The Basics (See getting to the Sporades from Athens)

Alonissos Page 4

Drinking and Dining

Amenities are basic but good and seafood delicacies such as lobster, are plentiful and reasonable.

There is limited late night entertainment and music.

Accommodations

See our greece hotels for a complete look at accommodations available on this island. The best rooms need to be booked well in advance.

History

Name changes and earthquakes have complicated history here. Modern Alonissos is not ancient Halonnesos, but actually had the name Ikos. After independence, there was a too-rushed effort to restore place names, and things got a bit confused. Some scholars say the ancient Halonnesos must have been tiny Psathoura where a submerge city lies offshore.

Creten Prince Staphylos planted the first vines here. They later made Ikos famous. In the 1950's Alonissos' wine industry and grapefruit orchards were wiped out by disease and many islanders were forced to seek work in Athens.

Those left today are primarily shepherds, fisherman and in the tourism industry during season. Nine-tenths of Alonissos' roads have not been rebuilt, making it a hiker's paradise.

Only a few of Hora's original inhabitants remain. Many Germans and Britons saw a golden opportunity to buy after the wine industry crashed and bought and restored old residences. This was all when power and running water were prohibited by the Greek junta as part of their forced removal of the inhabitants. Utilities have since been restored, of course.

The earliest Paleolithic finds in the entire Aegean (100,000 to 33,000 BC) have been discovered on the island opposite Kokkinokastro and are on display in the Volos Museum on mainland Greece. The island bore other names too; Chelidromea and Diadromia in addition to the more recent Liodromia.

Rulers have changed over the years. Halonnesos was the object of rivalry between Phillip of Macedon and Athens which had a naval base there in the 4th C BC. In 42 BC, the Romans gave it to Athens again only to lose it to the pirate Sostratos. At some point the Halonnesos lost all importance and with the help of the sea, its location faded from all memory. This lull into obscurity probably aided Alonissos in becoming the eco-tourism leader in Greece today, because it slowed down development and growth.

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See getting to the Sporades from Athens