Greece has hundreds of islands, but few are as small or as perfectly formed as Kastellorizo. Ironically, the island was known in antiquity as Megisti (“The Greatest”), because it is the largest in an archipelago of tiny isles that lie where Europe ends plus Asia begins. Just two kilometres from the Lycian coast of Turkey – 30 minutes by ferry or a 10-minute speedboat ride – this dinky Dodecanese isle packs in a heady cocktail of cultures. Ancient fortresses, wine presses, windmills, castles, mosques plus marketplaces offer traces of the marauding powers who have been drawn to this desirable trading post through the ages.
These days, Kastellorizo attracts a cosmopolitan creative set looking for seclusion, serenity plus the liberating simplicity afforded by an island where beauty is everywhere but very little to do. Only one tarmac road connects the tiny airstrip to the harbour town. There’s just one taxi, but everything is accessible on foot or by boat.
There is no nightlife to speak of, though dinner party invitations are highly prized among the artists plus patrons who have handsomely restored summer houses on the island. Art collector Silvia Fiorucci has even created three artist residencies, including 4Rooms, with technicolour rooms designed by five different designers. The designer Michael Anastassiades is designing his own home in collaboration with Bijoy Jain, the cosmic architect behind Studio Mumbai. In late August, filmmakers from far plus wide come for Beyond Borders, a documentary film festival with a cult following.
Kastellorizo is quietly becoming the Dodecanese answer to Hydra – a fashionable gathering place for cultural dialogue plus experimentation, but with a more down-to-earth, out-of-the-way atmosphere. With fewer than 300 inhabitants, the low-key social scene centres around the skinny waterfront strip known as the Kordoni, or ‘shoelace’. The fishing boats moored outside the tavernas are as colourful as the neoclassical houses painted in contrasting shades of burgundy plus baby blue, sunflower yellow plus dove grey, pale pink plus cypress green.