The Region of the South Aegean bears the unique trait of totally consisting of islands, a fact that gives the whole area a uniqueness deriving exactly from the region’s insularity. The islands of the Aegean, as well as the islands across the world, despite their heterogeneity, appear to have certain common geographical, environmental, social and developmental traits. All these common traits can be attributed as a whole to the term “insularity”. In a few words we could say that insularity is defined by the small size, the regionality and isolation, the peculiar and fragile natural environment and the specific cultural and experiential identity of the area. If we wish to further analyze the elements defining the particular identity of the…

THE CYCLADIC ARCHITECTURE Unique aesthetics. Plasticity. Simplicity. Moderation. Urban planning “by instinct” (without a plan). Folk architecture that serves the human needs, while at the same time producing masterpieces, internationally recognized by Le Corbusier himself who visited Cyclades in 1939 and by other representatives of modernist architecture. The settlements of the Cyclades, built with the strong winds, the cold and heat, the extreme natural phenomena and the best way to make the most out of the limited space in mind, do not fight against nature or seek admiration and reward –even though they have been winning them for centuries. The high aesthetic creations of the simple man, the craftsman with limited knowledge but strong instinct and love for his hometown…

The Aegean is the sea that is surrounded between the coasts of mainland Greece, the coasts of Asia Minor and Crete. Morphologically speaking, the Aegean constitutes a relatively shallow sea, since it comes from the submergence of Aegeis land. Its seabed though is corrugated by several trenches, some parts of which have a quite long depth, while this complex coastline results in the creation of many small and big bays, capes and natural ports. The geographers and the geologists have divided the Aegean Sea in three parts following the morphology of the coasts, the position of the islands and the formation of the seabed. North, Central and South Aegean. The borders of South Aegean is the northern imaginary line from…

The climate of the Aegean is characterized as Mediterranean. The basic characteristics of the Mediterranean climate is the winter rainfalls, the summer draught, the relatively large variation in the annual amount of rainfalls, the mild to hot summer (with intense sunlight) and the cold winter. The cold and rainy period of the winter lasts from November to March, while the hot and dry period of the summer is from June to August. The transitional months in the climate April to May and September to October show great differences in the weather conditions every year. An important element for the insular climate of the Aegean is the sea, which modulates the humidity levels, determines the winds and acts as a regulatory…

The geographical position, the climate and the large variety of biotopes in the Aegean constitute the physiognomy of the fauna, which is quite rich and it consists of a mixture of European, Asia and African species, along with some endemic species. Reptiles. The reptile fauna of the Aegean is characterized by great wealth and diversity and this is mainly because of the hot climate and the big variety of the biotopes that the Greek islands have. The islands of South Aegean constitute the spreading border of certain species. From the Dodecanese and the other islands along the coasts of Asia Minor we can see that many of the reptile species that are found there do not exist in Mainland Greece.…

For their most part the Aegean islands are small and do not have zones with big differences in the altitude. Thus the vegetation that is formed on these islands is usually the Brushwood and Maquis (low vegetation) and limited forests of Brutia Pine. Generally, the Aegean flora consists of species that can endure the arid conditions of the Mediterranean summer and the water shortage. Typical species of brushwood vegetation are the rock roses Cistus spp., the aestiva species and various species of aromatic plants such as the sage Salvia spp. and the thyme Thymus spp. Typical species of Maquis vegetation on the Aegean islands is the yew tree Quercus coccifera, the pistacia Pistacia lentiscus, the carob tree Ceratonia siliqua, Olea…

The Aegean islands are characterized by unique natural wealth as their subsoil consists of a wide variety of useful minerals. The use of minerals by the residents of the islands has been known since the ancient times. Typical examples are the ancient obsidian quarries in Nychia of Milos where ancient quarrymen used to quarry the pieces of obsidian and manufacture tools, as evidenced by the piles of quarrying products that are still preserved nowadays. The marbles of Paros, Naxos and Tinos have also been known since the antiquity. Especially the Parian marble or Parian stone is marble of high quality, white, homogeneous and with high transmittance of sunlight. Some of the masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture and plastcs were created…