The history in the Dodecanese islands is too vast for me to comprehend. In simple terms this is a group of 15 islands plus another 150 smaller islets on the Southeastern side of Greece, the Southwestern side of Turkey and North of Crete in the Aegean Sea. There is documented history dating as far back as 1 400 BC. We were moored in Kos less than 100 meters where Hippocrates started the first medical university. The area was ruled at various stages in history by various countries, most notably people from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and Iran. Good luck with a land claim here.

I did not know that Italy ruled the Dodecanese from 1912 to 1947 after a war between Italy and Turkey. The Dodecanese was thus part of Italy during the first and the second world wars. Suddenly, the architecture makes sense. On most of these islands there are distinct Greek white and blue buildings, while there are Italian style buildings and town planning on other parts of the islands.

Mussolini invested in the infrastructure in Leros. Leros is the largest natural port in Europe and became a harbour for sub-marines during WW1 & WW2. Leros has a chequered history and has also been called “Europe’s guilty secret” as it used and still is using some of Mussolini’s buildings as mental institutions with questionable results. Political prisoners were also often exiled to Leros.

The photos below are of some of the derelict Italian buildings as well as the modern-day refugee camps built from containers.