Psará

Psará, one of Greece’s martyr islands, 54 nautical miles northwest of Chíos. It’s famous for fish (the island’s name means ‘fisherman’) and lobster

History

The Mycenaeans were here in the 13th-century BC, but same spot chosen by independence-minded Chiots wanting to escape even their relatively benign Turkish rule.

They knew this remote rock was largely neglected by the Sultan and over the years developed one of Greece’s most important commercial fleets, rivalled only by Hýdra and Spétses.

And like those two islands, Psará enthusiastically contributed its ships and captains (including two admirals and future Prime Ministers, Admiral Konstantinos Kanáris and Dimitrios Papanikolis), into the Greek War for Independence, especially after the 1822 massacre on Chíos; Psará’s population, until then around 6000, swelled to some 25,000