Karpathos is situated in the most south part of Dodecanese complex, between Crete and Rhodes, and is the second largest island of the complex. Basically, it is considered a mountainous island (Kali Limni is the highest peak-altitude 1.214m) full of water springs, pine-trees forests, vineyards, olives and fruit-bearing trees.
The rock-caves of the island are the home of the Mediterranean seal called Μonachus monachus, while, along with Kastelorizo, this is the only place where we can meet the amphibian species Mertensiella luscani. According to mythology, Iapetos, the son of Uranus and Gaea [Sky and Earth] was the first inhabitant of the island.
The conquerors who defined the island’s character were Francs, Turks and Italians. The island extends over a surface of 301 km2, its coastline is 106 km long and it has 6,500 inhabitants.
