Psara is a small rocky island west of Chios, among the North-East Aegean islands. In 1821, together with Hydra and Spetses, it supplied one of the three great fleets of the Greek revolution. Konstantinos Kanaris came from here; with his fireships, small vessels packed with explosives, he set the Ottoman flagship ablaze off Chios in 1822, and later became prime minister.
In June 1824 a large Ottoman fleet landed on the island: most of the population was killed or enslaved, and some defenders blew themselves up in the powder magazine rather than surrender. The poet Dionysios Solomos dedicated to the destruction of Psara a short epigram, among the most famous in Greek poetry, which every Greek schoolchild knows.
Today Psara is a quiet island with a single village, the monastery of the Dormition in the north and little-visited beaches such as Kato Gialos, Lazareta and Lakka. Every year at the end of June a ceremony commemorates the destruction.
Getting there
Ferries from Chios (about 3 hours) and from the port of Lavrio, with limited frequency. There is no airport.