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Megalo Chorio :
It extends at the foot of the hill where the fortress is built,
below the ruins of the old village, abandoned little by little
at the beginning of the 19th century when the danger of the
pirates diminished and the dwellers took the liberty to descend
downhill. The capital town of the island preserves numerous
elements of the traditional architecture.
Its stone-houses are densely built around the church of Taxiarchis.
Its name (literally meaning big village) is first mentioned
in Turkish documents of 1620 and is probably due to the big
plain extending as far as the bay of Eristos, the ancient harbor.
Megalo Chorio has 160 inhabitants. It is situated 7 km to the
NW of the port, Livadia.
Livadia :
In 1930, the people of Mikro Chorio settled in the port of the
island. The houses are built in the inlet of a big bay and extend
over a small but fertile valley. You can notice the building
that houses both the police and the port authorities. If you
follow the coastal road you get to the medieval port of the
island, the harbor of Aghios Stefanos, with the lighthouse.
A little further, at a distance of 2.5 km, you find the rural
settlement Ghera and a spring known as: "tou Despoti to
nero". 110 people live in Livadia situated 7 km to the
SE of Megalo Chorio, the capital town.
The picturesque fishermen' settlement of Aghios Andonios is
2 km to the NW. Its port is a haven for fishing and leisure
boats. The beach is dominated by the mill and the little church
of Aghios Andonios.
Mikro Chorio is 3km to the NW. It was completely abandoned
by its inhabitants in 1960 as they chose to settle in Livadia.
Mikro Chorio was inhabited from the epoch of the Knights of
Saint John (15th century). The ruins of a small fortress-observatory
are preserved as well as the ruins of its stone-houses that
were once built in full harmony with the landscape around.
Ghera is a settlement of farmers, 2.5 km away from Aghios
Stefanos. The stone-houses are organized into a well ordered
complex, near a spring where in the past one could find crabs.
OTHER ISLETS IN THE AREA
In the NW the islet of Ghaidaros and in the SE the islet
of Antitilos.
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