Old houses

Symi used to be a prosperous island with a population of over 22,000. Its main income was from boat building and sponge fishing, but eventually all the trees were used up so they couldn't build boats, and the sponges were over-fished. Gradually the people moved away, mainly to America and Australia, and the population dwindled to a tenth of that at its height. Of course, being prosperous, people had built grand houses for themselves. Many were abandoned and became ruins as the population declined, but the ownership is still with the original families. During the second world war the Castro at the top of the village was used as an ammunition dump by Axis forces; when they left the island they blew it up to ensure the munitions were not captured, and in the process destroyed most of the Castro and church it also contained, together with many houses.

The combined effect is that there are large numbers of ruins mixed amongst the inhabited properties, and although some like this are in total disrepair and housing only wild figs, you can tell from some of the features that they were once very impressive. One in particular, towards the bottom of the Kali Strata steps, is probably the most photographed ruin on the island. But that is a Blip for another day.