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Leros
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To avoid the 11 hour ferry ride required to reach the island by sea, we advise you to take one of the flights that now connect it to Athens every day; despite all this small island remains a quiet place and little frequented by tourists even in high season, this depends on the presence of numerous military barracks and that of a large psychiatric hospital which have overshadowed its image as a vacation spot.
Its beaches are perhaps not among the most beautiful in the archipelago but even here it is possible to admire pleasant little corners and suggestive landscapes.
In the eastern part of the isthmus that divides the island into two parts, there is the capital actually made up of two small towns: Agia Marina and Platanos where there is a castle of medieval origin but partly rebuilt in the 16th century by the Knights of Rhodes.
In an inlet on the western coast is Kaki, a small natural port among the safest in the whole Aegean Sea; for this reason in 1937 this small port became the naval base of the Italian occupation troops. From this port you can take a boat to take a trip to the small and beautiful island of Lipsi, with its small fishing village and beautiful beaches, another peaceful and unspoilt place in this archipelago.
How to get there
In summer, there is a daily flight from Athens to Leros airport. The ferries from Athens are daily or almost daily, and make the journey at night and then continue to the other large islands of the Dodecanese.
History
In ancient times the island of Leros participated, together with the island of Kalymnos, in the war of Troy and the Peloponnese. The development of trade, ports and navigation always allowed the island to maintain its self-sufficiency, even under the Romans.
The island was tormented by pirate raids throughout the Middle Ages. Leros too was, like the other islands of the Dodecanese, governed by the Knights of St. John. The Knights fled to Malta after the attack of the Sultan Solimeno, who occupied the Dodecanese islands with 400 ships. The island of Leros freed itself from the dependence of the sultan, albeit for a short time, thanks to a revolt in 1821.
Leros Beaches
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