Dionisades Islands

Α group of four(4) small islands at the north of the Sitia Bay, at a distance of 16 km from Sitia. Two of them, Giannisada and Dragonara, are the biggest ones with mostly cedar-trees from Lebanon and the other two, Paximada and Paximadaki, are just small rocky islands.

According to Mythology, the island was created by god Dionisus who was worshipped there and the islands were named after him. In antiquity, the islands belonged to the people of Itanos. On Dragonara, the island with the most vegetation, there are obvious traces of habitation and tombstones of the first Christian time have been found. On the eastern part of the same island, there is a cave and on the western part there are natural rocky “pillars” rising out of the sea water.

There is also the small church of Agios Antonios, a small house and a small port. These islands belong to the Municipality of Sitia and according to recent research the construction of infrastructure work for the protection and the balanced tourist development of the islands is being planned. 25 years ago pasturing was forbidden; therefore the vegetation grew and the rabbits that always lived there multiplied.

The locals call the islands opposite Sitia “Dionisades” and “Ianisades” and often make use of the fishing grounds there. It is worth taking a boat over there to pay a visit. Many fishing boats spend the night there, lights from Sitia town are dancing on the dark waters, where their only company are the dolphins that sport around them.

The longest bird monitoring program in the country has been implemented in this complex of islands. German ornithologist, Dietrich Ristow, and his team have been investigating and monitoring colonies of Eleonora’s falcon and Artemis (Calonectris diomedea) for more than 35 years. About 600 pairs of Eleonora’s falcon nest in the region. The area is part of the Natura 2000 network (GR4320011, GR4320006), while it is also a Wildlife Refuge.

Additional Info

Location: Sitia Region – 16 km from Sitia

Area: 5,27 km² Max length:3,15 km and 2,50 km height

Access: Boat from Sitia

Residents: 0

Highest point: 127m (Gianisada island)

Dionisades islands Gallery