Legend has it that Paxos was
created by the Greek god Poseidon, who wanted to
occupy the island as a peaceful haven with his
beloved mistress, the nereid Amphitriti. With an
almighty blow of his trident, Poseidon is believed
to have struck off the southern tip of Corfu, thus
forming the island of Paxos. In doing so, Poseidon
is said to have lost his trident – which the Paxiots
later found and made their emblem.
Paxos was part of the Roman
Empire from 229 BC until 733 AD; a time of relative
peace on the island. The island was then integrated
into the Byzantine Empire for several hundred years,
during which time Paxos was under more or less
constant threat from pirate raids.
After the Byzantine Empire fell
to the Crusaders, Paxos was claimed by the
Venetians, who were to rule the island for more than
400 years. The Venetians had a strong influence on
the developing landscape and culture of the island
of Paxos – an influence which is still apparent
today. Indeed, it was the Venetians who introduced
a wide-scale programme of olive planting on the
island.
In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte took
control of Paxos before losing out the Russian
forces which had taken control of the area. The
French regained Paxos in 1807 and retained control
until Napoleon’s downfall in 1814. The Ionian
Islands were placed under British Protection in the
Treaty of Paris 1815.
Paxos and the other Ionian
Islands enjoyed a degree of stability in the
following fifty years. The British improved the
island’s infrastructure by building reservoirs,
constructing roads and redesigning the drainage and
sewerage systems. Vast improvements were also made
to the island’s education and judicial systems.
The story was rather different on
the Greek mainland, where the fierce War of
Independence raged between the Greeks and the
Turks. Many young Paxiot men stepped up to help
fight the Greeks’ cause, including Yiorgos
Anemoyiannis, whose statue can be seen at the
southern entrance to Gaios Harbour. Yiorgos
Anemoyiannis died aged 23 in a brave attempt to set
fire to a Turkish fleet moored in Nafpaktos Harbour,
when he was captured by the Turks and killed.
However he came to be regarded as the island’s hero
for his outstanding courage and strength of resolve.
In May 1864, the British yielded
to nationalist sentiments and allowed the Ionian
Islands to join the Kingdom of Greece. Peace and
stability on the island of Paxos during the
twentieth century was interrupted by periods of
occupation in the Second World War by both the
Italians and the Germans; however freedom was
secured by the advancing allied forces in 1944.
Today there are approximately 2,500 inhabitants
of Paxos. The island’s economy centres upon
organised tourism, which has been present on the
island since the 1980’s, fishing and the production
of olive oil.
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