Hydra (island)

Hydra, or Ydra or Idra, and in antiquity Hydrea, is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Myrtoan Sea and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by a narrow strip of water. In ancient times, the island was known as , a reference to the natural springs on the island.
The municipality of Hydra consists of the islands Hydra, Dokos, and a few uninhabited islets, with a total area of. The province of Hydra was one of the provinces of the Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture from 1833 to 1942, of Attica prefecture from 1942 to 1964, of Piraeus prefecture from 1964 to 1972, and of Attica again as part of the newly established Piraeus prefecture of Attica. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality. It was abolished in 2006. Today the municipality of Hydra is part of the Islands regional unit of Attica region.
There is one main town, known simply as "Hydra port". It consists of a crescent-shaped harbor, around which is centered a strand of restaurants, shops, markets, and galleries that cater to tourists and to locals. Steep stone streets lead up and outward from the harbor area. Most of the local residences, as well as the hostelries on the island, are located on these streets. Other small villages or hamlets on the island include Mandraki, Kamini, Vlychos, Palamidas, Episkopi, and Molos. Wheeled vehicles are not permitted on the island, including but not limited to cars, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, and e-bikes.

Name

The name Hydra comes from ancient Greek ὕδρα, derived from the Greek word for "water", a reference to the natural springs on the island. The local Arvanite name is attested in two variants: the common variant Nύδρα/Nidhra and the rare form Nidhriza or Hydriza.

Transport, tourism and leisure

Hydra depends on tourism, and Athenians account for a sizable segment of its visitors. High-speed hydrofoils and catamarans from Piraeus, some away, serve Hydra, stopping first at Poros before going on to Spetses. There is a passenger ferry service providing an alternative to hydrofoils that operates between Hydra Harbor to Metochi on the Peloponnese coast. Many Athenians drive to Metochi, leave their car in the secure car park, and take the 20-minute passenger ferry across to Hydra.
Rubbish trucks are the only motor vehicles on the island, since by law, cars and motorcycles are not allowed. Horses, mules and donkeys, and water taxis provide public transportation. The inhabited area, however, is so compact that most people walk everywhere.
In 2007, a National Geographic Traveler panel of 522 experts rated Hydra the highest of any Greek island, as a unique destination preserving its "integrity of place".

Captains' mansions

The Tsamadou mansion, on the left side as one enters the harbor, is now a Maritime Academy. The Tsamados family donated the mansion for the purpose of hosting the Greek Maritime Academy on their island. Another house, originally built for the Tsamados family on the hill overlooking the port was donated to the church to be used as a weaving school and production facility of textiles and carpets. The house now belongs to the Colloredo-Mansfeld family and became known as the Old Carpet Factory.
The Tombazis mansion is now part of the Athens School of Fine Arts, owned by University of Athens.
The mansions of Lazaros and George Kountouriotis, Boudouris, Kriezis, Voulgaris, Sachinis, and Miaoulis all contain collections of 18th-century island furniture. The descendants of Lazarus Kountouriotis donated his mansion to the Historic-Ethnologic Institute of Greece. Today, it operates as an extension branch of the National Museum of History.

Monasteries and the Cathedral

There are numerous churches and six Orthodox monasteries on the island. Two particularly noteworthy monasteries are Profitis Ilias, founded in the 10th century, and Ayia Efpraxia. Both are on a hill overlooking the main harbor.
The island's cathedral is the old Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin and sits on the quayside in the town. The monastery contains the tomb of Lazaros Kountouriotis, the richest sea captain on Hydra, who gave his entire fortune to support the Greek War of Independence.

History

Pre-history, antiquity, Byzantine and Venetian era

There is evidence of farmers and herders from the second half of the third millennium BCE on the small, flat areas that are not visible from the sea. Obsidian from Milos has also been found. During the Helladic period, Hydra probably served as a maritime base for the kingdoms on the Greek peninsula. Fragments of vases, tools, and the head of an idol have been found on Mount Chorissa. There is also evidence of Mycenean-era aqueducts, supplying ships with water.
The large-scale Dorian invasion of Greece around the 12th century BCE appears to have depopulated the island. Hydra was repopulated by farmers and herders, perhaps sailing from the mainland port of Ermioni, in the 8th century BCE. Herodotus reports that toward the 6th century BCE, the island belonged to Ermioni, which sold it to Samos. Samos, in turn, ceded it to Troizina.
For much of its existence, Hydra stayed on the margins of history. The population was very small in ancient times and, except for the brief mentions in Herodotus and Pausanias, left little or no record in the history of those times.
It is clear that Hydra was populated during the Byzantine era, as vases and coins have been discovered in the area of Episkopi. However, it appears that the island again lost its population during the Latin Empire of Constantinople as its inhabitants fled the pirate depredations. On other islands, inhabitants moved inland, something that was essentially impossible on Hydra.

Arvanite community

Among local Arvanites, the first account about their settlement was written by Antonis Miaoulis, son of admiral Andreas Miaoulis, after the end of the Greek war of independence. According to this local narrative, the Arvanite Hydriots descend from the Albanians who directly left Albania as refugees in the 1460s due to persecution by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Historiographical research shows that the Albanians didn't settle in Hydra directly from Albania in the 15th century, but from the Peloponnese due to conflicts in the region with the Venetians and the Ottomans. This first Albanian settlement occurred in the early 16th century and likely involved members of the same 1-2 clans. They created the modern town port and their presence was evident until the mid-20th century, when, according to T. Jochalas, the majority of the island's population was composed of immigrants from outside of Peloponnesus. In the 16th century, the island began to be settled also by refugees from the warfare between the Ottomans and Venetians. In the early 18th century, a last Arvanite movement from nearby areas settled in the island. Arvanitika was a language spoken by all Hydriotes. By the 19th century, men had learned to speak Greek too, while women and children often didn't speak Greek. One of the reasons why Arvanitika was so enduring in Hydra as opposed to other islands which were part of the Arvanite Aegean settlements was that the language was spoken and favored by the newly emerging Hydriot urban-merchant class. Even in the 20th century families of the local magnates like the Koundouriotis spoke Arvanitika in Hydra. Hydra was also an island where church liturgy was often held in local Arvanitika, which is a rare case as in most Orthodox Albanian communities Greek was the language of liturgy even up to the early 20th century. The Arvanite community is still found on the island. Nowadays they are fully assimilated.

Ottoman era: period of commercial and naval strength

Hydra was relatively unimportant during much of the period of Ottoman rule. At the end of the sixteenth century, there was a wave of migration consisting of big families from the Hellenic and Asia Minor regions to the island. Due to the infertile ground, the inhabitants turned to the sea. Its naval and commercial development began in the 17th century, and its first school for mariners was established in 1645. Apparently, the first truly Hydriot vessel was launched in 1657. However, the conflict between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire limited the island's maritime development until after 1718 and the Treaty of Passarowitz. From the 17th century on, Hydra began to take on a greater importance because of its trading strength.
During the first half of the 18th century, Hydra built the same kind of vessels as were built in the other Aegean Islands: the sachtouri of 15 to 20 tons, and the latinadiko of 40 to 50 tons. The Hydriots contented themselves with trading in the Aegean, going as far as Constantinople. A great change occurred in 1757 after they launched a vessel of 250 tons. The larger boats enabled Hydra to become an important commercial port. By 1771, there were up to 50 vessels from throughout Greece in the roads. Ten years later, the island had fitted out 100 vessels.
However, the Ottoman Empire and its policies constrained Hydra's economic success. Heavy tariffs and taxes limited the speed of development. The Ottoman administration limited free trade, permitting only Ottoman vessels to navigate the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, and hence to have access to the Black Sea, its ports, and the trade in grain from their hinterlands. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca changed all this. Russia gained from the Ottoman Empire the right to protect the Empire's Orthodox Christians. The religious protection had a commercial corollary: the Hydriots began to sail under the Russian flag. The treaty also provided for free passage between the Aegean and the Black Sea. Hydra entered its commercial era. Hydriot vessels carried goods between Southern Russia in the east and the Italian ports of Ancona and Livorno in the west. From 1785 on, the Hydriot shippers began to engage in commerce, not just transport. Each vessel became its own small commercial enterprise, and trade with the Levant quickly began to depend on Hydra's vessels, though not without competition from those of Spetses and Psara.
The plague of 1792 killed a large part of the population, and many people moved away. As a result, the town was almost completely abandoned for a while. By the end of the 18th century, Hydra had again become quite prosperous, with its vessels trading as far as France, Spain, and even the Americas. Napoleon presented the island with the huge silver chandelier in the cathedral as a gesture of gratitude for the Hydriots' role in running the British blockade and so bringing food to France.