History
Once upon a time, nymphs lived in the forests and near the sources of Kea, because at that time Ydroussa (as Kea was called then) had a humid climate, dense vegetation and a lot of water that the nymphs loved.
One day, a lion appeared and it began to chase the nymphs. The nymphs left and then the most brilliant star of the vault of heaven, Sirius, burned with his horrible rays the ground of Ydroussa and all the other cycladic Islands.
The island suffered from the drought and the residents desperately asked the demigod Aristeos from Thessaly, who was the son of Apollo and the nymph Kyrini, for help.
Aristeos, head of the Arcadians came to Kea and offered sacrifices to honour Ikmeos Zeus, god of rain. The gods were satisfied, and the drought began to decrease. Since then and every year, northern winds blow (meltemia as they are called), during the 40-day period that the constellation Megalos Kynos, in which Sirius belongs, shines.
Aristeos settled down in Ydroussa. He taught the inhabitants of the island agriculture, livestock-farming, apiculture and placed the bases of religious doctrines.
The hero Keos, son of Apollo and nymph Rodoessi,came to Ydroussa.
Keos was the leader of the Lokri, people who lived in Nafpaktos. The Lokri occupied Ydroussa which was later named Kea, probably after the name of their leader.
The first settlers of the Neolithic age selected rocky elevations near the coast in order to be able to oversee the sea and the land. The discoveries that were made in the first settlement, located at the cape Kefalas, show the cultural interactions of Kea with continental Greece, and they bring the Cycladic culture to light.
The settlement was founded during the final Neolithic period (3.300 BC), in the homonymous cape, at the north-western coast of the island.
At the foot of the same hill the cemetery of the settlement was established. This location remained inhabited for roughly one century.
The inhabitants of Kefalas, who were farmers and fishermen, began to develop metallurgy. The copper age was in the threshold of history.
Our knowledge on Kea during the copper age is based mainly on the excavations that took place at the cape of Aghia Irini, located near Kefalas.
From the copper age until the end of the Mycenaean years, the settlement of Aghia Irini, left its mark in the history and the precocious culture of the Aegean Sea. During the 16th century, when the settlement became a node of communication between the Minoan and the newly-born Mycenaean world, Aghia Irini turned into a Cretan-Mycenaean centre. The location of the island, in combination with the safety of its harbour, contributed in the economic and social blossoming. From the discoveries that were made, water supply construction and other great works of Mycenaean type as well as elaborate decorations in the works of art can be seen.
The city was destroyed by a powerful earthquake around 1450 BC.
 |
In the archaic years (7th - 6th century BC), Kea flourished greatly as a colony of the Ions . Four independent and strong economically and culturally cities are founded: Ioulis, Karthea, Piiesa and Korissos.
Except from Pisses, each city cut their own coins.
All the cities were surrounded by walls, while towers were built in exceptional points to monitor the region. A dense network of roads connects the city-states between them but also the capital cities with their states
Each city had a separate administrative and political structure but at the level of exterior policy, they usually collaborated. Assemblies, called from the Municipalities, were carried out, and the citizens were given the first word.
|
The contribution of Kea to history and art.
Kea was famous for its political system and studied by the great philosopher Aristotle. His manuscript "Keon Politia", that discusses the exemplary organization of Kea could not be rescued apart from an extract.
The legislator Aristides, one of the seven wise men of ancient times, originated from Kea and he became eminent in the whole of Greece for the strict and model laws that he established. One of the laws was the "Keon to nomimon".
According to this law, people who passed the 70th year of age were self-poisoned. The citizen was allowed to die since his intellectual and bodily powers could not be beneficial to the state. When this happened, the citizen had to explain to the governors of the state the reasons of his decision and then he was given the authorisation to commit suicide. Then, the citizen surrounded by his fellow-citizens, as if it was a familial feast and as if he executed his breastbone duty, willingly committed suicide by drinking “konio”, from the known plant Mandragora.
This custom disappeared when Christianity prevailed at the 3rd century BC.
The ancient Keans held unique records in sports. 69 Kean athletes are reported victorious at the Isthmian, Nemean and Olympic games and they were praised by the Kean poets.
Simonidis from Kea was one of the first intellectuals of the ancient society, (556 BC-468 BC) and constitutes a characteristic sample of a spiritual person.
From his poems, only some extracts have survived to our time and he is the first poet who has written poems for ordering and payment.
The poet Vakhilidis, who was a nephew of Simonidis, was one of the most renowned and important lyric poets of ancient Greece.
The intellectual life of the island has shown great personalities apart from the poets, such as the sophists Thiramenis and Xenomidis, the famous doctor Eristratos, the philosophers Pythaklidis who served as a teacher of Pericles, Prodikos who was the teacher of Thucydides, Euripides and Isocrates, Ariston and others
|
Since the founding of the Byzantine empire, Kea was included in the province of Greece and was under the sovereignty of the East Roman state. During the period of Roman domination, the autonomous and socio-political operation of the four cities stops. Ioulida becomes the only political centre of island. One of the Venetian sovereigns built the castle of the island in the place of the acropolis of ancient Ioulida. During the dynasty of Justinian and Venetians(1207- 1566), Kea was conquered successively from various dynasts: Valetians , Michelins, Bartholomeans, Gozadines etc.
During this period, Kea becomes a den of pirates and it suffered 3,5 centuries of raids and pillages, the result being a decrease in population which in the 1470 is calculated to be 200 residents.
Names of places, written sources and temples(Aghia Anna and Episkoi near Ioulida, Aghioi Apostoloi in Katomeria and Aghios Panteleimonas in Ellinika) testify the Byzantine inhabitancy on the island.
When the Venetian dynasty ended, Kea was included in the kingdom of Naxos and Dodekanisa until being conquered from the Ottoman empire.
The Keans felt exhausted that during the centuries they were serfs but maintained the humanism and their national conscience.
|
The Venetian domination was succeeded by the Ottoman. Turks were interested only to collect taxes. The Kean community was controlled by the elected potentates and delegates. They were in charge for the management of public affairs and the collection of taxes on behalf of the High Gate. The population in the bigger part lived scattered in the countryside.
Around 1780 Lampros Katsonis puts together his own fleet and appoints his base of operations on the island.
With his daring action, 30 years before the revolution of 1821, he drove high the hopes of freedom.
Members of the Friendly Ally were initiated on Kea, such as Andreas Sofianos, Gerasimos Pagalos and others.
Kea, after receiving independence has shown growth and traffics and exports the main products of the island which are acorn and barley.