Card
no 377 - Riutsi
A
Map of Gökçeada, Turkey
Country:
Finland
Place:
Jyväskylä
Received:
30th January 2013
Distance:
1,217 miles
Travelled
for: 6 days
The
Island of Imbros or İmroz officially changed its name to Gökçeada in 1970. It is the largest island of Turkey and is
located in the Aegean Sea, at the entrance of Saros Bay. It is also the westernmost point of
Turkey. Gökçeada has an area of 108 sq
miles and contains some wooded areas. If you are wondering about the connection with Finland, the sender has a summer house there.
According
to the 2011 census, the island-district of Gökçeada has a population of 8,210. Its main industries are fishing, tourism,
vineyards and wine production.
The population is predominantly Turkish but
there are still about 250 Greeks, most of them elderly. The island was
primarily inhabited by ethnic Greeks from ancient times through to the middle
of the twentieth century when many emigrated to Greece, Western Europe, the
United States and Australia during a campaign of discrimination.
According
to Greek mythology, the palace of Thetis, mother of Achilles, king of Phthia,
was situated between Imbros and Samothrace. The stables of the winged horses of
Poseidon were said to lie between Imbros and Tenedos.
