Overview of the island
The beautiful island of Karpathos is located in the southern Aegean Sea, almost equidistant between the two larger neighbouring islands of Crete and Rhodes. It forms part of the island group known as the Dodecanese.
Its location has ensured that the ravages of tourism have had less effect on local traditions than on other, more accessible, Greek islands. Some consider Karpathos to be almost two islands, joined together only recently by the construction of a new road. Most of the tourism is located in the southern ‘half’ of the island.
The mountainous north is one of the few places in Greece where an ancient dialect can still be heard and traditional costume is still proudly worn by the local women, both young and old. The stories in this book originate from the people of northern Karpathos, in particular the mountain village of Olympos and its port village of Diafani.
Interactive map of places from the book
The map below shows the location of the places mentioned in the chapters of the book and a short extract of the text from the book. Clicking on the link in the description will take you to that point in the online book. Read how to use the interactive map.
The new road
Memories of the Journey between the North and the South of Karpathos by Bob Bowden
In the north of the island, Steno, the gap between Karpathos and the small island of Saria, is called ‘God’s mistake’ by many people because they think it should be at, or slightly above, the village of Spoa, further south. The previous rock road between the north and the south was a nightmare to drive – a bone-jolting, suspension-destroying ordeal. The road was simply bulldozed through from Spoa in the early 1980s. In 2011, it was finally asphalted. Prior to that, the preferred means of going south to shop, to see a doctor, to see a lawyer, etc., was the Chrisovalandou, a lovely wooden caique which plied the route between Pigadia and Diafani on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (most of the time!) – 2 hours each way! There are many tales to tell! In the summer, it was an idyllic journey! Soon after the finishing of the road, she ceased operating.
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