Patmos Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== [[File:Patmos02.jpg|thumb|240px|View of the port (Skala)]] [[File:Meloi.JPG|thumb|right|240px|The beach of Meloi, within walking distance of Skala]] [[File:Chora di Patmos con il Monastero di San Giovanni "il teologo".JPG|thumb|240px|[[Monastery of Saint John the Theologian]]]] ===The birth of Patmos according to Greek mythology=== According to a [[legend]] in [[Greek mythology]], the island's original name was "Letois", after the goddess and huntress of deer, [[Artemis]], daughter of [[Leto]]. It was believed that Patmos came into existence thanks to her divine intervention. Artemis frequently paid visits to [[Caria]], the mainland across the shore from Patmos, where she had a shrine on [[Mount Latmus]]. There she met the moon goddess [[Selene]], who cast her light on the ocean, revealing the sunken island of Patmos.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Selene was always trying to get Artemis to bring the sunken island to the surface and hence to life. Selene finally convinced Artemis, who, in turn, gained her brother [[Apollo]]'s help to persuade [[Zeus]] to allow the island to arise from the sea.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Zeus agreed, and the island emerged from the water. The sun dried up the land and brought life to it. Gradually, inhabitants from the surrounding areas, including Mount Latmos, settled on the island and named it "Letois" in honour of Artemis.<ref>[http://www.patmos.gr/index.asp Patmos β official website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915161648/http://www.patmos.gr/index.asp |date=15 September 2008 }} Legendary folk tales and mythology. Retrieved on 4 September 2008.</ref>[[File:Jacopo vignali, san giovanni evangelista a patmos.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''John the Apostle on Patmos'', a 17th-century painting by [[Jacopo Vignali]].]] ===History from the Classical period to the present=== Patmos is seldom mentioned by ancient writers. Therefore, very little is known about the earliest inhabitants. In the Classical period, the Patmians prefer to identify themselves as [[Dorians]] descending from the families of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], [[Sparta]] and [[Epidaurus]], further mingling with people of [[Ionians|Ionian]] ancestry.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} During the 3rd century BC, in the [[Hellenistic period]], the settlement of Patmos acquired the form of an [[acropolis]] with an improved defence through a fortification wall and towers.<ref name=PatmosOff>[http://www.patmos.gr/index.asp Patmos β official website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915161648/http://www.patmos.gr/index.asp |date=15 September 2008 }} Retrieved on 2008-09-04.</ref> Patmos is mentioned in the [[Book of Revelation]], the last book of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bible]]. The book's introduction states that its author, [[John of Patmos|John]], was on Patmos when he was given (and recorded) a vision from [[Jesus]]. Early Christian tradition identified this writer [[John of Patmos]] as [[John the Apostle]].<ref name="Justin">Justin Martyr, ''Dialogue with Trypho'', 81.4</ref> For this reason, Patmos is a destination for Christian [[pilgrimage]]. Visitors can see the cave where John is said to have received his Revelation (the [[Cave of the Apocalypse]]), and several [[monastery|monasteries]] on the island are dedicated to Saint John. After the death of [[John of Patmos]], possibly around 100 AD, a number of Early Christian [[basilicas]] were erected on Patmos. Among these was a Grand Royal Basilica in honour of Saint John, built c. 300β350 AD at the location where the [[Monastery of Saint John the Theologian]] stands today.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Early Christian life on Patmos, however, barely survived Muslim raids from the 7th to the 9th century.{{citation needed|reason=all refs seem to say 6th century. But the latter is impossible since there were no Muslims then|date=October 2011}} During this period, the Grand Basilica was destroyed. In 1088, the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Alexios I Komnenos]] gave Christodoulos Latrinos the complete authority over the island of Patmos, as well as the permission to build a monastery on the island. The construction of the monastery started in 1101.<ref name=PatmosOff/><ref name = greeka>[https://www.patmos.gr/history/?lang=en Patmos.gr] β Patmos history. Retrieved on 7 February 2023.</ref> Population was expanded by infusions of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] immigrants fleeing the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, and [[Crete|Cretan]] immigrants fleeing the [[Cretan War (1645β1669)#Fall of Candia|fall of Candia]] in 1669.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} The island was controlled by the [[Ottoman Empire]] for many years, but it enjoyed certain privileges, mostly related to tax-free trade by the monastery as certified by Ottoman imperial documents held in the Library.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Ottoman rule in Patmos ("Batnaz" in Ottoman Turkish) was interrupted by initially Venetian occupation during [[Candian War]] between 1659 and 1669, then [[Russia]]n occupation during [[Orlov Revolt]] between 1770 and 1774 and finally during the [[Greek War of Independence]]. In 1912, in connection with the [[Italo-Turkish War]], the [[Italians]] occupied all the islands of the [[Dodecanese]] (except [[Kastellorizo]]), including Patmos. The Italians remained there until 1943, when [[Nazi Germany]] took over the island.<ref name="FantReddish2003">{{cite book|author1=Clyde E. Fant|author2=Mitchell G. Reddish|title=A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=248rXe16v9YC&pg=PA94|date=23 October 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-513917-4|pages=94β}}</ref> In 1945, the Germans left and the island of Patmos remained autonomous until 1948, when, together with the rest of the Dodecanese Islands, it joined the independent Greece.<ref name=greeka/> ===21st century=== In September 2008, the municipality of Patmos refused landing to a group of undocumented refugees from [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]]. On the weekend of September 19, 2008, about 134 refugees were rescued at sea. The refugees were taken to Patmos, the nearest municipality, for processing and care. The administration refused them permission to land. Eventually they were sent to the island of [[Leros]] where they were processed and given humanitarian aid.<ref>[http://www.nylou.com/html/ent/319/ent.45319.1.asp Nylou Editorial]</ref><ref>[http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44017 Interpress Agency: ''Refugees Kept At Sea''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015010016/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44017 |date=15 October 2008 }}</ref> ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine, in 2009, named Patmos "Europe's most idyllic place to live", writing that "Patmos has evolved over the centuries but has not lost its air of quiet tranquility, which is one reason why people that know it return again and again".<ref>Forbes, webpage:[https://www.forbes.com/2009/09/03/europe-most-idyllic-places-lifestyle-real-estate_slide_11.html].</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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