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Hydra island3/2/2023 ![]() ![]() It is also a popular yachting destination. Its busy but quaint harbor bobbing with rustic fishing boats and luxury yachts is surrounded by a ring of rocky hills and blanketed with whitewashed homes. It features plenty of bays and natural harbors. The islands main town, also called Hydra, is one of Greeces prettiest. Public transportation is via water taxis. On Hydra Island motorcycles and cars are forbidden. Passenger ferries run between Hydra and Metochi (Peloponnese / mainland Greece). Regularly scheduled hydrofoils from Piraeus serve Hydra as the second port of call (after Poros Island and followed by Spetses Island). The island is usually accessed via hydrofoils and catamarans from Piraeus-Athens (approx 70 km / 43 mi to the north). Most of the visitors are domestic (mainly from the country's capital city Athens /on mainland Greece). Most of the town's tourist attractions (galleries, shops, markets, bars, tavernas / restaurants) are located near the harbor. The island's main town Idra (aka "Hydra port") has population around 2,000. The Hydra municipality consists of Hydra Island (total area 52 km2 / 20 mi2), Dokos Island (14 km2 / 5 mi2), plus several uninhabited smaller isles. Hydra (from the Greek word for "water") is a reference to the island's springs. Box 2009, Edmonds, WA 98020.Hydra Island is part of the Saronic Islands (Greece), located in the Aegean Sea. Rick Steves ( writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. It is unclear which of these represents Hydra Island. (' Some Like It Hoth ') Rousseaus map depicts at least 9 offshore islands. Today visitors only have to count the yachts to figure out that Hydra’s economy is still based on the sea. Hydra Island is a small island sitting off the coast of the main island.The island takes its name from the DHARMA Initiatives Hydra, located there. Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen lived here for a time-and was inspired to compose his beloved song “Bird on the Wire” after observing just that here on Hydra. Thanks largely to the film, by the 1960s Hydra had become a favorite retreat for celebrities, well-heeled tourists, and artists and writers, who still draw inspiration from the idyllic surroundings. And the movie’s plot-in which a precious ancient sculpture is at risk of falling into the hands of a greedy art collector instead of being returned to the Greek government-still resonates with today’s Greeks, who want to reclaim their heritage for the Acropolis Museum. In 1956, Sophia Loren came here to play an Hydriot sponge-diver in the film Boy on a Dolphin, propelling the little island onto an international stage. Gathering sponges kick-started the local economy and kept Hydra afloat. During those lean post-war years, Hydriots again found salvation in the sea, farming the sponges that lived below the surface (sponge-divers here pioneered the use of diving suits). Greece won its independence, but at a great cost to Hydra, which lost many of its merchant-turned-military ships to the nding the island into a deep economic funk. Hydriots of note from this period include the naval officer Andreas Miaoulis, who led the “firebrands” and their deadly “fireships,” which succeeded in decimating the Ottoman navy and Lazaros Kountouriotis, a wealthy shipping magnate who donated his fleet to the cause. The harbor, with its twin forts and plenty of cannon, housed and protected the fleet of 130 ships. When the Greeks launched their War of Independence in 1821, Hydra emerged as a leading naval power. Hydra’s prosperity earned it the nickname “Little England.” As rebellion swept Greece, the island flourished as a safe haven for those fleeing Ottoman oppression. Hydra enjoyed its glory days in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when the island was famous for its shipbuilders. Many Hydriot merchants became wealthy running the British blockade of French ports during the Napoleonic Wars. ![]() The fate of Hydriots has always been tied to the sea, which locals have harnessed to their advantage time after time. ![]() While it seems tiny and low-key, overachieving Hydra holds a privileged place in Greek history. ![]()
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