Thassos Island Greece

Thassos is a verdurous island with beautiful beaches which combines the sea with the mountains in a very fascinating way. Its nature and scenery are captivating. It holds the title of the “Emeralde Island” whilst its dominant pine trees cover the island and come down to the shores. The island’s running water comes from its own mineral springs.

With a population of 14000, its indigenous habitants are occupied with tourism, agriculture, fishery, cattle-breeding and marble extraction from quarries as well. The residents of Thassos have maintained their culture and tradition through the centuries. It’s been a well-known island since the antiquity and it is famous for is exceptional local products. Thassos takes pride in its olives and olive oil, honey, oregano and wine.

Thassos comes under the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Trace and belongs to the County of Kavala City. It consists the main borough and its capital is Limenas(Thassos).

Thassos comprises developed littoral provinces as well as mountainous areas. It offers an improved road network of 100 kilometers in parallel with its coasts. The maritime villages usually hold the title of “Skala” because they constituted the harbors of the equivalent mountainous villages.

The first habitants of the Island were the people of Phoenicia. The island was named after Thassos,the son of the Phoenician king, Anigoras. Prince Thassos arrived at the island seeking for his sister Europa who was abducted by Zeus.

Thassos Geography

Thassos is in northern Greece and it is the northernmost island in the Aegean Ocean, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is a rounded in shape area with a lengthy coastline of 115 kilometers and it covers a surface of 378 square kilometers. Its distance from the mainland is short, since it is only 18 sea miles far from Kavala and only 6 miles away from Keramoti. Thassos is the largest town of the island (also known as Limenas Thassou,”Harbour of Thassos”).

Around the island there are a lot of smaller ones. Thassopoula is located opposite Limenas , Krampousa is next to the region called Skala Potamias. Additionally, Koinyra are opposite the so-called village and Panagia, a classic small village, is at the region of Astris.

Thassos Geomorphology

The tallest summit in Thassos is Ypsario or Psario with an altitude of 1208 metres. The eastern part of the island is mountainous and rocky with high cliffs over the sea surface. Nevertheless, the western part of the island has lower altitude and its vast and fertile plain is full of rich olive groves.

The forests of Thassos are prominent. They are grown with firs, oaks, pines and planes. Formerly, the virgin forest was covering the whole surface of the island, but a big part of it was burnt by the great fires during the decade of 1980. The southern side of Thassos and the mainland were largely afflicted, with the signs of the disaster being evident until today.

The surface and subsoil of Thassos consists of crystalloid beds of rock, marble, schist and metalliferous rocks, too. In particular, there exist copper (Astris, Thimonia, Theologos), lead, silver, spelter (Limenaria), as well as iron ores (Kallirahi). Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that in 1974 oil deposits were discovered at the submarine area of Prinos where extraction of oil has been taking place until today.

Thassos Climate

Thassos has a temperate climate. In the summer, it is cool and the winter is mild. The annual average temperature is 17.2 C while the equivalent in summer is 23.4 C.