HISTORY OF THE ISLAND  

The island was first mentioned by Homer, and Achilles hid here until he was called up to fight in the Siege of Troy. In subsequent centuries, it was occupied first by the Athenians, and later by the Romans, Venetians, Turks and Russians, as well as spending a century as part of the Byzantine Empire.

Skyros appears on every page of the Greek History. It was an important center in the copper age (2500-1800 bc) verified by the archeological excavations at Palamari. It is the island that bride Thetida chose to dissuade her son Achilleas from going to the battle of Tria to fight for the honor of beautiful Helen. According to the myth Achilleas was dressed in woman clothes and lived in the palace with the daughters of king Likomidis.

But the diviner disclosed this information to Odysseas who shipped to Skyros in the hold of a ship owned by a weapons and gold dealer. So when the women where choosing gold jewelry Achilleas surrended having chosen one of the swords provided by the arms dealer. Until today the bay from witch Achilleas sailed off to Tria is known as Achili.

At 470bc Skyros was conquered by the Athenian general named Kimon, who established an Athenian colony on the island bringing Athenian settlers with many ships. In doing so he managed to eliminate any pirates looting the area. Historical archives reveal that the local colored marbles in the Roman Age where moved by ship to Rome to decorate many public and private buildings.

The beautiful Byzantine churches , the famous wood-engraved designs and the charismatic melodies of the local songs have a Byzantine heritage but also stand out for their strict local island influence.

The ancient monastery of Saint George is situated on the top of the castle. It was established by Nikiforos Fokas and Ioannis Tsimiskis at 906 ac. It possesses many rare holy icons and the view is captivating and extraordinary.

Lets find out about the capital city of the island, Skyros, which is build amphitheatrically on the slopes of a short hill. Let ourselves wonder through the small streets and admire the many houses that look like small cubes. One can be captivated from their internal decoration, their wooden roofs, by the wooden engraved furniture , their pottery and their beautiful woven clothing. Lets be enchanted by the moonlight reflecting on the white walls. Lets hear the soft but never sad song of life , love and youth... Lets purify our souls in a secret secluded beach.

The northern part of the island is full of pine trees in contrast to the southern part which is poor in vegetation. On the mountain of Traxilos live the world famous short horses of Skyros roaming free in the winter and in the summer the same horses return to their owners for water and care near the Capital city.

The number of churches on the island is approximately 180. The most distinguished one is the church of Virgin Mary. The archaeological and folklore museums are places that one cannot permit to miss. Wonderful sandy beaches full of pine trees one can find at the bay of Atsitsas, Peukou and saint Foka. The beach of Kalamitsa is one of the islands bests.

Eri and I in Skyros (summer 1998)

RUPERT BROOKE

The most visible memorial to this is in Skyros Town itself. High up above the sea, in Brooke Square, stands the "statue of an ideal poet", pictured here. This was funded by a Belgian businessman in 1931 and was intended to be an allegorical figure rather than a true likeness to Brooke. The original model is believed to have been a Belgian male prostitute.

Rupert Brooke was born on 3rd August 1887, the second son of the House Master of School Field, Rugby, and his wife Ruth Cotterill. It was here that he grew up, attending both the preparatory and main schools. His parents moved in established intellectual circles: during summer holidays, the Brooke children played with the Stephen children (including Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell) on the beach at St Ives. In Rugby he began writing poetry and developing the romantic verse style known later as Georgian.

In 1906, Rupert went up to King's College, Cambridge as a scholar. In his first year, he lived in the room now known as A14, overlooking the front court and the Chapel. At King's he studied classics and acted, took up socialism, and did badly in his first year exams: his interest was more in literature and the theatre. By early 1908, his wit and good looks ensured his election to the Apostles, an elite society of intellectuals and aesthetes.

At the start of his third year, he moved a few miles out of Cambridge to Grantchester. In Grantchester, his days were lived with friends out in the open air: going barefoot, sleeping out, walking, camping. Virginia Woolf described Rupert and his circle as "neo-pagans". His interest in socialism had also developed. In Spring 1909 he became a full member of the Fabian Society, and he spent part of the Summer of 1910 in Hampshire and Dorset campaigning for the reform of the Poor Law. On a camping holiday later that year, he became secretly engaged to a girl six years his junior, Noel Olivier, who was still at school at Bedales.

Rupert spent Spring 1911 in Munich, learning German. At Carnival, the Flemish sculptress Elizabeth Van Rysselberg met him and fell in love with him. When he returned to Grantchester in May 1911, he began to work feverishly for his Fellowship at King's. At the same time, despite the demands of his academic career, he completed his first volume of poetry, Poems 1911. This was published by Sidgwick and Jackson in early December, and produced a small profit within a few weeks. In the next twenty years it ran to 37 editions, totalling around 100,000 copies.

There then came a crisis which marked a turning point in his life. Over the course of 1911, despite his engagement to Noel, Rupert had fallen steadily in love with Ka Cox, a fellow Fabian committee member. Just after Christmas 1911, he traveled down to Lulworth in Dorset to join her and a group of friends for a reading party. This included Lytton and James Strachey, the economist Maynard Keynes, and the painter Henry Lamb. Lamb, although married, also had a strong interest in Ka. Rupert suspected Lytton Strachey of setting up the invitation to Lamb, and of arranging for Lamb and Ka to have time on their own together. The situation came to a head when Ka told Rupert she was in love with Lamb.

Months of overwork, wounded pride, and a fear that his friends did not take him seriously as a heterosexual probably all played a part in the scene which followed. There were also underlying contradictions in Rupert's personality: his free spirit conflicted directly with the puritanism he had inherited from his mother. When he returned to London in early January 1912, a Harley Street specialist recommended complete rest, a special diet, and sunshine. Rupert therefore joined his mother in Cannes. But by the end of January he was back with Ka, living with her in Munich through February. Later in 1912, she gave birth to a stillborn child. For the remainder of the spring Rupert was unsettled, spending time back in Munich, in Rugby and in Berlin. Rupert never spoke to Lytton Strachey again, and indeed distanced himself from everyone associated with the Bloomsbury Group after that time.

So on 15th September 1914, he applied for a commission in The Royal Naval Division. With Marsh's influence, he was accepted a day or so later with no further formalities. On Saturday 10th April 1915, Brooke's troopship left Port Said for Lemnos. By now, there were so many ships anchored off the island that Brooke and his company were sent on to Tris Boukes Bay off the south west of Skyros. They arrived there on Saturday 17th April, where he received a letter enclosing a cutting from The Times describing how his sonnet The Soldier had been read by the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral as part of his sermon on Easter Sunday a fortnight previously.

That evening he began to fall seriously ill: a swelling on his upper lip - unnoticed earlier, and probably a mosquito bite from Port Said - became inflamed. Over the next hours the inflammation spread. A bacteriologist on board identified it as a diplococcal infection - in other words, blood poisoning. Brooke was moved to a neighbouring French hospital ship on Thursday 22nd April. As this was awaiting the injured from Gallipoli, he was the only patient on board, under the care of twelve doctors and surgeons.

The statute of Rupert Brooke in Skyros

Leaving the coast one meets the internal city called ‘’ hora ‘’ which is the center of the economic life of the island. It is there where one can find many hotels and rooms to let. Skyros island is less influenced by the tourist development than its neighboring islands (Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos). Its many beautiful beaches surround the island, each one inviting you to swim within it’s own waters. At Skyros, tradition and modern life , myth and reality coexist in total harmony formulating an ideal place for summer vacations. Beyond general pleasures as climate, sea, nature, food, people and other interesting  things as museums, architecture etc..., it's the special atmosphere that makes me fall in love for  this Island and want to go every summer.

A panoramic view of Skyros island (summer 1997)