Megisti Tourist Attractions
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Area of island: 9 sq. km/3.5 sq. miChief place: MeyístiKastellórizo (from Italian Castelrosso, the Red Castle; Turkish Meis), also known as Meyísti (the "largest" or "greatest"), is the most easterly outpost of Greece, lying only some seven km/4.5mi off the south coast of Asia Minor (Lycia). The rocky and arid island now has only some 200 inhabitants, mostly elderly (some of them sponge divers), compared with the population of 15,000 it is said to have had about 1900. There has been a rapid decline in population since then through emigration, particularly to Australia.Archeological evidence has shown that the island was already densely populated in the Neolithic period. Its subsequent destinies were closely linked with Rhodes.An airfield opened in 1986. Regular flights and boat sailings once or twice weekly from and to Rhodes; boats to and from Kásos, Khalkí and Tílos. There is no motor traffic on the island.
Meyísti
The chief place on the island of Kastellórizo, Meyísti, a village of brightly painted houses, many of them now abandoned, lies above its sheltered harbor in the northeast of the island, dominated by a castle (13th- 16th C.) of the Knights of St John, which occupies the site of a fort of the fourth century B.C. At the foot of the castle hill is a domed Lycian tomb (fourth century B.C.). The mosque now houses a small museum.An excursion which should not be missed is to the Blue Grotto in the southeast of the island.
Museum
The Megiste Museum is housed in the Konaki, a two storey structure, parts of which were used during the Frankish occupation. The two main exhibits are the Byzantine Collection and the Folklore Collection.
Ro & Strongylí
Ro and Strongylí 5km/3mi west and 4km/2.5mi southeast of Kastellórizo are the islets of Ro and Strongylí, now uninhabited and used only for the grazing of stock.
