Native name: Γυάρος or Γιούρα | |
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 37°37′38″N24°43′12″E / 37.62722°N 24.72000°E /37.62722; 24.72000 |
| Archipelago | Cyclades |
| Area | 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 489 m (1604 ft) |
| Highest point | Mt. Gyaros |
| Administration | |
Greece | |
| Region | Southern Aegean |
| Regional unit | Syros |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 (2001) |
| Additional information | |
| Postal code | 840 00 |
| Area code | 228x0 |
| Vehicle registration | EM |
Gyaros (Greek:Γυάροςpronounced[ˈʝaros]), also locally known asGioura (Greek:Γιούρα), is anarid, unpopulated, and uninhabitedGreek island in the northernCyclades near the islands ofAndros andTinos, with an area of 23 square kilometres (9 sq mi). It is a part of the municipality ofAno Syros, which lies primarily on the island ofSyros. This and other small islands of theAegean Sea served as places of exile for important people in the earlyRoman Empire. The extremity of its desolation was proverbial among Roman authors, such asTacitus andJuvenal. The island operated as aprison island andconcentration camp forleft-wing political dissidents in Greece from 1948 until 1974. During that time, at least 22,000 people were exiled or imprisoned on the island.[1] It is an island of great ecological importance as it hosts the largest population ofmonk seals in the Mediterranean.[2]
The pseudo-Aristotelian workOn Marvellous Things Heard (25) recounts the tale that on Gyaros the mice eat iron.
In theAeneid ofVirgil, Gyaros andMykonos are said to be the two islands to which the godApollo tied the holy island ofDelos to stop its wandering over theAegean Sea.[3] In his recounting of the myth of the war betweenMinos andAegeus, the king of Athens, the poetOvid speaks of Gyaros as one island that refused to join the campaign of the Cretan king.[4]
In 29 BC, the historian and geographerStrabo had an extended stay on the island, on his way toCorinth.
In the 1st century AD,Pliny the Elder wrote in hisNatural History that the island, which had a city, was 15 miles (24 km) in circumference and lay 62 miles (100 km) fromAndros.[5] He also records that the inhabitants of Gyaros were once put to flight by (a plague of) mice.[6] The island is also mentioned by the Roman oratorCicero, and other notable Latin authors, indicating a broad awareness of Gyaros among the educated elite of the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD.[7]
The island (Latin:Gyaros or Gyara) also served as a place of exile during the earlyRoman Empire. Writing in the early 2nd century AD, theRoman historianTacitus records that, whenSilanus, theproconsul of theprovince of Asia, was accused of extortion and treason, and it had been proposed in theRoman Senate that he be exiled to Gyaros, theRoman EmperorTiberius allowed him to be sent to the nearby island ofKythnos instead, since Gyaros was "harsh and devoid of human culture" (Annales 3.68-69).[8] When confronted with another recommendation to exile a defendant to Gyaros, Tiberius once more declined, noting that the island was deficient in water, and that those granted their lives ought to be granted the means to live (4.30). The defendant was allowed to go into exile onAmorgos instead.[9] The Roman poetJuvenal, a near-contemporary of Tacitus, mentions this island twice in hisSatires: first as a place of exile for particularly vile criminals (1.73), and second as a symbol of claustrophobic imprisonment (10.170). In the second reference, Juvenal compares the restlessness ofAlexander the Great to that of a man imprisoned:
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Under emperorNero, the philosopherMusonius Rufus was found guilty for his participation in thePisonian conspiracy and was banished to Gyara.[10]
A red brick prison building held approximately 10,000 inmates between 1948 and 1953 for their participation in theGreek Resistance organizationEthniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo (EAM) or for their involvement in theGreek Civil War (1945–1949).Jehovah's Witnesses were also sentenced to exile on the island as Christianconscientious objectors.
The prison was used again by theGreek military junta during the years 1967 to 1974.
The structures on the island are decaying due to weathering and lack of maintenance. In four separate sites north of the prison building are also the ruins of camps where prisoners lived in tents, both summer and winter. Once a year, the men and women who are alive and in good health (most of them were born between the 1910s and 1930s) and who were formerly imprisoned on the island for their political views pay tribute by visiting the island and holding a ceremony in the cemetery of those who died on the island.
The Greek government used the island as a target range for theHellenic Navy until the year 2000. The island is currently off-limits to the general public except during commemorative events and approaching or fishing in close proximity is forbidden by theHellenic Coast Guard.
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