Pre earthquake Kos had the form of a typical city of the 18th and 19th century in the southeastern Aegean divided into districts. According to sourced of the time in the walled medieval city Hora., Jews and Greek orthodox mainly resided there. It was not unusual for wealthy Turkish or Greek families who lived in Hora to also have a country home outside the walls, in the area of the Orange groves or they may have had a shop along the harbour. The exterior city has been transformed into districts which correspond to Christians, Jews and Muslims. The division of the residents of the island into districts, remained almost unchanged till the end of the 19th century till 1928, the period in which the first reconstructions of the big public buildings by the Italian conquerors. The destructive earthquake of 1933 flattened the city and gave the chance to the Italian administration for the reorganization of the city of Kos into a modern planned city incorporated the ancient sites which had been excavated. The plans which were used gave Kos the look of a metropolitan city of the East. Parts of this reconstruction is still visible today.
Kos Island - Fortification Medieval CityFortification of the Medieval City The fortification of Hora may have began in the last decades of the 14th century by the Great Magistro of Heredia Battalion and commander of Kos Schlegelholz so as to protect the medieval city from the attacks by the Sultan Bagiazit A’. It was completed in 1500 with the opening of the new commander’s Constanzo Operti moat which had a 16 metre width and length on the south side (todays Ippocrates street). On the exterior of the northern side there was a lake which is described in the official papers of the knight’s and other visitors. The wall consists of one of the simplest and oldest examples of defensive architecture by the Knights of the Dodecanese. Parts have been saved but the area which it surrounded is in the archaeological site of Ancient Agora.
The fortification was almost rectangular and was reinforced with bastions on the south south-west and north-east corner. The Northeastern side was not saved. Kos Island - Middle Ages HoraThis was where the command centre was until the 1926 earthquake. Today a large part of the southern side has been preserved where two small rectangular towers were saved. From the northern side only a small part was saved. It was part of the embankment of Platanos of Hippocrates, opposite the entrance of the Castle of Neratzia – today’s Finikon Street. On the western is the Forou Gate while the eastern side was destroyed. It had five gates, The Gate of the Sea in the eastern part, which wasn’t saved as were two other gates which opened towards the northern side: one towards the Castle of Neratzia and one towards the Sea. Both have been preserved. a)Gate of Forou: Monumental entrance on the eastern side of the perimeter wall of Hora, it had an ancient dressed stone masonary as a lintel and above this a semi-circle arch. b)The South East Gate: It’s situated in the eastern end of the southern fortification towards the sea. It’s on the embankment of the entrance, centrally situated and possibly used a second gate, it was found built into stone witht the emblem of the Great Magistrou De Heredia (1376 – 1396) of the Battalion under the command of Kos Schlegelhotz (1386 – 1412). Kos Island - Middle Ages HoraOn the top floor there were additions were made by the Turks. These consisted of a series of oblong openings and small arches.
Knightly Home - Home of Commander Francesco Sans (1514) It’s situated along Miaouli coast and was inside the perimeter wall of the Medieval city. It’s the only secular building of the Knight era in kos which was built in 1514 by the Commander of Kos Francesco Sans. It consists of two covered rectangular areas. Initially the main entrance was the western one (in Mesologgiou street). During the Turkish reign the building was used as a coffee shop and two windows were opened on the eastern side (in Akti Miaouli street) symmetrically with the western windows. The transformation of the eastern side was done during the Italian reign. It was reconstructed by the 4th department of the Byzantine and was used as an archaeological library and exhibition area. The walls were quite well taken care of with carved stones, sculpted cornices and archaeological materials. Kos Island - Middle Ages HoraOn the top and on the right from the southern entrance and the western side was a built in emblem of the Great Magistro Fabrizio Del Carretto and the emblem of the Commander Francesco Sans and the year was 1514.
St. John Prodromos or Naukliros It belongs to the type of temple which had a one room area covered with a three sided exterior arch and two entrances, one on the west side and one on the south side. The temple was dedicated to St John, protector of the Ioannites Knights and dates back to the 15th century. In the beginning of the 19th century, before the construction of St Nicholas church, it held the place of the Metropolis Temple for Hora.
In the middle of the 19th century the public of Kos chose Anastasio Platanista as head preservation and repair because the temple had suffered much damage even before the earthquake of 1933 and it was almost in ruins before the earthquake occurred in 1861. It seems the repairs which Platanista took over were never completed. Straight after the earthquake, excavation of Hora began. Kos Island - Temple St Marys KatevatisThe rubble from approximately 400 houses was taken away and three of the nine churches of Hora were demolished. During the excavations of Hore carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission, it was ascertained that it had been built over the sanctuary of Afrodite. In June 1943 it was decided to move the sanctuary to the north west part of Hora. This was considered a very important technical job for those days. During the reconstruction to complete the side walls and the construction of the chamber, soft stone from Kefalos was used. The completion was done in an alcove and a discreet ridge divided the tow sections. They made the chamber watertight using plumbing plaster. In 1947 the bishop of Kos, Emmanuel Karpathion, dedicated the church to a new latter day martyr St John Of Naukliro. After applying to the Mayor the bishop renamed the street leading to the church Nauklirou Street.
Temple of Mary Gorgopigi The first mention of this church is made in the A’ code of the Metropolis in 1693, where it is mentioned that ownership of the vineyards was shared by Mary Neohoritissa. Kos Island - Middle Ages HoraThe Bishop of Kos Emmanuel Karpathiou, mentions the name Goropigi: the title was changed to the more popular Gorgopigin. Today we use the name which means quick spring and shows that St Mary Gorgopigin will quickly do the bidding of the person who is asking for help. The church is a one chamber temple with a three sided arch on the exterior and two entrances, one in the middle of the south side and one in the middle of the west side. The chamber near the roof is slightly raised and is covered by carved stones with smaller stones used as well. The walls were made from old marble pieces and signs. The floor was made from red square clay blocks. In the centre of the main temple there is a marble tomb stone.
The main temple is divided by the Holy Podium with a wood carved temple of exquisite craftsmanship which dates to the 18th century. Inside, the walls of the temple have scenes depicted on them, mainly on the south wall of the main temple and the Arch of the Sanctuary. Two layers were found , one which dates to the 15th century and the other to the 16th century. kos-St-nicholas-churchIt is believed that the walls can be attributed to the artist Nikoloaou who also painted the temple of the Hora Castle in Kalymnos and the temple of St Mary Kastrianon in Old Pyli. The illustrated part of the temple shows that the temple was built inside the walled area of the city at the beginning of the 15th century.
St. George According to the Metropolis records, the building was finished in 1882. It was located in the south eastern part of the archaeological area of the Agora. In the yard there was a temple of St George and the tombs of Dimostheni and Alexi Thimanaki. In 1772 during the reign of the Bishop Kallinikou, the temple was inside a vineyard and was surrounded by a wall. Owner of the temple was the church St Marina.From the beginning to the end of the 19th century the temple donated a lot of money to the Metropolis temple and it shows a lot of income. In 1892 it is built in the memory of Ekaterine daughter of Panteloglou wife of Alexiou Thimanaki.
The First School in Kos The Kos Bishop Emmaouel Karpathiou, after many years of research, concluded that at the end of 17th century beginning of the 18th century, very few people in Kos knew how to read and write. Those that did know were mainly priests who only knew the basics so as to be able to sign and perform duties. The chanters weremonks from large monastries which had chares in Kos ( St Catherine of Sina, St Mary of Kikkou in Cyprus, St John Theologou in Patmos) and they had helped in teaching the basics. In 1773 the first public decision, after the initiative was taken by Archbishop Kallinikou, to open the first school. Kos - The Temple of Saint Constantine & EllenAt the meeting which was held on the 20th October 1773 two committee members were elected, Mr Aslanis and Mr Stamatakis (codeA’ 206 – 207). At the meeting the first teacher was present. The monk Daniel who was given the position of teacher by the Archbishop Kallinilou. He was also responsible for paying the rent.
Temple of St. Marys Katevatis It’s situated in the archaeological area of the Agora. It takes up the southern part and consists of six domed storerooms which are situated near the southern side of the area. It’s a single covered chamber area, and has a semi circle arch in the eastern area and an entrance in the middle of the western area. In the middle of the chamber on the roof there was a circular opening and according to tradition it was used for the easy access of the churchgoers. The temple was dedicated to St Mary of Kikkou and had shares in the Monastry of Kikkou in Cyprus. It was located in the surrounding area of the pre-earthquake Metropolis temple of St Nicholas.
Temple of St. Constantine and Eleni It was a single chamber covered by a roof with a semi circular arch in the eastern side and had an entrance on the west and south side. It was possibly built on the site of an older temple because foundations of a three sided arch on the eastern side were found.