Poros
Greek island-pair with ancient sanctuary and revolutionary naval base.
Poros is a small Greek island-pair in the southern Saronic Gulf, about 58 km south of Piraeus, separated from the Peloponnese by a 200 m wide channel. It consists of two islands: Sphaeria, of volcanic origin, and Kalaureia (also Kalavria or Calauria), the larger northern part. The island has a rich history from the Early Bronze Age through antiquity, the Venetian and Ottoman periods, and the Greek Revolution, and is a popular weekend destination for Athenian travelers.
- location
- Saronic Gulf, Greece
- area
- 31 square km (land area of municipality 49.582 sq km)
- population
- 3,261 (2021)
- ancient_name
- Pogon
- highest_point
- Vigla (358 m)
- main_islands
- Sphaeria and Kalaureia
- notable_feature
- Sanctuary of Poseidon (circa 520 BC)
Lore & Background
Poros was divided into two islands in antiquity: Sphairia and Calauria. During the Mycenaean period (1400-1100 BC), Calauria was powerful and hosted a naval base on islet Monti or Liontari. The city-state of Calauria was home to an asylum dedicated to Poseidon, the ruins of which remain on a hilltop. Ancient historians claimed this was the center of an amphictyony (the 'Calaurian League') involving Athens, Aegina, and other states, but modern archaeology has found no evidence for its actual existence, suggesting it was a later Hellenistic invention. An enormous feast and a plaque celebrating the 'revival' of the amphictyony were found dating to the Hellenistic period.
Reader's Guide
Poros holds significance as a site of continuous habitation from the Early Bronze Age, with ruins at Kavos Vasili being the oldest in the wider Trizinia area. Its Sanctuary of Poseidon, excavated by Swedish archaeologists starting in 1894, is a key archaeological site. During the Greek Revolution, Poros hosted the first Greek naval base (1828-1878) and was the meeting place in September 1828 for ambassadors of England, France, and Russia with Ioannis Kapodistrias to determine the borders of the future Greek state. The island also housed a Russian naval base established after the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, later requisitioned by Governor Capodistrias for the Greek navy; its ruins were listed as protected architectural monuments in 1989. Poros limestone was used in Mycenaean tholos tombs, including the Tomb of Aegisthus at Mycenae.
Did You Know?
- The ancient name of Poros was Pogon.
- Poros limestone was used in the construction of Mycenaean tholos tombs, including the Tomb of Aegisthus.
- The first Swedish archaeological campaign in Greece was the 1894 excavation of the Sanctuary of Poseidon on Poros.
- In 273 BC, the last explosion of the Methana volcano dramatically changed the morphology of Poros and the wider region.
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