Meis, Megisti or Kastellorizo

Kastellorizo harbour, Greece

The tiny Greek island of Megisti also known as Kastellorizo, and known in Turkish as Meis, lies just a couple of kilometres off the Turkish coast opposite Kas. Only 9 square kilometres in area, it has just one village and a population of 430. So there’s not a lot going on there, but that no doubt accounts for its unspoiled charm.

Megisti village extends around a U-shaped natural harbour. The walls of the two storey red-roofed houses are all pastel shades of blues, yellows and greens; either that or muted shades of peeling plaster. Add to this shuttered windows, brightly painted doors and wooden balconies, all in neo-classical lines, and you have a very pretty, yet almost unreal, scene: a place where time has stood still.

And yet, believe it or not, this sleepy little place has had a turbulent history – one which, paradoxically, partly explains its present stillness.

But more about its history in a minute.

Boat trip from Kas:

A boat for Meis leaves Kas harbour every day at 10 a.m. and returns around 1.30 p.m. The one way trip takes approximately half an hour. It’s worth booking by phone beforehand, though recently Selo, the proprietor of the ‘Altug Meis Shipping Line,’ has acquired a very large boat with a seating capacity of 140 to replace his two small wooden gulets. The name of his company suitably reflects its expanded capacity. So perhaps no need really to book ahead of time.

Boat at the quayside, Meis harbour

The Altug office is on the road that runs parallel to the harbour front in Kas, and you should aim to get there half an hour before departure time. Here you will be asked for your passport, which will be returned to you on your return from the island. As many of the passengers will be foreign residents going on a routine run to Meis to renew their Turkish visas, you will be asked if that is the purpose of your visit, in which case you would have to pay an additional 15 Euros visa fee. However, as a tourist visa allows for multiple exits and entries within a three month period, this will not apply to you. The current boat fare is 40 lira.

Things to do in Meis:

The Altug boat trip gives you three hours on the island, which you may wish to spend simply wandering along the water front, having a beer or meal at one of the harbour bars or restaurants, buying a bottle at the Duty Free, i.e. having an idle time in a pleasantly idle environment. There are however a few alternatives that could be fitted in.

Museum: The two-storey museum is located next to the castle ruins overlooking the entry to the harbour. The ground floor, which dates back to the time of the Knights of St. John who built the castle, houses various items associated with the sea – stone anchor, amphorae from the sea bed, an old style diving suit, and in another room some early Christian sculptures.

The second floor houses the main collection including Lycian sculptures and inscriptions, storage jars, potsherds, and a marble torso of Hygieia the goddess of health. Other sections contain items from the Byzantine period and more recent folk history material such as traditional costumes and craft items.

All in all, it is well worth a visit.

Lycian tomb, Meis / Megisti

Lycian Tomb: There’s a beautifully preserved Lycian tomb carved out of the rock not far from the museum. To find it, take the walkway by the museum that immediately overlooks the sea. The stepped path leading up to the tomb is signposted, with the information that it dates back to the 4th century BC.

Stepped path up the mountain: For a spectacular view of the harbour and a bit of exercise, a quick climb up the cliffs overlooking the town is recommended. Don’t worry, there are steps, plenty of them – 400 or so to be more precise. The start is easy to find as you can see the steps zig-zagging up the mountain from the harbour.

Stepped path overlooking Kastellorizo harbour

It’s pretty rocky and barren at the top. If you follow the path for a bit you’ll come to a ruined monastery. If you continue on from there, you’ll eventually end up at the island’s tiny airport. But that’s rather a long walk if you’re only on the island for a few hours.

Castle of the Knights of St John:

Though the castle is associated primarily with the Crusader Order of the Hospitallers, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, who took control of the island in 1306, the castle they built was certainly not the first on the site, nor was it the last. The history of the castle, and indeed of the island, is one of repeated change and always of a violent kind.

A rough outline of the complex history of Kastellorizo:

To begin at the beginning (excluding Minoan and neolithic times): There are defensive walls in the west of the island which date back to Mycenaean times, the Bronze Age civilization that lasted from around 1900 B.C. to 1100 B.C. The Lycians were also here, as a 4th century tomb below the castle testifies.

Then there were the Dorians, one of the three main Hellenic groups (the others being the Ionians and the Aeoleans) who took over from the Myceneans and who settled the Dodacanese islands, including Megisiti. It was the Dorians in fact who gave the island its ancient name, Megisti.

Next come the Romans, who took control of the island along with much of Asia Minor sometime during the century preceding the Christian era.Then, with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 360 A.D., and the later split in the Roman empire between Rome and Constantinople, we enter the Byzantine era – during which time the island took on the Latinate name of Kastellorizo.

All these peoples and powers had a presence on this tiny island well before the Knights Hospitaller came along. And no doubt all had defences overlooking the harbour, as it was the harbour – said to be the finest natural harbour in the Mediterranean – that gave the island strategic military and trade importance.

The Crusading Order of the Knights of St John, known as the Hospitallers, gained control of Rhodes in 1309 on their expulsion from Jerusalem. It was around that time that they also took over Megisti and built their castle. With Rhodes as their capital, the Hospitallers set up their own mini state and used Megisti Island as a place of exile and punishment for misbehaving monks. (For more on the Hospitallers, see the page on Kekova.)

From then on, the history of the island gets even more confusing. In 1440 Jelal-el-Din with a fleet of Egyptian galleys captured the island, destroying the castle in the process, and shipped off its inhabitants as slaves. During the latter part of the same century it changed hands between the King of Naples (who rebuilt the castle) and the Turks a couple of times. Then in 1512, the Spaniards took it over only to be replaced some 50 years later by the Venetians who in turn lost it to the Turks in 1635. But then the Venetians got it back again in 1659, hammering the castle yet another time.

And so it goes on.

(To be continued)

Photo Gallery:

Here’s a collection of photos of Meis / Kastellorizo. Most of these photos were taken outside the summer season. In summer, the harbour front is a lot more lively than seen here. To see the descriptions of the photos, hover your mouse over ‘Notes’, bottom right.

Related posts:

1. Day trip from Kalkan to Kekova Island