View source for Makronisos

{{Short description|Island off Attica in the Aegean Sea}}
{{for|the beach in Cyprus|Ayia Napa#Beaches}}
{{Infobox islands
|name             = Makronisos
|native_name      = Μακρόνησος
|native_name_lang = el
|image_name       = ISS009-E-15405-Kea-Makronisos-N-at-top.jpg
|image_caption    = Makronisos from space: Attica to the NW; Kea to the SE
|coordinates      = {{coord|37|42|04|N|24|07|29|E|region:GR_type:isle|display=it}}
|map_image        = GR_Makronissos.PNG
|location         = 
|archipelago      = None
|total_islands    = 
|area_km2         = 20
|highest_mount    = 
|elevation_m      = 281
|country          = Greece
|country_admin_divisions_title   = [[Modern regions of Greece|Region]]
|country_admin_divisions         = [[South Aegean]]
|country_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Regional units of Greece|Regional unit]]
|country_admin_divisions_1       = [[Kea-Kythnos]]
|country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Municipality
|country_admin_divisions_2       = 
|population       = 5
|population_as_of = 2001
|density_km2      = 
|postal_code      = 840 02
|area_code        = 22880
|registration_plate = 
|website          = 
}}
'''Makronisos''' ({{langx|el|Μακρόνησος}}, lit. ''Long Island''), or '''Makronisi''', is an [[island]] in the [[Aegean Sea]], in [[Greece]], notorious as the site of a [[Political prisoner|political prison]] from the 1920s to the 1970s. It is located close to the coast of [[Attica]], facing the port of [[Lavrio]]. The island has an elongated shape, {{convert|13|km|0|abbr=on}} north to south and {{convert|2.5|km|1|abbr=on}} east to west at its widest point, and its terrain is arid and rocky. It is the largest uninhabited Greek island.{{Citation needed|date=July 2017}}

It is part of the [[Kea-Kythnos]] [[Regional units of Greece|regional unit]] and in the municipality of [[Kea island|Kea]].

==History==
In ancient times the island was called '''Helen''' ({{langx|grc|Ἑλένη}}). It protected the ancient harbours of [[Thorikos]] and [[Sounion (deme)|Sounion]]. It was also called '''Macris''' (Μάκρις), from its length.<ref>{{Cite Stephanus|''s.v.'' Ἑλένη}}</ref> [[Strabo]] describes it as 60 [[stadion (unit)|stadia]] (9.4 km) in length; but its real length is seven geographical miles (12 km).<ref>{{Cite Strabo|ix. p.399}}</ref> It was uninhabited in antiquity, as it is at the present day; and it was probably only used then for the pasture of cattle. Both Strabo and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] derive its name from [[Helen of Troy]], the wife of [[Menelaus]]: the latter writer supposes that it was so called because Helen landed here after the capture of [[Troy]]; but Strabo identifies it with the Homeric [[Cranae]], to which [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] fled with Helen,<ref>{{Cite Iliad|3.445}}</ref> and supposes that its name was hence changed into Helena. There cannot, however, be any doubt that the Homeric Cranaë was opposite [[Gythium]] in [[Laconia]].<ref>{{Cite Strabo|ix. p.399, x. p. 485}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|1|35|1}}, 8.14.12</ref><ref>{{Cite Mela|2.7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pliny|4.12.20}}</ref>

The [[Kea Channel]] between Makronisos and neighbouring [[Kea island|Kea]] was the site of the sinking, in 1916, of [[HMHS Britannic|HMHS ''Britannic'']], sister ship of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']].[[File:Macronissi Quarantine camp, 1924.png|left|thumb|243x243px|1924 photograph of Makronissos]]After the [[Burning of Smyrna]] in 1922 and the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]], [[Greek refugees]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]] were transferred to Makronisos, where a [[Quarantine|quarantine station]] (to minimize the spread of [[smallpox]] and [[typhus]] infection) was established.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Dr. Olga Stastny (American Women's Hospitals) |url=https://www.greek-genocide.net/index.php/overview/humanitarianism/olga-stastny |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Greek Genocide Resource Center |language=en-gb}}</ref> Between 1922 and 1923, 12,295 refugees, mostly women, children, and the elderly, passed through Makronisos.<ref name=":0" />

===Prison camp===
{{see also|Internal exile in Greece}}{{See also|Massacre of the First Sapper Battalion}}
Makronisos was used as a [[Greek Military Police|military prison island]] and [[Internment|concentration camp]] from the time of the [[Greek Civil War]] until the [[Metapolitefsi|restoration of democracy]], following the collapse of the [[Regime of the Colonels]] in 1974. Torture methods were used among others. Because of its history, it is considered a monument of the civil war era; therefore the island and the original structures on it are protected from alteration.

Among the prisoners of Makronisos were [[Apostolos Santas]], [[Nikos Koundouros]], [[Mikis Theodorakis]], [[Leonidas Kyrkos]] and [[Thanasis Vengos]].

==Films==
* ''Le Nouveau Parthénon'' (1975) by Kostas Chronopoulos and Giogos Chrysovitsianos.
* ''[[Happy Day (1976 film)|Happy Day]]'' (1976) by [[Pantelis Voulgaris]]. 
* ''Makronissos'' (2008), by Ilias Giannakakis and Evi Karabatsou.
* ''[[Like Stone lions at the gateway into night|Like Stone Lions at the Gateway into Night]]'' (2012), by [[Olivier Zuchuat]]

==References==
{{no footnotes|date=December 2016}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
*[[Yannis Hamilakis|Hamilakis, Yannis]], "The Other 'Parthenon': Antiquity and National Memory at Makronisos", ''[[Journal of Modern Greek Studies]]'' '''20''':2 (October 2002), pp.&nbsp;307–338.

===Attribution===
{{DGRG|title=Helena}}

==External links==
*http://www.abettergreece.com/Makronissos_en.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807204107/http://www.abettergreece.com/Makronissos_en.html |date=2015-08-07 }}

{{Aegean Sea}}
{{The Cyclades}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Makronisos| ]]
[[Category:History of Greece (1949–1974)]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Greece]]
[[Category:Internment camps]]
[[Category:Landforms of Kea-Kythnos]]
[[Category:Prison islands of Greece]]
[[Category:Political repression in Greece]]
[[Category:Exiles of the Greek Civil War]]
[[Category:Greece stubs]]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Greece]]