On the left is the winding road from Skala southwards, up to the main village of Hora and the Monastery of Saint John.
The port of Skala stretches around the long, narrow natural bay on the middle of the east coast of the island, and northwestwards across the narrow isthmus which joins the north of the island to the southern half (see the map of Patmos on page 1 of this travel guide). The water at port itself is 11-13 metres deep, which allows large ferries and supply ships to berth here. On the other side of the isthmus is the broad Merika Bay (Limin Mérika) with its three beaches.
The name Skala (Σκάλα) comes from the Italian word for port, Scala. Several ports around the eastern Mediterranean have this name as the result of being occupied by the Venetians and Genoese, and in the Dodecanese islands, including Patmos, due to the occupation by Italy from 1912 until the end of World War II.
Other Aegean ports formerly known as Skala include Olympiada, Macedonia, Greece (ancient Stageira) and Kuşadası, Turkey, the former Genoese colony of Scala Nuova (New Port). |
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photos and articles:
© David John |
