A photo of Hora Sfakion fron 1960, taken for the Encyclopedia of Greece of L. Kouvaris (Spyropouloi & Koumandareas Publishers, Athens, 1964) and another more recent (1988) of exactly the same spot! Compare and enjoy!

In 1960, when this picture was taken, Sfakia was down to 294 inhabitants! But in the last 50 years this region has been rejuvenated, to a major extent due to the domestic and foreign tourrism.

Sfakia.jpgSfakia2.jpg

Out in the sea, 20 miles south of Sfakia, one finds the forgotten Gavdos (written in Greek as Gaudos), I wrote my first article on Gavdos in 1961 for the first (1962) edition of the Touristikos Odigos gia tin Ellada (Organismos Touristikon Ekdoseon, Athens, 1962). On pages 335 and 336 (second edition, 1965) I noted connection with venzinoploia from Sfakia (20 miles) and Paliaohora (32 miles) but I did not record their names. At that time the island had 172 inhabitants. Three small villages were prominent then Ambelos, Kastri and Galana... In some of the old Venetian maps, Gaudos had been written as Gozzo and this led to all types of confusion (As you know, Gozzo is an island in Malta).

Things have changed since then... see the pictures below from the last ten years. Karavi on the east side is the main approach to the island. There are also connections to Aghia Roumeli and Rougia in addition to Hora Sfakion and Palaiohora. I would love to hear from someone as to the name of the little boat I show here

Gavdos map.jpgGavdos Karavi.jpg

Karavi 1.jpg