| Paxos
Etymology |
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The Phoenician word
"paks", which means "trapezoid", that
is to say trapezoid-shaped islands -namely the shape of
Paxoi when seen from the air- is Strabo's explanation
of how the islands came to take their name.
Another version is based on a report stating that some
of the inhabitants of the city of Paxous in Sicily where
expatriated and forced to move to Paxoi, naming the islands
after their hometown. ("Paxoi" newspaper, iss.
50/15-8-27) The Metropolitan Archbishop of Paramythia,
Athenagoras, attributes the name to the flagstones that
came out of the islands' quarries and where exported.
It's a composite of the word Pax = flag + ae or ai= islands
(flag-island).
Moustoxydis' opinion is that the name comes from the adjective
paktos -a Doric type of piktos = thick, dense. The Thesaurus
of the Greek Language by Errikos Stefanou, etymologises
the name from the ancient Greek verb pignyo in the future
tense -pixo. Another version states that it may have come
from the expression paksosas thyras -closed doors, given
that the port of Gais is of the closed type.
Yiannis
Doikas believes that the Latin word PAX (peace)
is the most suitable for the peaceful islands of Paxoi.
[
from Spiros
Bogdanos' book on Paxos, large part of which constitutes
the municipal site
on Paxos' ]
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| Paxos
Mythology |
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As
all the Eptanisa (7 Ionian islands) Paxos has its emblem
- in this case the trident. It is said that the god Poseidon,
ruler of the seas, wishing to create a beautiful, peaceful
island far away from the other gods and men, and intending
to live there with his beloved Amfitriti, struck the southern
part of Corfu hard and Paxos was formed. With the blow,
however, he lost his trident which the Paxiots later found
and made their emblem.
It
is also said that while travelling once from Corfu to
Lefkas, Poseidon got tired and decided to make another
stopover between the two islands.
He struck mightily with his trident and like a mythical
monster, the island of Paxos emerged through the foaming
waves. The dolphins, seals, seagulls and other seabirds
assembled and the place filled with life.
He set his trident at the highest point, Megali Vigla
at St. Isavros (250 metres), to mark the divine abode.
Much later a few shepherds gathered, forming the island's
first colonising nucleus.
[ From
Yiannis
Doikas out-of-print book "Paxos, History, Folklore,
Culture", tr. Susan Boikos ]
[ Learn
about Greek
Mythology ]
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| Paxos
History |
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The
island has pursued a course through history which parallels
that of Corfu. At the side of the larger island it fought
against both pirate raids and Turkish attacks. Real progress,
however, only began with the occupation by the Venetians
in 1386.
The castle of St. Nicholas was built in 1453 and although
ruined today it still stands guard proudly over the island,
aweing the visitor with its presence and impressing with
its simplicity and imposing lines, its cannon and the
ports through which they were fired. A second castle was
built at about the same time: that of Dialetos, at Babaka
near Lakka, close to the famous Harami beach, but neglect
has ensured that no traces of it can be seen today.
Once the security of the island had been established,
the attention of the inhabitants turned to increasing
the island's production of olives. The extent of their
achievement, the results of their sweat and toil in these
distant years, can be admired today. The whole island
is an endless olive grove, and the minute amounts of soil
are retained by retaining walls - thousands of metres
of wall. There are some two hundred and fifty thousand
olive trees on the island, and the 152 ruined and primitive
olive-presses remind the visitor of the hive of work and
activity that this island once was.
In 1797, after 411 years of Venetian occupation, Paxi
was handed over to the French revolutionary government.
French occupation initially lasted only 2 years, and a
successful joint Russian -Turkish siege in 1799 led to
the proclamation of a "Septinsular Republic"
and a Constitution (1800). The fledgling republic was
under the protectorate of Turkey and Russia. But this
Greek state was to exist for only seven years. In accordance
with the secret articles of the Treaty of Tilsit (July
8, 1807), the Ionian Islands were returned to French control,
which lasted until 1814. During the Napoleonic Wars, which
covered this period, the island was under English blockade,
and serious shortages of food developed. This caused the
Paxiots to rebel, in 1810, and kill the island's Commander,
Count Dimakis Makris, and Laskaris Grammatikos and to
injure a number of others. The French, however, managed
to put down the rising in a few days and the ring-leaders
were severely punished. Seven of them were shot, in 1811,
in Corfu Castle, many were imprisonsed and still more
islanders were forced to emigrate. In 1814, however, the
English fleet under Captain (later Sir Richard) church,
with the aid of the Greek freedom fighter Theodoros Kolokotronis,
captured the castle and overcame the guard without a shot
being fired.
In 1817, a new Constitution was signed, and the "United
State of the Ionian Islands" came into being under
British protectorate. The British Lord High Commissioner
held supreme authority in the islands until 1854. when
Paxi and the the rest of the group were formally amalgamated
with Greece.
[ From
Yiannis
Doikas out-of-print book "Paxos, History, Folklore,
Culture", tr. Susan Boikos ]
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Paxos map in 1500
Paxos' symbol - the trident
7 arrows - 7 islands
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