Kasos

Topography

Kasos is the southernmost island of the Dodecanese, located between Crete and Karpathos, in the Carpathian Sea. Its shape is elongated and almost rhomboid, with a maximum length of about 19.8 kilometers (from Cape Avlaki to Cape Akti) and a maximum width of about 7.7 kilometers in the center of the island. The total area varies, depending on the source, from 64 to 66.4 square kilometers, with a coastline length of about 59 kilometers.

The relief is mountainous and rocky, with three main peaks: Prionas (601 m), Periolas (504 m) and Korakas (494 m). Between them small valleys are formed, where the few cultivable areas of the island have been developed, mainly with olive trees. Around Kasos are small, generally uninhabited islets — the Kasonisia — with the most important being Armathia.

Natural environment

The natural environment of Kasos is characterized by typical Mediterranean, xerophytic vegetation: phrygana and shrubby species such as the aspalathos (Genista acanthothamnos), thyme (Coridothymus capitatus), the thorn (Sarcopoterium spinosum) and the plant protected under the Bern Convention Silene holzmanii. On the southwest side of the island, a small area of palm cedars survives (Juniperus phoeniceaThe local flora has been systematically recorded by Minas Il. Perselis, in his book "The Wildflowers of Kasos".

The sea area around Kasos, extending from Saria (north of Karpathos) to the western ends of the island, is an important habitat for the Mediterranean monk seal (Monk monk). The island is also home to a wide variety of insects, reptiles and fish, while the Hellenic Ornithological Society has designated it an "important bird area", with species such as the common tern, the shag, the Aegean gull, the red-tailed hawk and the white-tailed eagle. The wetland at the western end of Armathia is also of particular ecological value, with two karst, salty depressions that retain water all year round and have been declared a Wildlife Refuge. Finally, Kasos seems to have one of the mildest winters in all of Europe, with the temperature not having dropped below 2.7°C since 1989, when official meteorological records began.

Traditional architecture

The traditional architecture of Kasos bears a strong resemblance to that of neighboring Karpathos, which is explained by the fact that the construction of the island's buildings was almost exclusively carried out by Carpathian craftsmen. Two basic types of residence are found: the large, two-story mansions —known locally as "captain's houses"— built by wealthy shipowners mainly in Fry and Agia Marina, and the simpler, single-room folk dwellings found in all the villages of the island.

A common characteristic of both types are the courtyards, which are traditionally paved with black and white pebble mosaics, the so-called «chochlakia». The captain’s houses, with their impressively large volumes, today function as living testimony to the wealth that the small society of Kasos once acquired through shipping, while the general feel of the villages—stone-built houses, narrow cobblestone streets, dense presence of churches—remains among the most recognizable elements of the island’s image.