Hydra island a barren, rocky island has become a cosmopolitan artists's centre in recent years. For artists and art lovers generally, Ydra is both meeting place and showplace.The galleries scattered throughout the port offer somethink more than carefree relaxion by the sea. The town which is the centre of the whole island, is built amphitheatrically, around the port. It looks glamorous like an art-paint, with grey, white and blue colours above the blue of the sea, an exemplar of architectonics and aesthetics. Right and left from the entrance of the port, there are the parapets with the canons, which protected the city. On the island you will enjoy romantic walk in the narrows, graphical, paved alleys. Generally, Hydra is famous for the calm life is offers to the visitors in the day, but also for the intense, cosmopolitan life, in the night. Bar, pub, disco, with foreign-Greek music and reverly till the morning. Hydra is one of my favorite little ports to visit. Combine it with a trip to other Saronic Gulf Islands, and you'll have yourself a nice couple of days vacation. Hydra Town claims to have 365 churches. You might want to visit the 18th-century Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on the waterfront, which gets much of its charm from it's marble building blocks scavenged from the Temple of Poseidon on nearby Poros. I like to just pick a dusty taverna in the center of town, get a plate of olives and a glass of retsina and stare out at the sea. It's not that I'm all that fond of retsina, but drinking it is one of those rituals I need to get my bearings and convince myself I'm finally in Greece. With an area of 48 square kilometers populated by 2,800 inhabitants the islanders believe that the name Hydra came about through the once ample drinking water fountains found on the island. Once inhabited by the Driopian shepherds whose ruins can still be found in the Episkopi area gradually became barren due to a large fire that destroyed the forests that were once abundant. Threatened by Turkish persecution during the 15th century many Greek refugees fled to the island in search for shelter. Due to Hydra been barren, the islander's became a dominant force of the sea in an effort to substitute the limited land resources. Its navigational strength soon led the island to be characterized as a 'small England'. So mighty was the island's strength that during the Greek Revolution for Independence in 1821, Hydra's fleet amounted to 130 battle ships measuring at the time to two thirds of the total Greek fleet. Since Greek independence, Hydra has attracted many of the elite such as artists, poets, admirals and prime ministers and continues to do so today. Hydra island is an excellent choice for those seeking to venture into something typically Greek, unspoiled and a haven for those "seeking" explorers. The islands 18th century mansions, the landscape, the perfect sunsets, and it's narrow paths that lead into the outskirts of the town and its well maintained and traditional architecture are only a few reasons for the island being renowned as an 'Artists Hideout'. Its maze of narrow paths will make you anxiously wonder what will be revealed at the opening around every corner.. |
