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Kythira (Municipality, Greece)

Κύθηρα

image by Tomislav Šipek, 25 January 2022

Presentation of Kythira
Flag of Kythira

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Presentation of Kythira

Kythira is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is distant from the main group. Administratively, it belongs to the Islands regional unit, which is part of the Attica region.

The municipality of Cythera (Κύθηρα; 4,041 inhabitants in 2011; 30,000 ha) was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the two former municipalities of Cythera (3,973 inh.; 27,960 ha) and Anticythera (Ἀντικύθηρα; 68 inh., 2,043 ha).
Ivan Sache, 29 January 2025

Flag of Kythira

The flag of Kythira (Cythera) is blue with the logo centered.
https://adelinfm.blogspot.com/2015/11/blog-post_364.html
Tomislav Šipek, 25 January 2022

The emblem features a map of the island inscribing its three main landmarks, from top to bottom, the castle of Chora, the monastery of Panagia Myrtidiotissa, and the bridge of Katouni.

The castle of Chora or Fortezza was built in the 13th century when Kythera was dominated by the Venetians. The Eye of Crete, as it was also called due to its strategic position, providing the observance of ships on three seas simultaneously – the Ionian, Aegean and Cretan, was built over different phases of the island’s history, but the biggest and main part including the facade was built in 1503 by the Venetians, who repaired and reconstructed it.
In the middle of the castle are a few ruined two-storey houses, as 200 years ago there were 200 inhabitants in the castle, the last one left during the Occupation when the conquerors commandeered the buildings. A further 30 m walk get in front of the gunpowder magazine, a building with walls more than one meter thick and right next to it, the church of Pantokratoras, filled with old murals. The castle’s old headquarters are located in front of the church; the building now houses the Historical Archive of Kythera. Crossing the big tunnel underneath the headquarters reaches the headquarters square with the big 16th century church – originally the Catholic Our Lady of the Latins. In 1806 the church was inaugurated as Orthodox, commemorating Myrtidiotissa. Next to it is the church of Panaghia Orfani which kept the icon and heirlooms of the Agarathos monastery in Iraklion for 300 years, since Crete was dominated by the Turks. The church of Myrtidiotissa also kept the homonymous icon in times of pirate raids outbreak until 1842, when the icon returned to the monastery of Mirtidia and an 1844 copy was left in the castle instead.
Outside the fortress there is a second wall to the north, surrounding Klistos Vourgos with many churches and houses. There are several cannons in the castle, dating from the Venetian, the Russo-Turkish and the English period. Two of Myrtidiotissa’s miracles are associated with the castle and displayed at the bottom of the icon. One has to do with the ship that carried the precious metal for the icon’s dress from Crete and was threatened by pirates. The second relates to the lightning that struck the castle in 1829 and passed in front of the image and the adjacent gunpowder magazine without causing any damage.
https://www.kythera.gr/en/whattosee/castles/castle-chora

Panagia Myrtidiotissa is the largest monastery in Kythera. Located in the area of Myrtidia in the west of the island, it is built on a natural rocky opening among many myrtles. The icon of Panagia Myrtidiotissa is the island’s most precious relic and the patron of all Kytherians.
Tradition has it that a shepherd dreamt of an angel pointing at the area he kept his sheep where, inside a myrtle was an icon of the Madonna. The shepherd woke up alarmed. In the morning he went there, found the icon and took it home, in the neighboring village of Kalokairines. At night the icon would disappear and return to the myrtle. The shepherd saw the angel again, telling him that the icon had to stay there, close to the myrtle; so the shepherd built a small chapel next to the myrtle and placed the icon there, naming it Myrtidiotissa.
Up to this day the chapel, called the old Catholic, houses the icon along with the offerings of visitors, the huge candles made by the priests of the era and some other small icons. When the icon was found it didn’t have its current dimensions, those were acquired later when placed on a wooden frame. In 1837 artist Nicholas Spithakis added the gold dress. Only the two faces are still visible on the ancient icon, even their features cannot be distinguished anymore. At the lower part of the golden lining, the three miracles of Myrtidiotissa are depicted: the miracle of the icon’s discovery, the cure of the paralytic and the miracle of rescuing the fortress of the town of Kythera by a lightning strike in 1829. Just above the old Catholic, the major basilica church was built in 1857. North and south of the later Catholic are the cells where believers reside during the fasting period of the first fifteen days of August (Dekapentismos).
An admirable work within the monastery is that of the 26 m limestone bell tower, with arched patterns on the facades of all four floors, created by artist Nickolas Fatseas. All the monastery projects were led by the monk Agathangelos Kalligeros. During the pirate raids, the icon was kept in the homonymous church inside the fortress in the town of Kythera for security reasons. The major religious tradition of Kythera is the icon’s procession from Myrtidia to Chora, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The procession lasts 15 days, passing through most of the island’s villages before it arrives in Chora and there are many believers following the icon throughout the whole period. Myrtidiotissa celebrates on the 24th of September, the date of the icon’s finding.
https://www.kythera.gr/en/whattosee/monasteries-churches/panagia-myrtidiotissa

The stone bridge in Katouni is one of the most impressive monuments of Kythera. It was built during the period of British rule and is the largest stone bridge in Greece. Its length reaches 110 m, it is 15 m long and 6m wide. It is characteristically based on 13 arches and 12 wickets in absolute symmetry. Designed and supervised by Macfale himself, the bridge was completed in 1826 as part of the road connecting the capital with Avlemonas, the biggest British engineering project in Kythera. Due to its exceptional architecture the bridge can hold more weight than originally planned. Legend has it that Macfale, the island’s British governor, fell in love with a girl from Katouni village and decided to build the bridge near her house in order to see her daily, while supervising the project.
https://www.kythera.gr/en/whattosee/monuments/katouni-bridge

Ivan Sache, 29 January 2025