Aperi is divided in five quarters. Many of its two-storey and three-storey houses with their well looked after flowery courtyards still maintain elements of the relatively modern Dodecanesian architecture. Aperi was the island’s capital until 1892 (besides the name of the settlement means capital in Turkish) and the seat of the bishop of Karpathos and Kasos. It is still not visible from the sea. The ravine divides the settlement in two but there are bridges connecting its neighborhoods. About two thirds of the village’s population is immigrants (the largest percentage on the island) and maybe that is the reason why the village remained the cultural centre of the island even after it stopped being its capital. It was here, specifically in Vatses, where the first elementary school opened its doors in 1806.
Karpathos Aperi
