Mycenaean era.
A sarcophagus found on the plateau of Agios Georgios in 1913 yielded a gold wreath with vine-leaves and grapes, a work of highest artistic value which is now in the National Archaeological Museum in AthensAccording to N. Kyparissis, Inspector of Antiquities, who identified 22 looted tombs at the point where the wreath was found, it cannot date from earlier than the fourth century BC.
On the tiny island of Ro, which belongs to the Castellorizo group, a tiled tomb of the eleventh century was found, together with other objects of the fourth century AD.  

At that time, Megiste was one of the demes of Peraea. It issued its own coins, which bore the head of Bacchus, crowned with ivy, on one side, and the word 'Megisteon'- of the people of Megiste' on the other.
However, the coins were actually minted on Rhodes, which is indicative of the dependence on that island confirmed by our knowledge that Peraea passed, little by little, into the sovereignty of Rhodes.

Inscriptions found at the castle of Ai -Nikolas, which, as we know, was built by Sosicles, son of Nicagor, refer to Amios- that is, a man of Amos on Rhodes, who served as overseer on Castellorizo, and further inscriptions from the old castle give us the names of a number of other Rhodian overseers: Epicrates, son of Anaxicrates, Hexacesticnus, son of Lelius, Agesimachus, son of Hieron, Aeschynus, son of Diander, and Timostratus, son of EucratesIn the second century BC, the Rhodians sent Eudamus, in command of a squadron of 36 ships, to Megiste in order to prevent Hannibal entering the Aegean. Eudamus succeeded in confining him to Pamphylia.  

In the Byzantine period, Megiste-Castellorizo was initially part of the 'eparchy of the islands', whose capital was Rhodes, and later of the theme of Carava or Caravisiani, the name given after 697 to the Cibyrrha province, based on the city of the same name in Pamphylia and headed by a drungarius. This province was essentially maritime.

Among the pieces of evidence of the early Christian period on Castellorizo are the few surviving traces of the three-aisled basilica near the church of St George 'Santrapes'.

In 1306, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, under their Grand Master Foulques de Villaret, captured Castellorizo. The Knights used the island as a place of exile and punishment for those of their number who had committed various offences in 1440, the island was captured by Jelal-el-Din, who was cruising the Aegean in command of a fleet of 18 Egyptian galleys and auxiliary vessels. Castellorizo was laid waste by this raid, and its inhabitants (of whom we know there where 65 families in 1396) borne off as captives into the East. It would seem, too, that the castle of Ai Nikolas-, which had in the meantime been repaired by D’ Heredia-, was wrecked at this time. The Pope himself showed an interest in its rebuilding.

The geographical position of Castellorizo gives its strategic importance and makes it a constant bone of contention. A series of changes of ownership now followed: in 1461, the Catalan company took Castellorizo. In 1470, it passed to the King of Naples. In 1480, fear of an imminent Turkish invasion caused all the inhabitants to leave, and so the Turks were able to capture the town and the castle without opposition. In 1498, the King of Naples won the island back. In 1512, the Spanish flag was hoisted over it, and in 1522, when the Turks captured Rhodes, Castellorizo sent men to its defence and it remained in Christian hands.  

In 1570, the next masters- the Venetians- arrived. It was off Castellorizo, after the fall of Nikosia to the Turks, that a grand summit meeting of the Christian leaders was held. It was ultimately decided that the plan to recapture Nikosia should be abandoned, since the meantime the Turks had already laid siege to Famagusta. In 1635 they took Castellorizo , too, and held it until 1659, when the Venetians recaptured it, devastating the castle in the process.

During this period, the Castellorizans turned to the sea to make a living. They learned the art of navigation, became captains and ship owners, and made their presence felt on the waves. Their activities in the moving of goods made them prosperous, too. Shortly before the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, the islanders owned more than 30 vessels with a total capacity of 3,600 tons and 60 cannon. The crews of these ships numbered 450 men.

The sea was not only a source of income for the islanders. It was also an antidote to slavery: at sea, they could feel free. The islanders of Castellorizo sailed as free men, not burdened by any yoke. They saw foreign parts, gaining the benefits of the progress being made in science and technology. They met people of a liberal cast of mind. All these factors had a beneficial impact on their history as Greeks. The role-played by the masters of the island whose interest was chiefly in its castle, was a pure formality, and the islanders of Castellorizo remained Greek through and though. Their practices and customs survived intact with amazing precision down the centuries. Their culture level was high.  

The Turks did not occupy the island continuously, and even when it was in Turkish hands it enjoyed, naturally enough, all the privileges and the self-government that applied elsewhere in the Dodecanese. The islanders paid their annual maktun (poll tax), and reaped all the benefits.

In 1659, Morosini, the legendary Generale of Venice, who had all Greece and the islands talking of his exploits, reached Castellorizo - another indication of the strategic importance of the island. His report to the Serene Republic of Venice has survived, and it contains many fascinating details about his capture of Castellorizo . The Turkish defenders of the island, having received no help from Rhodes whatever and running out of supplies, were forced to raise the white flag and surrender. Morosini took 146 prisoners, 115 Turks and 31 Greeks, all of whom entered the services of the Venetian fleet.

There was no shortage of corsairs in the area at the time. The English traveller Richard Pococke (1739) tells us that in his day Castellorizo was a lair of Maltese pirates, drawn by its good water. Pococke admired the island's castle, and describes it as reach in vines. As we can see, the three groups who caused such hardship in the Aegean at this time - the Turks, the Venetians and the pirates - alternated in control of this rocky outpost. This is proof of the special significance of its geographical position, and also of its natural terrain, which had helped it to become an important way station for ships sailing between the East and the West and a crucial point in military conflict in the area. 

The same reasons were behind the decision of Lambros Katsonis to capture the island in 1788, after sailing from Cerigo. His siege of Castellorizo lasted only two days; on the third, the Turkish garrison surrendered and was allowed to make its way to the coast of Asia Minor in small boats, after handing over the castle and all its weaponry. After removing the cannon from the castle, Katsonis demolished the building, after which - as Morosini had done - he sailed away.

The fighting had very detrimental effects on the life of the islanders. The French traveller Savary, who visited Castellorizo in 1797, described life they’re as deprived and miserable. Any girl, whose dowry consisted of an olive tree and a goat, he tells us, was regarded as extremely fortunate.

The Turks had returned in 1792, but before long Sinievich, commander of the Russian fleet in the Aegean, captured the island, spiked the guns in the castle and raised the Russian flag. Yet again the Turks returned, from the Asia Minor coast close at hand, and this time stayed for a much longer time, down to the War of Independence of 1821.

This period of relative stability saw life on the island return to a fairly smooth course. The shipping trade went back to normal, and after the War of Independence it flourished as never before. As a whole, the nineteenth century was the time when the ship owners of Castellorizo played a major part in Mediterranean shipping. Apart from the Turkish commander of the island- who was a supasi, a zambit or an aga - the only other Turkish inhabitants were the tax collector and the policeman. As in the other Dodecanese islands, the Demogerontes, the local elders, who were chosen by the community as a whole, exercised the judicial power. Anyone who felt that this court had done him an injustice could appeal to Rhodes for a review of the trial, in which case a Turkish official of the judiciary would visit Rhodes. Even then, though, the Demogerontes would take the final decision.