THE AEGEAN ISLAND GEM WHERE EAST MEETS WEST...
Ihave discovered a gem, a tiny, relatively unknown Greek island. Kastellorizo lies in the Aegean Sea a mile off the Turkish Turquoise Coast, the most easterly of the Dodecanese islands.
To reach it, there is an early morning flight from Rhodes, or you can catch a ferry, also from Rhodes, which takes four hours. It is worth the journey. Kastellorizo is where Europe ends and Asia begins, and its history is fascinating.
Until 1912, although Greek, it was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. After the demise of the Ottomans, the island belonged to the French and then the Italians. In 1943, the British landed. During the Second World War it was a strategically important spot and the entire population was evacuated to avoid fatalities from German attacks on Kastellorizo’s busy port.
In 1948, the island was finally returned to the Greeks. Slowly, over the decades, the island has been rebuilt. In fact, compared to the rest of austerity-gripped Greece, Kastellorizo is wellheeled. The mansions around the pretty harbour have been renovated and painted in rich colours, creating a vibrant welcome.
Today, fishing and tourism give the island its economic stability. Every second house has been converted into a hotel or an excellent portside restaurant where you will eat the freshest fish you are ever likely to taste while watching turtles paddling at your feet.
We stayed at the convivial four-star Poseidon. I also recommend the Megisti at the far end of the port.
There are few cars, and little to do. Swim, read, scuba dive, or hop on a boat to Kas in Turkey for breakfast and carpet/antique shopping and be back in Europe for lunch.
If you crave activity, hike to the ruined castle that gives the island its name, built during the Crusades on ruins of red rock. It’s a steep climb but, from its summit, the views across to Turkey are sublime. Another trek is to the monastery of St George. A must-do is the boat trip to the Blue Cave. Go before breakfast and, as the sun rises above the Southern Taurus mountains of Turkey, it floods light cross the Aegean and into the cave where you can swim in the electric blue water and snorkel with bigeyed fish and turtles. It was unforgettable.