Kos: Island of Medicine |
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Introduction to Kos |
|||||||||||||
|
The island of Hippocrates has
fallen on hard times lately. Kos is one of the
most attractive and interesting islands in the
Aegean and for that reason it was one of the first
to attract travelers who were looking for
beautiful sandy beaches and a mild climate. The
island was large enough to handle the gradually
accelerating flow of tourists and the locals built
bigger and more luxurious hotels, more
restaurants, discos, bars and gift shops to go
along with the natural beauty of the island. These
were used by large package tour companies which
sent people in droves from Scandinavia and
Northern Europe so that it was hard to get a room
in July or August if you were traveling on your
own. All the rooms were booked by the tour
companies. Then, inexplicably they pulled the
plug. According to hotel owners not only did the
major tour companies stop booking the hotels but
when travelers requested the island they were told
it was booked solid and sent elsewhere. The hotels
were not booked solid. They were empty and the
people whose lives depended upon tourism were
desperate for answers and a solution. Kos is not the first island that has been hit by an unofficial boycott by the large tour companies. There are several explanations for why these occur. Sometimes the tour companies become tired of negotiating prices with the hotels every year so they organize a boycott which accomplishes one or two things. First of all it shows the hotel owners who is the boss and how dependent they are on the tour companies and after a year of desperation they are ready to agree to more favorable terms for the tour companies. This can also cause mass bankruptcies and the tour companies can buy coveted hotels from the banks for next to nothing. Another reason could be that the tour companies decide they want to make more of a profit and send their customers somewhere they pay less for the hotels. A client comes in to book his holiday on a Greek island and winds up in Tunisia or Turkey. For some people who are just looking for sea and sun they will be happy in Timbuktu if it has a beach and a fast-food joint nearby. But someone looking for a holiday on a Greek Island should not be coerced into an entirely different country, regardless of that countries attributes if it is just to put more money in the hands of the tour companies which after all are just big soulless corporations. This is bad news for the people of Kos who built their beautiful hotels with the expectation that they would stay full forever. But it is good news for the traveler who wants to see a beautiful Greek island, famous for its history and fantastic beaches, because they can stay in some pretty nice hotels at near bargain prices and won 't be trampled by the tourist hordes. Maybe this is a second chance for Kos. Because of the close association of Kos and the birth of Medicine, it is a popular place for conventions of Doctors and Healers and the facilities of the hotels enable the island to handle crowds of any size. |
|||||||||||||
History of Kos |
|||||||||||||
|
Kos is a long narrow island which is relatively flat, fertile with lots of water and is the third largest in the Dodecanese chain which hugs the coast of Asia Minor. While the interior of the island is agricultural, with many people relying on farming it is the archaeology and history which originally attracted visitors and the beaches which turned it into one of the most popular islands in Greece. Kos was the birthplace of Hippocrates , the father of medicine who lived on the island in the fourth century. It was after his death that the people of Kos built the Aesclepeion, named for the God Aesclepios, which became a hospital that was known throughout the Greek world and spread the healing methods of Hippocrates. Doctors today still take the Hippocratic oath and tourists still visit the ruins of the Asklepeion. The city of Kos was founded in 366 BC and was quite prosperous because of its location close to the shores of Asia Minor. It was devastated by an earthquake in the 6th century BC, conquered by Alexander the Great, and then fell under the protection of Ptolemy II of Egypt who was born on Kos and once again prospered. The Romans took over the island in 130 BC. It became wealthy again in the Byzantine period. In 1315 the Knights of Saint John who were based in Rhodes built the large fortress which still stands at the entrance of the harbor, using debris from the ancient town that was left over from the earthquake. In 1522 the Ottoman Turks took both Rhodes and Kos and remained in control for four hundred years until the Italians took it in 1912 as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. In 1933 there was another earthquake which destroyed the town. Kos did not become a part of Greece until 1948. From the seventies the island saw the influx of tourists that turned farms and fields into luxury hotels with swimming pools and tennis courts, overlooking white sandy beaches and turquoise seas. |
|||||||||||||
The City of Kos |
|||||||||||||
|
The city of Kos is located
on the north-east coast of the island, close
to Asia Minor, another major selling point for
the island since Bodrun is one of the most
popular and exciting destinations in Turkey
and many people choose Kos as their Greek
island destination because of it's proximity.
Due to the last earthquake much of Kos is
either ancient or modern, nevertheless it is
an attractive town with large avenues lined
with palm trees, squares shaded by platanos
and pines, and lush gardens everywhere. The
Castle of the Knights of Saint John, with it's
double wall and moat dominates the harbor. The
castle is linked by a bridge to the square
where Hippocrates Platanos tree stands where
he supposedly used to teach (though that would
make the tree well over two thousand years
old, a long time even for a Platanos). Across
the street is the Mosque of Gazi Hasan and
it's minaret, from the eighteenth century,
well preserved though one must wonder what
Allah thinks about the tourist shops on the
ground floor. South of the harbor are the
ruins of the ancient agora with the restored
columns of the 4th Century BC Temple of
Aphrodite. Further south down Vasileos Pavlou
street are the Casa Romana, a third century
Roman Villa, the ruins of the Temple of
Dionysos, the third century mosaics from the
House of Europa and the restored third century
Odeon. The Archaeological Museum is in Platia
Eleftherias, the attractive main square which
borders the ancient agora on Vassileos Pavlou
about two blocks up from the harbor road of
Akti Kountouroti. |
|||||||||||||
Around the Island of Kos |
|||||||||||||
|
Most of the beaches close
to Kos town were the crowded, 'beach chair and
umbrellas' variety. With the slowdown in the
island's tourism it remains to be seen how
crowded they will be but it is likely they
won't be too bad and perhaps satisfying to
those who don't want to be overwhelmed by
crowds but still like to do a little
people-watching with their bathing. Lampi
beach is the closest good quality beach, about
four kilometers north of the city. Beyond that
is Tigaki which is long, sandy and great for
windsurfing and Marmari which is a little less
crowded. West of town are the beaches of
Psalidi, Agios Fokas and Thermes with it's hot
medicinal springs for treating rheumatism and
arthritis. These hot springs flow into the sea
and make it warmer than other beaches on the
island. |
|||||||||||||
Practical Information for Travelers to Kos |
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
More Greece Sites |
|||||||||||||
Matt
Barrett's Greece Travel Guide
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
