Elafonisi
| Native name: Ελαφονήσι | |
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Southeastern coast of Elafonisi
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 Elafonisi (Greece)
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Archipelago | Cretan Islands |
| Area | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
| Country | |
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Greece
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| Region | Crete |
| Regional unit | Chania |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 (as of 2001) |
| Vehicle registration | ΧΝ |
Elafonisi (Greek: Ελαφονήσι [elafoˈnisi] "deer island") is an island located close to the southwestern corner of the Mediterranean island of Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the regional unit of Chania. When the weather is fine it is possible to walk to the island through the shallow water. The island is a protected nature reserve.
Contents
Greek War of Independence
At the highest point on the island there is a plaque that commemorates a tragic event. On Easter Sunday of 24 April 1824 several hundred Greeks, mostly women and children, were killed on Elafonisi by Ottoman soldiers. To avoid advancing Turkish Ottoman troops, forty armed men had taken refuge on the island with women, children and old folk where they were waiting for a ship to take them to the Ionian Islands. The Ottoman soldiers had decided to camp on the beach opposite the island. One of their horses walked along the shallow water to the island and the people hiding on the island were discovered. According to several sources there were between 640 and 850 people in total, most of whom were killed and the remaining survivors were sold into slavery in Egypt.[1][2][3]
Shipwreck of the Imperatrix
A large wooden cross commemorates a shipwreck from 22 February 1907. It was an Österreichischer Lloyd passenger steamer, called the Imperatrix. Due to strong northwest winds 38 people died in a lifeboat that tried to reach the shore. They were all buried on the island. The Imperatrix still lies on the seabed in front of the island's cliffs and was the reason that a lighthouse was built on an island hilltop.[4]
The lighthouse was destroyed during the Second World War by the occupying German troops.[5]
Monastery
On the mainland the 17th century Chrysoskalitissa Monastery is approximately 5 km (3.1 miles) from the island.
See also
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elafonisi. |
See Chania Region for maps
- Pages using deprecated map format
- Pages using deprecated coordinates format
- Articles containing Greek-language text
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Municipalities of Crete
- Populated places in Chania (regional unit)
- Castles in Greece
- Greek War of Independence
- Provinces of Greece
- Catholic titular sees in Europe
- Landforms of Chania (regional unit)
- Uninhabited islands of Crete
- Mediterranean islands
- Lighthouses in Greece
- Shipwrecks of Greece
- Protected areas of Greece
- Islands of Greece
