by It was on a visit to Ikaria, the island where Icarus was born in the sea, that I first saw the Fourni Islands. I was standing on a promontory near the Drakon Tower, built over two thousand years ago by the Athenians and the Delian league to protect these Aegean waters from the Persian threat.
The tower was tall and honey colored with a great view, looking east towards the rising sun. Below me on a small outcrop, I could see the small Greek Orthodox church of Agios Giorgiou, and below that a beach of the same name, with Immaculate turquoise and translucent water, completely empty.
But the distant view was even more enticing. There was an open line of sight up through and into the wild islands of the much smaller Fourni, a scattered archipelago that had been used by pirates for centuries; a place I had heard of but, like so many Greek islands, had never been to. Now I could see the little port of Fourni Korseon in the middle, whose white houses glistened in the sun.
I knew a little of the terrible history of these islands; as they were used for centuries by groups of French corsairs, Maltese adventurers and Arab speedboats to raid the more settled neighboring islands.
So much so that villages were built high up from the shore on Ikaria, with caves to retreat to until the Fourni pirates raided. There was even a rule that no Ikarians were allowed to have dogs for fear of passing pirates hearing them sailing by and coming to investigate.
When I finally had a chance to visit them, they were even more attractive than I suspected. Located at the northern end of the Dodecanese, not far from the Turkish coast, this whole area is less visited than Rhodes or Kos to the south – or even nearby Patmos, which every summer sees its population increase by ten, with the help of a celebrity. visitors such as Julia Roberts and William Dalrymple.
The Fourni archipelago consists of three large islands: Fourni itself, where most visitors base themselves, Agios Minas and Thymaina – and 10 other beautiful small islands. One is listed as having a population of three shepherds and an unspecified number of goats. The main island only got electricity in 1969, and today there are around 1,200 people on the whole island.
Although there are stories of €70 sunbeds on Mykonos, there is not one to rent here – although some are free at beach bars if you buy a drink – and instead the rare and happy feeling that the population local even higher than summer visitors. . It’s everything you could want from a Greek island experience, but few people come here for what, in a legend among English visitors (who will hate me for publicizing the place) than “Furni-cation”.
The small harbor port of Fourni Korseon has one of everything: a baker, post office and candle maker, or equivalent, a small shop selling beeswax and honey, and delicious homemade pesto. Some of the cheapest fruit and vegetables I’ve found in Greece are for those who are self-catering (most rental rooms have a simple two-pan stove).
This can be supplemented with pleasant foraging: wild thyme and fennel to flavor orzottos; and plenty of ripe prickly pears to pick from cacti, delicious cooled and scooped from the shell. Be careful not to touch the skin – the prickles tend to stay and are too small to remove easily. Yes, I speak from experience.
There are a few cafes on the seafront – lobster is a local specialty – and a pleasant tree-lined street leads back to a small square. Walk that way and plenty of cats will give you the eye and the locals will greet you with “kalimera”. A handsome marble sarcophagus from classical times stands next to one of the most exuberant bars.
The Greeks have a casual view of their past, partly because they have so much of it. The church above the harbor is built on the foundations of what was once a classical acropolis, not as any sign will tell you if you visit.
Prices are much lower than on the fake islands. It costs half as much as Kos or Zante to hire a scooter – the perfect way to get around. And a scooter, or a car if a family, is ideal for exploring the island as there is only one taxi and George, the driver, is a busy man.
It may also be necessary. There is a reason that Odysseus and his fellow Greeks were blown to pieces when they tried to cross the Dodecanese on the way back from Troy. There is a lot of wind. But Fourni has the advantage of several islands that there are always sheltered beaches on either side: from Kamari with its wonderful little taverna – the center for shipwreck investigations – to Vlyhada in the south, often empty except for a few goats. , with a strip of perfect sand and some tamarisk trees for shade.
The same strong winds may have caused all the sailing accidents over thousands of years. In terms of shipwreck investigations there has been a faster pace in recent years when it was noticed that there are more wrecks around the Fournis than anywhere else in the Aegean.
Diving archaeologists found 23 amazing wrecks of ancient vessels at a rate of almost one per day when they explored these waters in 2016; it is assumed that there are still many more on the seabed. The earliest date to around 525 BC, while others span the classical to medieval period.
Tensions arose when the Greek authorities – the brilliantly named “Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities” – declared an extensive archaeological zone around the shore, making it impossible for local fishermen to go there. As almost every family has a boat and the islanders define themselves by their relationship with the sea, this was not very popular.
That’s not to say the locals aren’t proud of their pirates. In fact, some might say they were obsessed. In almost every house or restaurant, you will see ancient amphorae on display that were caught by local fishermen in their nets.
Archaeologists have been able to use the amphorae recovered from shipwrecks to analyze what was being traded – or taken: garum, the fermented fish sauce that the Romans loved so much, as well as oil shipments olive and wine so the pirates must often have been rich from their own. spoils.
An old man in a cafe tells me that he and his friends often went in search of the pirate gold that is supposed to be hidden somewhere on the island. He was also proud of his cosmopolitan nature: “We didn’t just have Greek pirates. We had pirates from France, Turkey, Malta, Africa – they all established themselves here! We probably also had the odd pirate from England.”
The islands are famous for the wild thyme that gives such a strong flavor to their honey. One of the pleasures of walking over the hills is the way the thyme and oregano give off their scent when brushed against.
On my last day on the Fournis, I was very fragrant by the time I walked over the maquis of laurel and laurel to a promontory in the south, from which I could make out only the tantalizing silhouette of Agathonisi double-supported in the evening sunlight. I had heard that there were even fewer visits, only one pub and a handful of “sugar-cube” pension houses; only one ferry a week went there. In Greece, there is always another island to explore.
Fundamentals
Fly to either Kos or Mykonos from the UK with Easyjet, and take a ferry via Ikaria, using Ferryhopper (ferryhopper.com).
There are fast ferries from Athens to Ikaria if you want to combine a visit to the Greek capital, as well as direct flights to Ikaria from Athens with Olympic Air (olympicair.com) or Sky Express (skyexpress.gr).
Accommodation in the various hotels on the quay costs around €40 per night on average per room and scooters can be hired from €12-15 per day.
