Spetses

In the 15th century, the Venetians who ruled the island since 1220, named it Spezia ("Spice") for its position on a major traderoute that dealt in spices. Over time the name was Hellenised to Spetsai (Spetse/Spetses).

Portrait of Ioannis Kyriakou, fighter of the Greek War of Independence, from Spetses.

During the 18th century, after the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Ottomans and the Venetian expulsion, many Arvanites took refuge in Spetses in order to escape Ottoman persecution. These refugees created the old village of Spetses, in the area of Kastelli. It is fortified by a wall that reinforces the natural protection provided by the terrain. Over the years the island developed a significant naval power. The Greek Coalition, in cooperation with the Russians in the Russian-Turkish war in 1768–1774, turned the powerful merchant fleet of Spetses to a significant power against the Ottoman Empire during the so-called Orlov Revolt, also known as the Orlofika. In response to these events, in 1770 the Turks destroyed the only village on the island.

For some years after the destruction of the village, the island was deserted. It was re-occupied in 1774 by new settlers from the opposite coast of Peloponnese after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. This allowed the Russians free movement of ships in the Mediterranean. A powerful commercial fleet was recreated by using the Russian flag to establish trade routes with neighbouring countries. Merchant seafaring was the only source of livelihood for men of many of the rocky, non-arable Greek islands, and the brisk Mediterranean and Black Sea trade of the 18th and 19th centuries allowed them to prosper. They did especially and spectacularly so during the trade embargoes that were imposed during the Napoleonic Wars; Greek merchantmen and crews willing and able work with, or against, both belligerent sides at tremendous profit.

After the re-occupation of Spetses, the settlement began to expand beyond the Kastelli region. This growth stimulated a corresponding increase in the maritime economic activities of the island.

From 1821, the island played an important role in the Greek War of Independence, and it was the home of celebrated war heroine Laskarina Bouboulina. Her life sized statue can be seen in the main dock. Spetses was the first of the Greek islands to raised the flag of Revolution the morning of 3 April (O.S.) 1821. Its fleet, consisting of merchant ships, played a key role in the struggle, both by participating in raids against the Turkish coast and the siege of fortresses in the Peloponnese. Particularly important is the involvement of the Spetsiote fleet in sieges of the fortresses of Nafplion and Monemvasia and naval battles of Samos (1824) and Kafireas (1825). Along with their counterparts in nearby Hydra, Spetsiote captains were so wealthy they had been hoarding their gold in wells, a wealth that they tapped to fund the war of liberation.

The Poseidonio Hotel of Spetes

Several ships have been named after the island, including modern Hydra class frigate F 453 Spetsai, the World War 2-era Greek destroyer Spetsai (D 98), and the historic Greek battleship Spetsai.

View of the seafront

The Poseidonion Hotel was built by Sotirios Anargyros, descendant of a great 18th-century Spetsiot shipping family. His branch of the family had fallen on hard times, and he emigrated to the United States as a young man in 1868, when Spetses was declining as a maritime center. In 1899 he returned from the US, now a wealthy tobacco tycoon and started to transform the island of his youth. He built an impressive mansion and met with rich Athenians who visited Spetses from August to October, in order to hunt the turtledoves and quail migrating between Africa and Europe. Anagyros had pine seedlings planted in the hills. In the early 21st century, the island is one of the most wooded in the southern Aegean.

He saw the need for a comfortable hotel and built the Poseidonion in the style of its French Mediterranean models, the Carlton in Cannes (1911) and the Negresco in Nice (1912). The hunters could bring along their wives and children to enjoy the comfort of the hotel, the spa, donkey rides, dancing to the orchestra in the evening, and mixed bathing on the beaches across the channel. The Poseidonion rapidly became the favorite vacation spot for high society, royalty, and the rich Athenians who came to enjoy a small slice of the grand life.[4]

In the 1960s and 1970s, the island attracted a number of wealthy Greek vacationers from Athens and elsewhere, who owned second villas or lived on their large yachts in the port. Some had children who became students of the Anargirios School. Although some hotels had been constructed, tourists often stayed in purpose-built holiday homes. From the 1980s, the Greek vacationers were often supplanted by north European tourists, especially from Britain, who were attracted by the low cost of a holiday.

Package tours to Spetses declined and eventually ceased during the 1990s. In the early 21st century, the island's holiday clientele is of a higher economic class and largely Greek.[5]

Old mansion

Mansion

The main Athenian tourist season lasts for only two months of the year, although most hotels and restaurants are open from Easter until October. Efforts are being made by officials to extend the season, by adding major events to attract visitors:

• The Spetses Classic Yacht Regatta[6]

In June a weekend of sailing races, starting/finishing in the straight between Spetses and Kosta. A record number of 75 yachts took part in the 2015 Regatta, which celebrated its 5th anniversary; categories were Vintage (built prior to 1947), Classic (built between 1948–1974), Spirit of Tradition (built after 1976), Traditional Caiques and Open Boats.

• The Spetses Mini Marathon

The main event is an international 26 km (16 mi) marathon around the Island. A 10 km (6 mi) race was added to the program in 2014. The mini marathon has been held since 2011. Swimming races of 2.5 km (1.6 mi) and 5 km (3 mi) have been added, as well as a children’s 1000 m. Running and swimming races are also part of the three-day program. More than 2,000 men and women participate in the running events, while over 3,000 athletes in total take part in all sports. According to the Greek press, this has become the biggest annual sporting event in Greece outside of Athens.

In September 2013, Dr Marina Lyda Coutarelli, President of the Organizing Committee and CEO of Communication Lab, was named "Honorary Citizen" of Spetses island. She was honored for her work and effort, with regard to the island's development.

In the early 21st century, there was a distinct shift away from package tourism on Spetses and the island once again became fashionable amongst the wealthier Greeks. Nowadays, the majority of visitors are Greek or independent travellers from around the world. Whilst it is still possible to find traditional lower cost rooms to rent and tavernas to eat in on the island there are now many higher priced restaurants and 'boutique' hotels around the town.