Tilos's Heritage
Lat. 36o 22' to 36o 29' N: Long 27o 27' E: Length NE - SW 9 miles [14.48Km]; Breadth
N-S 5 miles [8km]: Area 23 miles2 [59.57 km2]
Tilos is part of the Dodecanese group of islands and has participated in the history
and the culture of the group although each island has its own unique identity. The
group's history being initially heavily influenced by events on other islands, mainland
Greece and what we now call Turkey, previously Asia Minor, and later by the rest of
the world.
The island of Tilos is formed by two different geological groupings of rock. The older
[from 240 to 65 million years in age] comprise sedimentary rocks deposited on the
floor of an ancient ocean. Seventy-five percent of the total Tilos landmass is formed
by these grey limestones. The limestones are composed of calcium and magnesium
carbonates. Frequently within the limestone's are brown or cream layers known as
cherts. Chert is composed of silicon dioxide.
The younger grouping of rocks encompass two different styles of pumice deposit
both reportedly originating from the Nisyros / Kos area. They are older than the
Minoan eruption on Santorini and are dated at 150,000 and 25,000 to 50,000 years
respectively. The Elephant Cave is related in time to the younger volcanic phase.
Mythology states that the island received its name from Telos the youngest son of
Telchinidas Aklias and Helios. Here he found therapeutic plants for his ill mother and
later returned to build a temple to Apollo and Neptune, becoming its priest.
Tilos has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period circa 8,000 to 7,000 BC. The
excavations conducted in Charkhadi indicate human activity and this is where the
bones of the dwarf elephants were discovered along with other fossilised remains.
During the Neopalatial period [1700 to 1425 BC], Tilos and the other islands were
heavily influenced by the Minoan Civilisation beginning around the second
millennium BC. The Minoan Civilisation was the Greek Bronze age that rose and
flourished on Crete from the 27th century to the 15th century BC.
There is evidence of Minoan occupation on Tilos outside of Megalo Xorio. The most recent
excavation [2013] uncovered some Minoan pottery and a building.
The Minoan civilisation disappeared around the time of the supposed volcanic
eruption on the island of Thera, modern day Santorini. It is estimated to have
occurred in the mid second millennium BC and badly affected the Cretan Minoan
civilisation. Initially, early theories suggested that Crete was blanketed in fallout from
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the ash cloud, however it has since been determined that only 5mm of ash fell
anywhere on Crete. Twenty first century examinations indicate a massive tsunami
generated by the eruption devastated the coastal areas of Crete and destroyed many
settlements. There are no ancient records of this eruption.
The Mycenaen Greeks then ruled the islands from around 1400 BC in the late
Bronze Age. The period of Mycenaen influence is from around 1600 BC to about
1100 BC.
The Mycenaens were succeeded by the Dorians circa 1100 BC.
The Dorians were one of the four major Greek ethnic groups that the Hellenes of the
ancient period considered themselves divided into. The other three being Aeolians,
Achaeans and Ionians. Their first mention of them is in Homers' Odyssey where they
are already inhabiting the island of Crete.
During the Dorian period, the Dodecanese islands began to prosper with a thriving
economy and culture. In the early Archaic Period both Kos and Rhodes had emerged
as the major islands in the group. During the 6th century BC the Dorians founded
three major cities on Rhodes: Lindos, Kameiros and Ialyssos. Together with the
island of Kos and the mainland cities of Knidos and Halicarnassos - [modern day
Bodrum;] they made up the Dorian Hexapolis.
The Archaic Period is from 800-400 BC.. This period saw the rise of the city-states and the
founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre and written
poetry, which appeared with the reintroduction of the written language, lost during the Greek
Dark Ages.
The Greek Dark Ages [circa 1100-800BC] refer to the supposed Dorian invasion of
the Mycenaean civilisation around 1100 BC.
Evidence of Dorian influence on Tilos can be seen in the Kuriadoxasoi church on the walk
from Agios Panteleimon to Kamariani. The engraved altar stone says:
ΕΡΩΤΑΡΙΝΚΝΙΔΙΑ
ΓΥΝΑΔΕΖΗΝΩΝΟΣ
ΚΩΟΥ
This is a simple epitaph stating:
Erotarin of Knidos, wife of Zenon of Kos
Herodotus in the 5th Century writing about the past of Telos [Tilos], states that Tilians
under the leadership of Tilnis emigrated to Gela in Sicily and other towns in the 7th
2
Century BC. Tilnis and his descendants bore the office of hierophantes. Referring to
Gelo he was hierophantis of the Early Gods and Aetneus Zeus, it appears this office.
It was retained by the priests in Tilos as holy servants of the God Helios.
The most important Greek cities were on the coast of southern Sicily and included Gela. Gela
was situated to the west of Camarina, founded by Syracuse, just beyond the sacred river
Gelas. This was the earliest colony on the island.
It was situated on a long, narrow, steep and sandy elevation which had previously been
occupied by Sicans during the Bronze Age and can be dated to circa 690/688 BC. Its founders
were from Rhodes/Crete and included Tilians? They were under the leadership of Antiphemus
and Entimus respectively, who received the blessing of Delphi, for the chosen site, in a
preserved oracle.
Following prolonged warfare against Sican hill men for the domination of the inland plain
which had very fertile arable land and provided grazing for the first class cavalry horses, the
Geloans pushed further into the interior where they purchased several villages and bought
other native settlements under their control.
They expanded forty miles along the coast and along with other Rhodians founded a colony at
Acragas [circa 580 BC]. In the hands of the notorious tyrant Phalaris [circa 570-549 BC] it
gained substantial wealth and power.
In Gela in the same period a temple was dedicated to Asthena and built on the acropolis. It
was decorated with polychrome terracotta ornaments for which Gela was famous. There was
also a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros at Bitalemi, near the mouth of the Gelas where
numerous artefacts have been found.
The aristocratic government of Gela eventually succumbed to the cult of athleticism. One of
its leading citizens, Pantares, was owner - winner in a four horse chariot race at the Olympic
games in 512 or 508BC. Pantares son Cleander taking advantage of the renown gained by
this victory seized control of Gela. He abolished the aristocratic constitution altogether and
set himself up as dictator [505 BC] until he was murdered seven years later.
He was succeeded by his brother Hippocrates who by single minded ruthlessness made Gela
the greatest power on the island. He constructed fortifications on the hills above Gela and
reinforced the military. He then moved against the other colonies on the island.
Once he had secured victory he went for the main prize of Syracuse. Gela didn't have suitable
harbours to build ships so the attack was overland. When Syracussans tried to stop him he
achieved a resounding victory over their forces beside the River Helorus.
He approached the temple of Zeus just outside Syracuse and was prevented from assaulting
or sacking the city itself by a truce negotiated by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans. He took
over the sovereignty from the Sicel inhabitants. He made the mistake of treating them roughly
when trying to compel them to accept Hellenism. In continued fighting that followed he met
his death at the battle of Hybla [circa 491-490 BC]. His cavalry commander, Gelon, disposed
of Hippocrates sons and seized the dictatorship for himself and became the founder of the
spectacular Deinomenid dynasty.
The Greek Classical Period followed. This lasted for around 200 years from the 5th to
the 4th century BC. The period has greatly influenced the foundations of Western
Civilisation.
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In or around 499 BC the Persian Wars interrupted the development of the islands
which were briefly captured by the Persians. The Persians were defeated by the
Athenians in 478 BC and the cities joined the Delian League.
The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city states members
numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to
continue fighting the Persian Empire. The name of the island is included in the tax lists made
up in Cleon's time.
Gelo, who died 478, was the son of Deinomenes, was a 5th century ruler and
according to Herodotus his ancestors came from the island of Telos [Tilos]. They
were the founders of the city of Gela in southern Sicily. Gelo fought in a number of
the conflicts between the various tyrant kings of Sicily and earned a reputation as a
formidable soldier. His performance was so impressive that he was promoted to be
commander of the cavalry for Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela. From this position he
played a key role in a number of battles, including one against Syracuse, a city which
he himself would later conquer.
The islands were largely neutral when the Peloponnesian War started in 431 BC.
Then when it finished in 404 BC, they were removed from larger Aegean conflicts.
They had begun a period of relative quiet and prosperity.
In 408 BC the three cities in Rhodes had united to form one state and they built a
new capital at the northern end of the island also called Rhodes.
During 357 BC, the islands were conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria, then in
340 BC by the Persians. The islands became part of the rapidly growing Macedonian
Empire as Alexander the Great swept through and defeated the Persians in 332 BC,
to the great relief of the islands' inhabitants.
Coins depicting the head of Athena or Zeus or Poseidon and a crab and inscriptions confirm
that Telos was independent in 4th Century BC and had political and economic relations with
Kos.
Following the death of Alexander, the islands, and even Rhodes itself, were split up
among the many generals who contended to succeed him. The islands formed strong
commercial ties with the Ptolemys in Egypt, and together they formed the Rhodo Egyptian alliance which controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century
BC.
Erinna, a Greek poet, reportedly born on Telos according to Eusebius, was well
known in 352 BC.. Her best-known poem was the Distaff written in a mixture of
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Aeolic and Doric Greek and consisting of 300 dactylic hexameter lines. She died very
young.
Telos was famous around this time for perfumes and is mentioned by Apollonios
Herophilos in his work "About Ointments", mainly for "Telian amarakinon and
melinon."
Also around the same time aristocrats friendly to the Spartans tried to take the
Acropolis of the island [Megalo Xorio?] and subvert Democracy but failed. They were
exiled to Kos where they gave an oath of political obedience and allowed to return.
An inscription and Strabo mention a temple to Poseidon on the island. Its location
unknown?
Before the mid 3rd Century BC the catalogue of Pythaists doesn't mention the
Rhodian Priest of the God Helios, which suggests that Telos had some sort of
independence but that was still influenced by the Rhodian state. Telos was later
politically united with Rhodes.
In 227-226 BC an earthquake ruined the walls of Telos. Aristomenis Aristovoulou
restored the walls and temples at his own expense and was honoured by his fellow
citizens.
Rhodes signed a treaty with Rome in 164 BC and became aligned to the Roman
Empire whilst still maintaining their autonomy. They were afforded many privileges
and had good relations with Rome but these were lost in 44 BC following the
assassination of Julius Caesar.
In 42 BC the islands were invaded by Cassius and became of part of the Roman
Empire. They were eventually joined with Crete and became the 18th Province of the
Roman Empire.
Saint Paul visited the islands twice in the first century and Saint John visited
numerous times before being exiled to Patmos where he wrote his famous
Revelation.
The Roman Empire split in 395 AD and the islands were included in the Eastern part,
this in turn later evolved into the Byzantine Empire. They remained here for almost a
thousand years although there were numerous invasions. It was during this period
that they began to re-emerge as an independent entity, and the term Dodecanese
itself dates to around the 8th century.
During the 9th and 14th centuries Tilos become a member of the navel Theme of
Samos. There is no information for this period until it was invaded by the Knights of
St. John in 1309.
The Theme of Samos was a Byzantine military-civilian province, located in the
eastern Aegean Sea, established in the late 9th century. As one of the Byzantine
Empire's three dedicated naval themes, it served chiefly to provide ships and troops
for the Byzantine navy.
The majority of the small churches on Tilos were built during this period as was the 9th
century fortress of Paliokastro.
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During the Fourth Crusade in the 13th century the Italians began invading portions of
the Dodecanese, which had remained under the nominal power of the Empire of
Nicea. Venetians (Querini, Cornaro) and Genoese families (Vignoli) held different
islands for brief periods.
The Byzantine era came to an end in the 14th century when the islands were taken
by forces of the Knights Hospitaller (Knights of St. John). Rhodes was conquered in
1309, and the rest of the islands fell gradually over the next few decades. The
Knights made Rhodes their stronghold, transforming its capital into a grandiose
medieval city dominated by an impressive fortress, and scattered fortresses and
citadels through the rest of the islands as well.
Possessions of the Knights of St. John.
The kastros [castles] of Tilos mostly date to this period. There are seven kastros on the island
all in a poor state of repair but all are accessible although some are easier to reach than
others. Each kastro is in line of sight with at least one other but usually two or three. They
were built in - conjunction with kastros on other islands as an early warning and defensive
system for Rhodes.
The Abbot Daniel story about Tilos, written in 1106/1107 is really about Nisyros - "Vie
et Pelerinage de Daniel, Hegoumene Russe." .
The historian Bosio states that, in 1320 or 1322 following an abortive Turkish attack
on the island of Rhodes, the surviving attackers fled to a small island, probably Tilos,
where they had left their families. The Knights of St. John with 10 galleys and 6
foustas pursued them to the island and killed the old and took the young as slaves.
On 20th May 1366 Borrello Assanti, a relative of the ruling family of Nisyros received
Tilos and Halki for life.
In 1385, together with Halki, the island was leased to Dragonetto Clavelli.
In 1433 Rhodes suffered an epidemic and Alexandrian pirates raided the islands,
particularly Tilos.
In 1444 the island was visited by Guy de Domagnac and Ettore d' Alemagna just
after the Egyptian attack on Rhodes in 1444 to reinforce and restore the castles.
Ottoman attacks are recorded in 1475, 1479 [twice] and 1505.
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In 1457 the Turkish attacked again and couldn't obtain entry to the castle[s] so cut
down trees and stole animals.
In 1475 the inhabitants were taken to Rhodes because defence proved to weak and
food was insufficient.
in 1479 all the raiders were captured or killed except for one sent back to Rhodes. In
the second attack which happened in December, the castle presumably at Megalo
Xorio, was besieged for eight days without success.
When the Siege of Rhodes was raised in 1480 without Turkish success, the Tilians
returned to the island and with money provided by a Cretan monk, Ionas, they
restored and fortified the monastery of St. Panteleimon.
Painting of The Cretan Monk, Ionas, in the Monastery of Ag. Panteleimon
Rhodes massive fortifications proved sufficient to repel invasions by the Sultan of
Egypt in 1444 and Mehmed II in 1480. Finally, however, the citadel at Rhodes fell to
the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522, and the other islands were
overrun within the year. The few remaining Knights fled to Malta.
It was now the Ottoman Empire's turn to rule the islands for a period lasting several
hundred years. The Dodecanese formed a separate province within the Eyalet of the
Archipelago.
This was formed in 1535 and was a primary administration unit of the Ottoman Empire. The
population was allowed to retain a number of privileges provided it submitted to Ottoman
rule. By Suleiman's edict, they paid a special tax in return for a special autonomous status
that prohibited Ottoman generals from interfering in their civil affairs or mistreating the
population. These guarantees, combined with a strategic location at the crossroads of
Mediterranean shipping, allowed the islands to prosper.
A new danger now threatened; that of Christian pirates on the grounds of taking
revenge on the Turks. The Venetian admirals Leonardo Forscolo and Pantogeris in
1620, 1648 and 1651; Fr. Morosini in 1659; the pirates Crevelier, Honorat and
Orange in 1676 to 1678 and in 1692 to 1702 Josepi Pretiosi with Angelo Francisco.
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8
Many of the islanders joined the Greek War of Independence when this was declared
in 1822. The result of this being that the northern portion of the Dodecanese briefly
became the Greek provinces of the Eastern and Southern Sporades.
Most of the islands were destined to be part of the new Greek state in the London
Protocol of 1828. When Greek independence was recognised in the London Protocol
of 1830 the islands were left outside the new Kingdom of Greece. The 19th century
turned out to be one of the islands' most prosperous.
The London Protocol of 16 November 1828 was an agreement between the three Great
Powers (Great Britain, France and Russia), which established the creation of an internally
autonomous, but tributary Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty.
The London Protocol of 3 February 1830 was an agreement between the three Great Powers
(Great Britain, France and Russia), which amended the decisions of the 1829 protocol and
established Greece as an independent, sovereign kingdom.
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 at the Convention of London by the
Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire). It was internationally
recognized by the Treaty of Constantinople, where it also secured full independence from the
Ottoman Empire. This event also marked the birth of the first, fully independent, Greek state
since the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century.
Bishop Germanos of Patras at Agia Lavra. In 1821 the land that is now known as Greece is
controlled by the Turks.
What was left undamaged by the Venetian pirates was destroyed by sailors from
Mykonos and Spetes from 1821 onwards, with the excuse of representing the idea of
the Greek revolution against the Turks.
The British Admiralty surveyed the coastal areas of Tilos in 1841. This is entitled 'The islands of Kos, Niseros and Piskopi' and numbered 1898.
Tilos had several foreign European archaeologists and historians who left
documented records of their visits including: James Theodore Bent and his wife in
1884; R.M. Dawkins and Alan J. B. Wace in 1906. Their findings are in "Notes from
the Sporades, Astypalaea, Telos, Nisyros, Leros" and Ludwig Ross for two days in
May 1844.
After the outbreak of the Italian-Turkish war [September 29, 1911 to October 18,
1912] over nearby Libya, the islands finally declared independence from the
Ottoman Empire in 1912, proclaiming an independent state as the Federation of the
Dodecanese Islands. This was quashed almost immediately by the invasion of Italy,
which wanted the islands, and particularly the fortress of Rhodes, to control
9
communication between Turkey and Libya. The Italians occupied all the Dodecanese
except for Kastellorizo, which was later temporarily seized by France. On October 18,
1912, Italy and the Ottoman Empire signed a treaty in Ouchy near Lausanne (the
First Treaty of Lausanne).
After the end of the war, according to the First Treaty of Lausanne, Italy maintained the
occupation of the islands as guarantee for the execution of the treaty. The occupation
continued after Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire (21 August 1915) during the First
World War.
The main provisions of the treaty, often also called Treaty of Ouchy to distinguish it from the
1923 Treaty of Lausanne, were as follows:




The Ottomans would withdraw all military personnel from Trablus and Benghazi
vilayets (Libya) but in return, Italy would return Rhodes and the other Aegean islands
it held back to the Turks.
Trablus and Benghazi vilayets would have a special status and a naib (regent) and a
kadi (judge) would represent the Caliph.
Before the appointment of these kadis and naibs, the Ottomans would consult the
Italian government.
The Ottoman government would be responsible for the expenses of these kadis and
naibs.
10
OLD BRITISH NAVAL MAP
11
The islands became an important naval base for Britain and France during World
War 1. Italy was allied with both nations. The Dodecanese were used as staging
areas for various campaigns most famously Gallipoli.
An agreement signed on July 29th 1919 by Tittoni-Venizelos called for the smaller
islands to join Greece while Italy maintained control of Rhodes.
The Greek defeat in the Greco - Turkish War [1919-1922] and the foundation of
modern Turkey prevented the exchange. Italy formally annexed the Dodecanese as
the Possedimenti Italiani dell'Egeo under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne.
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923.
It officially ended the state of war that had existed between Turkey and the Allied British
Empire, French Republic, Kingdom of Italy, Empire of Japan, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom
of Romania, and Serb-Croat-Slovene State since the onset of World War I.
Benito Mussolini [1883 -1945], he was leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the
country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943, embarked on a
program of Italianization, hoping to make Rhodes a modern transportation hub that
would serve as a focal point for the spread of Italian culture in the Levant.
This commenced from 1923 when the Italians embarked on a gradual forced
campaign of the islands. The first Governor General, Mario Lago, delegated land for
Italian settlers and encouraged intermarriage with local Greeks.
In 1923 there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey. This was a
result of the Turkish War of Independence. It was based upon religious identity, and
involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece. It
was a major compulsory population exchange, or agreed mutual expulsion.
The "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" was
signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of
Greece and Turkey. It involved approximately 2 million people (around 1.5 million
Anatolian Greeks and 500,000 Muslims in Greece), most of whom were forcibly
made refugees. The effects of this exchange was devastating on both communities.
In 1924 the Greek monarchy was abolished and the Second Hellenic Republic was
proclaimed on 25th March 1924. This was the political regime of Greece between
1924 and 1935. It followed from the period of the constitutional monarchy under the
monarchs of the House of Glücksburg, and lasted until its overthrow in a military
coup d'état which restored the monarchy. The Second Republic marks the second
period in modern Greek history where Greece was not headed by a king, with the
assemblies and provisional governments of the Greek Revolution being regarded as
the First Republic. During its brief existence, the Second Republic proved unstable.
The problems in society extended to cultural and social issues such as differences
over the use of Greek language to architectural styles. To this polarization was added
the destabilizing involvement of the military in politics which resulted in several coups
and attempted coups. The economy was in ruins following a decade of warfare and
was unable to support the 1.5 million refugees from the population exchange with
Turkey.
In 1929, scholarships at the University of Pisa for Dodecanesian students were
promoted to disseminate Italian culture and language among the local professional
class. The Orthodox rite was suppressed and only Catholic ceremonies were
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recognized. The Italian authorities also tried to limit the power of the Greek church
without success by trying to set up an autonomous Dodecanesian church.
Fascist youth organizations such as Opera Nazionale Balilla were introduced on the
islands, and the Italianization of names was encouraged by the Italian authorities.
Local Greek islanders did not receive a full Italian citizenship and were not required
to serve in the Italian armed forces.
Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was an Italian Fascist youth organization functioning, as an
addition to school education, between 1926 and 1937 (the year it was absorbed into the
Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, GIL, a youth section of the National Fascist Party).
Under the governorship of Cesare Maria De Vecchi (1936 to 1940), the Italianization
efforts intensified. The Italian language became compulsory in education and the
public life, with Greek being only an optional subject in schools. The fascist
municipality system was set up to the islands in 1937, with newly appointed
podestàs. In 1938, Italian Racial Laws were introduced to the islands along with a
series of decrees equalizing local legislation with Italian law.
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities.
The Italian Racial Laws (Italian: Leggi razziali) were a set of laws promulgated by the
Kingdom of Italy from 1938 to 1943 to enforce racial discrimination in Italy. This was
directed mainly against the Italian Jews and the native inhabitants of the colonies.
The Fascist program did have some positive effects in its attempts to modernize the
islands, resulting in the eradication of malaria, the construction of hospitals,
aqueducts, a power plant to provide Rhodes' capital with electric lighting and the
establishment of the Dodecanese Cadastre.
A cadastre is a comprehensive register of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds
of a country.
During World War II Italy joined the Axis Powers which used the Dodecanese as a
naval staging area for their invasion of Crete in 1941. After the surrender of Italy in
September 1943 the islands briefly became a battleground between the Germans
and Allied forces, including the Italians.
The Germans prevailed in the Dodecanese Campaign and although they were driven
out of mainland Greece in 1944, the Dodecanese remained occupied until the end of
the war in 1945.
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German General Wagner signs the Instrument of Surrender placing all the islands of the
Dodecanese in Allied hands.
14
A breakdown of the population of the Dodecanese islands. The Census's were carried out under the Italians.
POPULATION
Name
Astypalyea
Kalymnos
Karpathos
Kasos
Kastelloriso
Halki
Kos
Leros
Lipsi
Nissyros
Patmos
Rhodes
Symi
Tilos
Total
sq. m
44
49
118
27
4
12
111
21
7
18
22
545
25
23
1,025
1912
2,500
26,000
10,800
7,000
1918
1,200
18,000
8,527
5,700
1922
1,4000
24,000
7,500
1,700
4,000
17,000
8,000
2,740
14,570
6,000
7,000
3,700
45,000
23,00
2,000
150,000
5,00
2,720
37,080
16,000
1,300
110,445
1,300
16,000
4,000
560
3,160
2,550
45,000
7,000
1,158
102,669
1927
1,370
24,000
7,500
1,760
2,740
1,300
16,000
4,000
560
3,160
2,550
49,000
7,000
1,160
118,100
1931
1,610
16,512
6,514
1,925
2,230
1,788
21,169
6,150
962
3,436
2,990
54,818
4,462
1,228
130,855
1932
1,610
16.736
6,675
1,941
4,242
1,786
21,580
6,298
999
3,447
3,048
55,643
9,601
1,247
132,919
1933
1,752
16,921
6,758
1,961
2,267
1,791
21,696
6,229
1,029
3,478
3,080
56,332
9,689
1,252
134,384
1934
1,731
17,024
6,830
1,973
2,281
1,797
22,011
6,555
1,046
3,511
3,113
56,998
9,751
1,263
135,884
1935
1936
1937
1,752
2,006
1,799
17,069
15,247
15,815
6,908
7,700
7,711
1,972
1,830
1,935
2,187
2,238
2,128
1,790
1,461
1,484
22,291
19,731
20,169
6,638
7,298
7,607
1,063
977
1,015
3,523
3,391
3,497
3,147
3,184
3,324
57,659
61,886
61,252
9,789
6,195
6,303
1,264
1,215
1,229
137,161 140,848 135,662
According to the 2001 census the population is now 190.071 on a 2.579, 275m2 expanse. The Dodecanese prefecture also includes numerous
small islands such as Alimia, Pserimos, Arki, Levitha, Saria, Syrna, Gyali, Nimos, Telendos, and Farmakonisi.
The 2011 Census on Tilos stated that there were 780. [Unverified.]
15
Extract from the Naval Intelligence Division Handbook - DODECANESE [2nd Edition
1943]
Tilos
Description
The island is an irregular mass of hard limestone, with patches of softer limestone's
and volcanic deposits in the fertile lowlands between Plagio [Ag. Antonios] and
Eristos bays, and around Livadia bay. The remainder is mountainous, rising to M. Ag.
Elias [Profitas Elias 2,136 ft] in the extreme west, M. Panteleemonas [1,860 ft] in the
centre, another M. Profit-Elia east of Megalo- khorio village [1,558 ft] and M.
Kuutsilitsumba] [Cuzzuva] in the extreme east.
The coast is indented with many bays, but much is high cliff, especially in the north –
west; the only beaches are in Eristos, Plagio and Livadia bays.
Off shore lie islets of Gaidaro to the north-west and Anti-Tilos to south-east and some
smaller ones.
History
In antiquity Telos was unimportant. After A.D. 1204 it was occupied by Venice; after
1300 by the Knights of Rhodes. After the Turkish conquest in 1522 it was retaken for
a while by the Carnaro family of Venice as a stepping stone to their dominion in
Cyprus. In the medieval fortress, Casetelolo, are ruins of all periods, and frescoed
churches. The Hellenic acropolis preserves a fine gateway. St. Michaels Church
stands on a temple site.
Ports and landing places
1] On the east side of Plagio bay is a small jetty [scala] protecting a boat harbour and
connected with Megalo-khorio by a rough track. West of this is a long open beach
with level cultivated country inland.
2] In Eristos bay there is beach, with tracks through hilly country to Megalo-khorio
and Mikro-khorio.
3] In Livadia bay, which is about ¾ mile wide, but exposed to north-east winds, there
is a beach and landing place with a few houses, a track through hilly country to
Mikro-khorio. This is the safest anchorage of Telos. There is a small station for
submarines in the south-east corner of Livadia bay.
Population
The population [2,000 in 1912; 1,229 in 1937] is Greek. Of the two villages, Megalokhorio, the residence of the local authorities, lies 328 feet on the hillside looking
towards Eristos Bay, at 11/4 miles from the Scala landing place in Plagio Bay, from
which it is invisible. Mikro-khorio, at 492 feet, lies east of the ridge which separates
Eristos bay from Livadia, 11/2 miles from the scala in the latter. At this landing place,
and along the beach are a few houses; also a summer settlement at Iera-Pothi in Ag.
Zacharias bay, in the valley west of M. Cuzzuva. The garrison has barracks in Eristos
village, and a naval guardhouse opposite the monastery of Ag. Antonios at the Scala
in Plagio Bay.
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Products
The island raises goats, sheep and cows; exports asses and pigs, and produces
grain, grapes, olives, almonds, figs and honey, mostly in the plain between the
villages. There is some fishing. The people live more or less in economic isolation;
even clothes and shoes are made locally. In the crowded villages the rocky lanes are
supplemented by paths over the house roofs.
Communications
The is a carriage road from the Scala in Plagio Bay, by Megalo-khorio to Livadia.
There are occasional steamers to Rhodes, Nissyros and Kos; cable to Symi for
Rhodes and Kos; radio station at Ag. Elias; and heliograph there and south of Livadia
bay.
Water supply
Water is supplied by springs and cisterns; it is not abundant. Good drinking water is
found at Messaria spring of the track half-way to Mikro-khorio.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In his autobiography, an Italian officer originally based in Rhodes, Lieutenant Luca
Dogliani, remembers that on the 8th September 1943, when the Italian government
signed an armistice with the allies many German troops were taken prisoner.
Dogliani, himself, was involved in capturing a German company. He escaped from
Rhodes first to Halki then on to Tilos.
Lieutenant Luca Dogliani in 1943
People from other islands, suffering from the wars starvation, got to know that three German
motorboats had been sunk in the bay of Livadia by the RAF. One of them carried a load of
flour in paper bags. Everyone knew that in salty water flour forms a thick crusts that protects
the inside contents from the sea. So, boats from many nearby islands went to Tilos in search
of the precious load. Dogliani was fed and hidden by people in Ag. Adonis.
War in Tilos was similar to other small islands. Occasionally commandos would disembark,
make some damage then leave. At some point, hundreds of Germans disembarked in the bay
of Tholos and reached Livadia. A few Greek patriots resisted with a machine gun and the
monument near Livadia port reminds of their heroic resistance.
Later, a Cretan commando arrived near Megalo Xorio from the bay of Eristos, killed
some Germans and left. German troops arrived, threatening to kill all the inhabitants
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that had escaped, as this was evidence that they had helped the commando.
Dogolini who could speak German convinced the German commander that it was
dangerous to search the houses, as all the patients had escaped the leper colony
near Eristos bay to find refuge in their relatives homes. Hearing about leprosy
disturbed the Germans, and the commander was content in killing two lepers guilty of
stealing boats from two of the killed soldiers. The village was saved from more
killings and destruction.
On the night of the 26/27th October 1944, sixty-one soldiers of the Greek Sacred
Battalion and a small party of British soldiers landed on Tilos and over-whelmed the
small garrison. The following night German reinforcements commanded by a German
officer, 1st Lieutenant, Hans Voleger, arrived and after four days of heavy fighting
and even with the support from a Greek destroyer, Navarino, and HMS Emperor's
aircraft, which sank a German landing craft, the Allied Forces were driven off the
island.
The Sacred band (Greek: Ιερός Λόχος) was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the
Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of
Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan desert and the
Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free French Forces in Tunisia. It was disbanded in
August 1945 but is the precursor of the modern Greek Special Forces.
A second successful attempt, Operation Cave was made on the night of 1st/2nd
March 1945 that resulted in two Indian [Ghurkhas?] dead, two Greeks wounded as
well as twenty Germans killed and 142 taken prisoner.
The German surrender was signed in Symi on the 8th May 1945 by the German
commander FH Wagener of all the German forces in the south-eastern Aegean.
The restored Kingdom of Greece lasted from 1935 to 1974. The Kingdom was again
dissolved in the aftermath of the seven-year military dictatorship, and the Third
Republic, the current Greek government, came to be.
Greeks from the islands as well as Tilos began to arrive in large numbers in the
U.S.A. after 1945, fleeing the economic devastation caused by World War II and the
Greek Civil War. Many others followed following the coup by Generals of the Greek
Army in 1967 - the so called "Junta", while others went to Australia and Germany.
On the 7th March 1948 the Dodecanese islands including Tilos were incorporated
into the Greek state. This is a public holiday.
The first excavations at Charkadio of the dwarf elephants by the Department of
Historical Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Athens were started in
1971.
Tasos Aliferis, who sadly died in 2012, was the Mayor and doctor of Tilos. It was his
vision and enthusiasm that has created the island and services that we all know and
love today.
Following Tasos's death, his sister-in-law, Maria Kamma, became the first lady
Mayor of Tilos.
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