Hydra-Dokos

Hydra is located between the Saronic and Argolic Gulfs, it is 4 nautical miles from the coast of the Argolid and about 38 miles from Piraeus, while it has a rich maritime tradition, inversely proportional to its geographical area .

Τhe archaeological finds at various sites in Hydra demonstrate that the island played an important role in maritime communication and trade until the Late Bronze Age . However, in the following Iron Age, as well as the Byzantine period, the rather sparsely populated and barren Hydra mostly fell into obscurity, being used from time to time as a pirate base .

After the relentless advance of the Ottomans in the 15th and 16th centuries, populations from the Greek mainland fled to the island and gradually turned to shipping in order to survive . In 1657, the first ship was built in Hydra and many more were to follow, as the Hydra people had greatly developed shipbuilding by the advent of the Industrialization era . With the Russo-Turkish treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in 1774, Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire acquired the rights to build ships of large displacement, freely navigate in the Black Sea and use the Russian flag on their ships . A few decades later, the Napoleonic Wars offered new opportunities, as daring Greek sailors would break the British blockade of French-controlled European ports . At that time, Hydra’s merchant fleet numbering at least 150 ships, was the largest among the Greek seaports and had brought enormous wealth to the small island .

This fleet was easily converted into a war fleet during the 1821 Revolution and its action was of decisive importance . Skilled sailors and their ships took part in numerous naval battles and operations, and many rose to prominence . Andreas Miaoulis, Anastasios Tsamados, Iakovos Tombazis, Georgios Sahktouris, Lazaros Kountouriotis and Andreas Pipi-

The statue of Andreas Miaoulis overlooking the port of Hydra (photo credit: Trevor Lancon)

nos are some of the most noteworthy examples . Also, the financial contribution of the well-to-do Hydraians to the national liberation struggle was very important .

Despite the gradual decline of merchant shipping and the emergence of new seaports in the Greek State, the Hydraians did not stop dealing with maritime trade and fishing, while they also turned to the sponge industry, whereby they acquired a considerable fleet, especially during 1920-1940 .

An important element of local maritime tradition is the Hydra Merchant Marine Academy, the oldest maritime school in the country . It was established in 1749 as a school accommodated in the precincts of the Agios Vasileios church . From around 1800, it operated under the supervision of the island’s Demogerontia as the Hydra Naval School, where naval theory and practice, as well as foreign languages, were taught, producing a significant number of qualified personnel, who were also to contribute to the fighting value of the Hydra fleet during

the Greek Revolution . In 1927 it came under the care of the Hydra Seamen’s Union and operated as a private institution, but in 1930 it became stateowned under the name “Hydra Merchant Marine School” . Since then, it has been housed in buildings that belonged to the Hydra ship owners and captains Anastasios Tsamados and Athanasios Koulouras, while more than 3,200 officers have so far graduated from it . Today there are about 150 students, both men and women . Naturally, Hydra’s maritime history occupies a prominent place in the island’s museums and monuments . For example, in the Historical Archive-Museum of Hydra are exhibited ship prows, nautical charts and documents, paintings with depictions of Hydra ships and portraits of ship owners and captains, while various maritime relics are located in the Annex of the National-Historical Museum “Lazaros Kountouriotis”, which is housed in the former Old canons in the port of Hydra home of the famous Hydraian notable . Apart from the imposing traditional houses of (photo credit: the Hydra shipwrights, the lighthouses of the area Bradley Griffin) are also worth mentioning . The lighthouse in Zour-

va, erected in 1883, is located on a rocky site inaccessible by land . It was destroyed by the Germans in World War II and rebuilt in 1946 . Its tower is square, 10 metres high with a a focal height of 36 metres . Also, the Dokos lighthouse was originally built in 1923, but suffered major damage in 1941 and was essentially rebuilt in 1945; it has a 9 metres high circular tower, while its focal height is 23 metres .

Nowadays, there are several popular local events related to aspects of Hydra’s maritime history and tradition . The Miaoulia are held every June in honor of Andreas Miaoulis and last three days; they include a variety of cultural events and boat races, while culminating in the re-enactment of the victorious naval battle of Gerontas (1824) . Kountouriotia is organized every August in honor of Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis, scion of the island’s historic family, an emblematic figure of the Greek Navy and first President of the Hellenic Republic .

Under the auspices of the Municipality and the Water Nautical Club, two sailing races are held every year, which are connected to the two national anniversaries and attract a large number of boats and visitors . The “Hellenic Revival-Hydra” race takes place at the end of March and the “Hydra” race at the end of October; both consist of two courses of 36 nautical miles, from Faliro to Hydra and back .

Finally, the annual Hydra Maritime Conference is organized by the Hydra Brotherhood of Athens and attended by members of the Greek maritime community, executives of shipping and related companies, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy, with the aim of exchanging views on the course of the of Greek shipping . Although the modern economy of Hydra is based primarily on tourism, some of its inhabitants are engaged in fishing . The island, the port of which is used by 49 professional fishing boats, features a professional fishing association and two fishing harbors . [DK]

Although almost uninhabited today, the small island named Dokos is located in the narrow passage between Hydra and Hermione .The earliest human presence dates back to the Neolithic era . It is a

The Hydra Merchant Marine Academy

rocky, mountainous island with few water sources . Nevertheless, habitation in Dokos intensified during the Early Helladic period as a result of its strategic location on the sea routes connecting the Saronic with the Argolic Gulf and the Argolic coast with the Cyclades, and its consequent involvement, through seafaring, in exchange networks that developed in the area during the 3rd millennium . A typical example of this maritime mobility is the shipwreck that was found in 1975, at the bottom of Skidos Bay, in the north-eastern part of the island . The excavation of the remains, which was the first systematic underwater investigation of an ancient shipwreck in Greece (1989-1992), brought to light two stone anchors and large quantities of pottery and tools, but the remains of the ship itself could not be located . According to the archaeological finds, the shipwreck dates back to around 2200 BC and they clearly indicate that it was a merchant ship, carrying goods . Among them were blades and cores of Melian obsidian, the much sought-after stone throughout the course of prehistory in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterrane-

an . The area of the shipwreck is today a declared marine archaeological site and is protected by the relevant legislation, while the entire Skidos Bay is a popular summer anchorage for recreation boats . Pausanias (2, 34, 10) mentions Dokos as “Aperopia”, which means the one that looks towards infinity, a name that apparently arose from the view that can be enjoyed at the highest points of the island . It was probably named “Dokos” during the Byzantine era, as it was a passage for Hydra and nearby Hermione . During the Revolution of 1821, the island was used as a winter anchorage for Greek warships, while in recent years it was sporadically inhabited by shepherds, loggers, fishermen and quarrtymen, as Dokos has marble deposits . In addition, in the sheltered anchorages of the northern coast, sponge ships were also wintering . In 1923, the lighthouse of Dokos was built on a hill in the south-eastern part of the island . It is made of local marble, its tower is 9 metres high, while its View of Dokos focal height is 23 . [AL]

Right: "Marin d' Hydra" (Belle 1881, 7)