The only settlement on the island is in and around the village of Kastellorizo, built around its small but deep main harbour (1 on the map) and the smaller harbour Mandraki (9).

During the summer, the restaurant and cafe tables prevent traffic from using the promenade around the main harbour, and locals must carry their wares with trolleys and wheelbarrows. Most of Kastellorizo's narrow, stepped streets are also unsuitable for vehicles. Roads on the island are limited to the north coast around the main town, the smaller harbour Mandraki, to the northeast corner at the cape Megalos Niftis and to the airport 3.5 km southwest of the main town. Otherwise there are a few dirt tracks and several paths over the rocky landscape.

A few hundred metres southeast of the main harbour stairs climb the cliff to the triangular-shaped plateau which forms the bulk of the island. It is quite a climb, but at the top you are rewarded with a great view over the north of the island and across the sea channel Stenos Vathi (in Turkish Kaş Kanali) to the Turkish town of Kaş and the Taurus mountains which tower above it.


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Text and Map design Copyright
© David John 2003-2009

Kaş (pronounced "Cash"), the ancient Lycian settlement of Antiphellos, became Greek following Alexander the Great's conquest of Anatolia in the 4th century BC. As the harbour village of Andifli, it remained Greek until the forced population exchanges between Greece and Turkey in 1923. Since the 1980s Kaş has grown from a small port and fishing village into a relaxed, modern tourist resort.

The harbours of Kastellorizo and Kaş are separated by 7 km, and the Greek island at its northern tip of Cape Agios Stefanos is just over 2 km from the Çukurbag Yarimadasi peninsula on the Turkish coast.

Among the numerous smaller islands and islets surrounding Kastellorizo, the two largest are the uninhabited Greek islands Stroggyli and Ro. The latter is a popular destination for day-trips and famous as the home of the legendary local heroine Despina Achladiotou, "The Lady of Ro" (1898-1982). See Kastellorizo gallery page 238 for further details.


Text and maps by © David John