Telendos Hotel Porto Potha, Kalymnos, Greece

Telendos

Telendos is discovered as soon as you reach Gadouroracho village that is located on top of the hill and you are surprised by the spectacular and beautiful view of the panorama that opens before your eyes.

When you look more closely at the mountain across the water, you will notice that the different rock ledges seem to take the shape of a body resting over the sea with a big face visible looking out from the top of the mountain.

The most well liked legend is nothing more than another tragic love story like the one of Romeo and Juliet. In the Byzantine years around 1100 to 1200 there was a beautiful Princess living there named Pothea.

Another kingdom across the channel was that of Castelli, where Prince Andronicus lived. A very old and deep hatred separated the two ruler families of the channel kingdoms. But Princess Pothea and Prince Andronicus met and fell strongly in love.

The King of Telendos remembered the old hatred and he did not agree to this relationship. Facts are few, but one thing is for sure: there was a lit candle that needed to be transported across the channel. In any case, the candle was not destined to last. The flame would not continue burning against even the lightest breeze. As soon as she saw the flame disappearing, the Princess ran towards the sea and she drowned from sadness that she was not meant to be with her love.

On the opposite side of the channel, when the Prince realised that the flame of the candle had died, he preferred to stay in the sea rather than to face a life without his loved one. Since then, the face of the beautiful Princess is marked on the left side of the mountain to remind us that there is love that can live for ever. Maybe the Princess’s profile in the mountain is only a caprice of nature. It gives us though great strength to believe that a pure heart full of love can engrave a strong big rock, like how our beautiful Telendos is.

Kalymnos

Kalymnos, the island of sponge-fishermen is one of the most beautiful islands of the Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese. The inhabitants of Kalymnos deal in fishing, sponge-fishing producing some sorts of fruits and honey.

The size of Kalymnos is 109 Km2 and it has population of 16.000 people. In size it is the fifth island in Dodecanese. It is in the north-west of Kos and the two islands are 15 miles apart.

According to Omeros Kalymnos was called Kallydnos. The capital of the island is Pothia which has 10.000 inhabitants. However, the first capital of the island was Hora which has about 4.000 inhabitants.

Other beautiful villages of the island are: Vathi, Vothini, Argos, Mirties, Panormos, Massouri, Elies, Plati Gialo, Kasteli, Arginoda, Skalia, Eborios, etc.

There are also beautiful islands round Kalymnos. The biggest and habitable ones are Telendos and Pserimos.

Practically the whole island is one rocky area with high mountains. The biggest one is Profitis Ilias (676 m) and the follow Kira Psili (620 m) Galatiani (590 m) etc.

Two of the most fertile valleys of Kalymnos are between the villages Rina-Vathi-Stimenia and Pothia-Hora-Panormos.

Kalymnos has a lot of beaches such us Panormos (linaria, Kadouni) Massouri Mirties, Therma, Melitsahas, Vathis, Plati Gialos, Arginoda, Emporios, Vlihadia, Telendos (Hohlaka, Pnimenos, Papa Mihali, Porto Potha Beach, potha Beach, Paradise beach)

Pserimos have beautiful beaches too. You can Visit the island of Pserimos as a lot excursions are organized by several tourist agencies. It is worth visiting the castle of Hora, The Vouvalis Museum and the Kefalas cave.

Kalymnos and its inhabitants are hospitable. You can find fresh fish, plenty of food, a lot of banks, regular coastal-lines and everything that the visitor may need. There are a lot of one day trips. There is daily transport to and from Rhodes, Patmos Leros, Kos and Piraeus.

You can also go by air to Kos and then go to Kalymnos. The distance between the port of Kalymnos and Mastihari of Kos is 30-45 minutes.

At Kalymnos there are a lot of anchorages for any kind of ship as it shown at the geophysical map. You can also hire a yacht for excursions.

Telendos mountain climbing

Download information on climbing routes and locations on Telendos island.