Private Kos Patmos Tour
Duration: DAY RETURN OR 2 DAY TOURS ORGANiSED
Start-Finish: 09;00- 17:00
Accommodation: CHOICE OF 3* OR 4* HOTELS IN TOWN CENTER
Date: RUNS EVERY DAY
Min-Max Group: 1-44
Tour price: PLEASE ASK FOR A QUOTE
According to ancient mythology, the island of Patmos was first named Litois, in honour of the Goddess Artemis who was also called Litoida because she was the daughter of Lito. Legend says that the island sunk into the sea and that Artemis, with the help of Apollo, managed to persuade Zeus to bring the island back to the surface. As a proof of devotion, the inhabitants of the island named it Litois. Patmos is also linked to another legend, the one of Orestes. It is said that he fled to the island after murdering his mother Clytemnestra, and was hunted by the Erynies.
The island of Patmos is inhabited since 3,000 BC, but the identity of its first inhabitants is still unknown. Some believe that the Kares, the Leleges and the Pelasgous were the first settlers while some think that the Dorians were the first inhabitants, followed by the Ionians. Finds have excavated various buildings, cemeteries, fortresses and evidence of an ancient acropolis, testifying the existence of a densely populated area in the past. During the Peloponnesian Wars, the Lacedemonians came to the island to escape from the Athenians. Ruins testify about the flourishing of the island during this period.
However, the island of Patmos declined when the Romans conquered it. It was used as a place of exile for convicts. This is how Apostle John came to Patmos, exiled by the Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus in 95 AC. In Patmos, Apostle John conveyed the inhabitants to Christianity and wrote the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Patmos then became a place of worshipping and pilgrimage and actually the culture and history of Patmos is strongly connected to the Apocalypse of Saint John.
