Skopelos


Skopelos is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands that comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is part of the Thessaly region. Skopelos is also the name of the island's main port and municipal center. The other communities of the island are Glossa and Neo Klima. The geography of Skopelos includes two mountains over : Delphi in the center of the island, and Palouki in the southeast. With an area of Skopelos is slightly larger than Mykonos and Santorini. The nearest inhabited islands are Skiathos to the west and Alonnisos to the east.

History

According to the legend, Skopelos was founded by Staphylos, one of the sons of the god Dionysos and the princess Ariadne of Crete. Historically, in the Late Bronze Age the island, then known as Peparethos or Peparethus, was colonised by the Minoans, who introduced viticulture to the island.
Perhaps because of the legend of its founding by the son of the god of wine, the island was known throughout the ancient Greek cities of the Mediterranean Sea for its wine. The play Philoctetes by Sophocles includes a wine merchant lost on his way to "Peparethos, rich in grapes and wine".
Pliny the Elder, in his book Natural History writes:
The physician Apollodorus, in the work in which he wrote recommending King Ptolemy what wines in particular to drink—for in his time the wines of Italy were not generally known—has spoken in high terms of that of Naspercene in Pontus, next to which he places the Oretic, and then the Aeneatian, the Leucadian, the Ambraciotic, and the Peparethian, to which last he gives the preference over all the rest. However, he states that it enjoyed an inferior reputation, from the fact of its not being considered fit for drinking until it had been kept for six years.

In 1936 excavations in the area of Staphylos/Velanio uncovered a royal tomb of the era of Mycenaean Greece. The island was briefly under the control of the city-state Chalcis, Euboea since at least the 8th century BC.
In turn, the island would come under the political influence or direct domination of:
Albanians also settled on the island, thereafter assimilating into the Greek population.
Skopelos became part of the First Hellenic Republic under the London Protocol confirming its sovereignty. During World War II, Skopelos fell under Axis occupation. At first, it was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy and then by Nazi Germany. Skopelos and the rest of Greece returned to a democratic-style government in 1944.

Geography

Skopelos has the shape of a saxophone, with the "neck" pointing northwest, and the "bell" lying on the east. There are not many bays and natural harbors, and cliffs steeply fall into the sea in the greatest part of the coast. Mountains dominate the western and eastern parts of the island. There are several plains; in Staphylos, Ditropon, and Panormos. The main port of Skopelos can sometimes be closed due to northerly gales. The smaller bays of Staphylos, Agnondas on the south coast and Panormos on the west offer better protection. The municipality has an area of.

Communities

The main port and municipal center of the island is situated in the bay on the northern coast. It is noted for its architectural heritage. On the census of 2011, it had 3,090 inhabitants.
The second largest settlement is Glossa village, situated on the northwestern tip of the island, just above Loutraki harbour, with an elevation ranging from. It is from Skopelos town. It is a tranquil village with traditional houses, with 993 residents.
Neo Klima or "Elios" is a purpose-built village constructed after the great 1965 earthquake to resettle the displaced residents of the severely damaged village of Klima. It is situated by the coast on the west side of the island. The village had 463 inhabitants in the 2001 census.
Other settlements include Stafylos, Agnondas, Panormos, Ananias, Klima, Atheato, Loutraki, Kalogiros, and Myloi.

Economy

The economy of Skopelos is now fully dependent on the tourism industry, which supports construction and other development related industries. Though tourism is greatest during the summer months, Skopelos is also a year-round retirement destination for Northern Europeans. Some residents expected an increase in tourism due to the filming of Mamma Mia! on the island in September 2007.
Agriculture, once a staple of the local economy, is in decline.
Plum and almond orchards exist but are less extensive than in the past. Wine production from local grape has been minimal ever since the phylloxera blight of the 1940s destroyed the vineyards. Though there is local small-scale wine production using local grapes, most wine produced on the island is for home use and much is pressed from grapes imported from Thessaly. Herding of domestic goats and domestic sheep continues and a local feta type cheese is produced from these stocks. Beekeeping and honey production have increased in recent years. Skopelos supports a small fishing fleet which fishes local waters.
The island once had a vital wooden shipbuilding industry and contributed many ships to the War of Greek Independence. Shipbuilding began to decline after the introduction of steamships. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition stated "Almost every householder in both islands is the owner, joint owner or skipper of a sailing ship." Today the art of building ships and boats in the traditional style is virtually nonexistent and is seen only in the repairing of small wooden vessels. Skopelos cannot support its population with locally produced food and goods. Most of what is used and consumed must be imported by ship from the mainland. Prices for food and consumer goods reflect the added expense of transportation. Therefore purchases of food and drink run 10 percent higher in Skopelos than on the mainland. Most building materials, including sand, must also be imported. Gasoline or petrol costs are, at minimum, 15 percent higher than on the mainland.
Skopelos is a matrilineal society. Wealth is passed on via the female line. By custom, the parents of each Skopelitan bride provide the new couple with at least a house and some property. The house and property remain in the bride's name. This custom is particularly insular as in most other parts of Greece, especially on the mainland and Crete, wealth is patrilineal.

Local food production

  • Olives and olive oil: Olive oil plays a role in the Skopelos diet, being the basis of all recipes of traditional cuisine. The most prevalent olive is the "Pelion" variety, larger and rounder than the "Kalamata". For eating the olives are cured both in the unripened and the ripened stages.
  • Feta: A semi-soft, crumbly, well-salted white cheese made from goat milk. Used in Skopelos cheese pie and other vegetable pies, added to salads and served with meals.
  • Cheese Pie: Not by definition a real pie, but a tiropita, a deep fried spiral of cheese stuffed phyllo dough. The pie is generally about in diameter and high.
  • Honey: Honey in Skopelos is mainly pine honey from conifer trees and flower honey from the nectar of fruit trees and wildflowers.
  • Prunes: Oven or sun-dried Blue or Red Plums.

    Environment

Skopelos is one of the greenest islands in the Aegean Sea. The island has a wide range of flowers, trees, and shrubs. The local vegetation is chiefly made up of forests of Aleppo pines, Kermes oaks, a small forest of Holm oaks, Oleo-Ceratonion maquis, fruit trees, and olive groves. The pine forests on Skopelos have replaced oak species that predominated in the past; this is due to a preference for pine trees since their timber is widely used for ship construction.

Ecology

As "The Green and Blue Island", Skopelos lags behind urban Greece in rubbish recycling and sewage treatment. Currently, there is a rubbish recycling program in Skopelos. Solid and hazardous waste is deposited in a landfill or dumped unofficially on untended public or private land. Periodically families of Romani people come to Skopelos to collect scrap metal from areas around the island where trash has been illegally dumped. The scrap metal is removed from the island by lorry and sold on the mainland. Beer and bulk wine bottles are recycled by the distributors. There is a deposit collected for each bottle at the time of purchase which is redeemed upon return.

Water resources

The sources of the municipal water supply are various spring-fed tanks located around the island. The three island communities supply water within a limited but expanding part of their jurisdictions. Homes outside the municipal water system use wells or cisterns to collect rainwater. There are plans to construct an artificial lake in the area of Panormos to supply water to farmers. Private water wells supply some agricultural needs and water from these wells can be transported by lorry to outlying areas to refill cisterns or swimming pools. The municipal water is good quality. As most natural sources of water in limestone environments, the water has a high calcium content.

Alternative energy

Over the past 30 years, residents have begun to use solar collectors for hot water. With about 2,400 hours of sunlight per year, Skopelos has the potential to increase its solar energy use and to develop alternative sources of energy that make use of frequent and steady northerly wind. Major construction and mass tourism development projects for hotels and tourist housing have not yet embraced the concept of alternative resources. Most recently built projects rely on electricity generated on the mainland, even for hot water.