The island
Leros is one of the islands
in the Dodecanese, at the eastern edge of the Aegean. Archaeological evidence has revealed the active
presence of humans there since prehistoric times, in finds dating to the late
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. In historical times the evolution and character
of Leros were heavily influenced by its close relations with Miletus, whose people settled the island. It
later came under Spartan and then Roman rule, while archaeology has also
confirmed the presence of Macedonians. The official religious shrine in the
classical era was at Partheni, in the northern part of the island. This was
associated with the worship of a maiden called Iocallis, who connects the
island with the myth of the Meleagrids and is considered synonymous with the goddess
Artemis. Architectural remains from antiquity include two major fortifications
at Partheni and Xirokambos, as well as the island’s principal settlement at Agia
Marina.
The
transition to
the Christian era found Leros being administered as part of the Province of the
Islands (Provincia Insularum), under the
command of Asia Minor. The spread of
Christianity throughout the Dodecanese did not
exempt Leros, if at some delay, since the cult of Artemis remained strong for a
considerable time. After the new religion prevailed the island was organized
into a diocese. The Diocese of Leros formed part of the Metropolis of Rhodes,
and was definitely founded before 553, when Bishop John I of Leros took part in
the Fifth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople convened by Justinian to condemn
heretical writings.
The early Christian period was
marked by intense building activity. Factors such as the dominance of
Christianity and the organization of living areas favoured the construction of
numerous basilicas and the establishment of many new settlements, at Agia
Marina, Partheni, Alinda and Lakki. The archaeological record from this period is
not merely limited to abundant architectural remains, which testify to
extensive rebuilding on the island, but also includes artefacts (coins,
pottery), numerous mosaic fragments, votive inscriptions and scattered
architectural members.
The era of prosperity experienced by the islands in the first Christian
centuries was violently interrupted by the invasion and advance of Arabs in the
Aegean. The years that followed up until the
10th century were ones of decline and stagnation. Sea routes became dangerous,
commercial activity grounded to a halt and many settlements and trading posts were
laid waste. On Leros this turbulent period was reflected in the abandonment of
many villages, as the population moved into the island’s interior. Both Lepida Castle
and Panteli Castle, the most important medieval
monument on Leros, have construction phases dating to this period.
This dark era came to an
end when Emperor Nicephorus Phocas recaptured Crete
in 961, ushering in a period of renewed Byzantine power in the Aegean Sea. Large monasteries were erected on the islands
and communications were re-established with the major centres in the empire.
Imperial documents from the 11th century testify to developments on Leros. Typical
of these was the chrysobull issued by Emperor Alexius Comnenus in 1087, granting
the island of Leipsoi, the suburbs of Partheni and Temenion and part of Panteli
Castle on Leros to Christodoulos Latrenus, founder of the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Theologos on Patmos – the following year he was granted the whole castle,
on the order of Anne Dalassene. In 1309 the island of Leros
was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller and incorporated into the region of Kos, together with the neighbouring islands of Kalymnos
and Nisyros. From the late 15th to the early 16th century
the knights carried out repairs to the walls and built an external wall around Panteli Castle, in order to update the island’s
defences following the introduction of gunpowder weapons. Systematic pirate raids
and looting in the second half of the 15th century led to Leros falling to the
Ottomans in 1522.
Glossary (4)
Paleo-Christian (early Christian) era:
in Byzantine history, the period that typically starts in 330 AD, when Constantine the Great transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his newly-founded city of Constantinople, and ends with the death of Justinian in 565.
basilica:
type of large church, divided internally into three or more naves. The central nave was usually covered by a raised roof with windows that illuminated the space.
mosaic:
patterns or
images composed of small, colored tesserae. Mosaic
decoration can
be applied
to all the surfaces
of a building:
floor, walls or ceiling.
chrysobull:
official public document or decree issued by the emperors of Byzantium, with an authenticating gold stamp on the silk band that accompanied it.
Information Texts (5)
Justinian I:
Byzantine Emperor
(527-565), nephew and successor of Justin I. One of his first acts was to
reform the tax system and recode Theodosius’ laws. He was personally involved
in religious conflicts and convened the 5th Ecumenical Council
(553). Justinian considered himself primarily an orthodox emperor and took
harsh measures against the remaining pagans. Many of his political and fiscal
actions provoked strong reactions on the part of the senate and the factions
and led to the Nika Riots. Justinian instigated numerous building projects,
erecting approximately 30 churches in Constantinople,
including the famous church
of Agia Sophia.
Regarding foreign policy, he successfully confronted the Persians and the
Vandals in the East and focused on the recovery of the West. This he temporarily
achieved, but at such cost that the Empire was left exhausted; the barbarians in
the Balkans plundered the Greek peninsula as far as the Isthmus and barbarian
tribes settled at the borders. His military operations exhausted Byzantium financially and
militarily and had no real effect, as Italy and other areas he conquered
were soon lost again. After his death, the weakened empire had to face new
attacks, culminating in the Arab conquests, which negated the majority of
Justinian’s conquests beyond the borders.
Alexius I Comnenus:
Emperor
of Byzantium
from 1081 to 1118, founder of the Comnenian dynasty. Son of John Comnenus and
Anna Dalassene, he was originally a general in the imperial army. Using this
position he led a revolt supported by the army and the aristocracy, which ended
in the capture of Constantinople and his
ascension to the imperial throne on 1 April 1081. The empire Alexius inherited was at a very
critical juncture: the aristocracy were in revolt, the Seljuks had taken over
much of Asia Minor and the capital and the Danubian
provinces were under attack. The raids continued at greater or lesser intensity
over several years. To address these difficulties, Alexius turned to the West,
and signed peace treaties with the Venetians and the Germans. With regard to domestic affairs, he attempted to reform and revitalize
the economy and trade so as to stop deflation of the Byzantine currency, and overhauled
the administration. The first Crusade took place during his reign. Alexius exercised
diplomacy in dealing with the waves of crusaders, providing them with vessels to
cross over to Asia Minor. After extensive
negotiations, the crusader leaders agreed to hand back any lands they might
capture that had previously belonged to the Byzantine
Empire. However, Alexius failed to prevent them capture Antioch and Jerusalem. He died in
1118.
The castle of Panteli:
The
Castle of Panteli, an important medieval monument of Leros, is located on the
east coast of the island, on the Pitis (Apityki) hill, between the villages of
Platanos and Agia Marina. The two inner enclosures of the first building phase
of the castle date to the middle Byzantine period. The previous confirmed
chronology before the construction of the castle is the year 1087, when a chrysobull issued by
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, granted half of the castle to Christodoulos
Latrinos, founder of the Monastery of John the Theologian in Patmos, on behalf
of the Monastery of Our Lady Kastrianon of Kos. The existing Byzantine walls of
the castle were repaired by the Hospitallers from the late 15th to early 16th
century, and a new external enclosure was built, which fully complied with
the requirements of the established use of firearms. The coats of arms of
knight as Magisters scattered around the castle attest to the care of the Hospitallers
to strengthen it.
Five churches still survive inside the walls, including the church of Our Lady
of the Castle. The temple, built in the late 17th century after the miraculous,
according to tradition-appearance of the icon of the Virgin Mary in the gunpowder store
of the castle, now houses the
Ecclesiastical Museum of Leros.
The monastery of Agios Ioannis Theologos:
The
Monastery of Agios Ioannis Theologos on Patmos is
a unique example of medieval monastic architecture and a place of considerable
religious interest, being one of the largest monasteries in the Aegean. Tradition has it that John, the beloved disciple
of Jesus, was exiled to barren Patmos in around 95 AD, during the persecutions
of Emperor Domitian; it was during his stay on the island that John wrote two
of the religious texts central to Christian faith, the Gospel According to John
and the Apocalypse. Inextricably linked to this tradition is the founding of
the monastery by Blessed Christodoulos Latrinus in 1088.Having petitioned
Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, he managed to secure a chrysobull granting him the
island and other privileges so as to found a monastery dedicated to the
Evangelist.The monastery was erected on the summit of the hill, over the
remains of an ancient temple and an early Christian
basilica. Over time
the settlement known as Chora (the island capital) grew up around it, merging
to form a densely built and labyrinthine architectural ensemble.The monastery complex
is surrounded by an irregularly shaped, many sided medieval wall 15 m in
height. The interior is on several levels, including cell wings, auxiliary
buildings, galleries and chapels dating to the 16th and 17th century, built
around the catholicon as their focal point. The latter is a late 11th
century composite four-column cross-in-square church, with attached chapels
dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Christodoulos. The surviving wall paintings
are fine, rarely encountered depictions of evangelical scenes probably painted
by a Cretan School artist, dating from the second decoration
phase in the early 17th century. The chapel of the Virgin Mary has an important
fresco ensemble displaying the monumental tendency of the late 12th century.
The famed monastery library and sacristy house treasures and heirlooms of inestimable
historical and artistic value, such as rare collections of Byzantine and post-Byzantine
manuscripts, imperial documents, books, icons and miniature works. The Monastery
of Agios Ioannis Theologos on Patmos (an
impressive architectural monument and repository of Byzantine culture), the
Cave of the Apocalypse and Chora (Patmos town)
were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999, as a prominent Greek
Orthodox pilgrimage centre of outstanding architectural interest.
The island:
Located in the northern
part of the Dodecanese islands, Patmos is a small, barren and rocky island. Volcanic soil
and infrequent rains deprive the island of vegetation and crops, thus driving
the inhabitants to the sea; at the same time they made for an abstract and
otherworldly landscape, suitable to accommodate the apocalyptic writings of
John the Theologian.
Ancient Patmos is attested by scattered and
fragmentary field findings. The archaeological record shows no Minoan or
Mycenaean finds and only a few Geometric and Archaic remains, no more than
hinting at the pre-Christian era on the island. To this day the most important
archaeological site on the island is Kastelli, in the central part of the west
coast. Pottery remains and stone tools from the Bronze Age confirm that the
area was inhabited, though the signs of organization and walling date to the
late classic period. Kastelli appears to have been inhabited until the Roman
period. The ruins of a temple dedicated to Patmian Artemis offer solid evidence
of a cult in her name, on the site later used to build the Monastery of St.
John the Theologian. Like Leros, the island was a satellite of the mighty city
of Miletus.
The fact that Patmos served as a place of exile in late Roman times
undoubtedly determined the island’s history and development. In contrast to the
archaeological evidence on most Aegean islands, only a few finds offer a
glimpse of the early Christian era prior to the turning point marked by the
foundation of the monastery in mid-Byzantine times. Indeed, most of the finds
were preserved by being walled into the monastery and village houses. A
lengthy period of abandonment is recorded in the so-called "Dark Ages" (7th-9th
centuries), due to relentless raids and looting by Arab pirates.
Tradition has it that John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, was exiled to barren
Patmos in around 95 AD, during the persecutions of Emperor Domitian; it was
during his stay on the island that John wrote two of the religious texts
central to Christian faith, the Gospel According to John and the Apocalypse. Inextricably
linked to this tradition is the founding of the monastery by Blessed
Christodoulos Latrinus in 1088. Having petitioned Emperor Alexius I Comnenus,
he managed to secure a chrysobull granting him the island and other privileges
so as to found a monastery dedicated to the Evangelist. The monastery was
erected at the summit of the hill, over the remains of an ancient temple and an
early Christian
basilica. Over time the settlement known as Chora (the island
capital) grew up around it, merging to form a densely built and labyrinthine architectural
complex.
The island did not manage
to escape pillage and destruction by pirates; Turks, Saracens and Normans
systematically raided Patmos in the 12th
century, scarring the island. Yet life held out - the settlement expanded and grew
stronger, the monastery buildings were completed, and in the late 12th
and early 13th centuries the refectory and Chapel of the
Virgin Mary were decorated with fresco compositions. In 1309 the island was
conquered by the Knights Hospitaller. Over the next century Patmos
served as the theatre of war between the Venetians and Ottomans, but succeeded
in maintaining its privileges via the monastery. In 1522 the islands were
incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, thus
fostering a period of relative stability and peace for Patmos.
The population grew gradually over the 16th and 17th centuries, bolstered by
refugees from Constantinople and Crete. Together with greater local involvement in trade
and shipping, this resulted in the rise of a new noble class linked to an era of
development and prosperity on Patmos. A
serious blow to recovery was dealt in 1659, when a Venetian named Morosini
pillaged the island in retaliation for the monastery entering into negotiations
with the Turks. With all its disastrous consequences, this diplomatic blunder
on the monastery’s part shook faith in its integrity, robbing it thereafter of
the centralising role it played for Patmos. The
settlement began to grow and expand following the arrival of Cretan refugees from
the fall of Candia in 1669, while release from
monastery control lent impetus to the rise of a class of seafarers. The School of Patmos was founded in 1713. All of these
factors contributed to the island experiencing an unprecedented period of
economic vigour and intellectual growth.
Bibliography (4)
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2. Δρελιώση-Ηρακλείδου Α, Μιχαηλίδου Μ., Λέρος: Από την Προϊστορία έως το Μεσαίωνα, Athens, 2006
3. Στεφανίδου Α., ‘Κάστρο Παντελίου’ in Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες Ιππότες. Δίκτυα οχυρωματικής αρχιτεκτονικής, Athens, 2001
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