During a visit to Ikaria, the island where Icarus supposedly fell into the sea, I saw the Fourni Islands for the first time. I stood on a headland near the Tower of Drakono, built over two thousand years ago by the Athenians and their Delian league to protect these Aegean waters from the Persian threat.
The tower was tall and honey-colored and had a great vantage point, facing east toward the rising sun. Below me, on a small rock, I could see the small Orthodox Greek chapel of Agios Giorgiou, and below it a beach of the same name, with pristine turquoise and translucent water, completely empty.
But the distant view was even more attractive. A line of sight had been established through and to the much smaller and wild islands of Fourni, a scattered archipelago used by pirates for centuries; a place I had heard of but, like so many Greek islands, never reached. Now I could see in the center the small harbor of Fourni Korseon, its white houses glittering in the sun.
I knew a little of the terrifying history of these islands; how for centuries a free-exploiting group of French privateers, Maltese adventurers and fast Arab boats had used them as a base from which to raid more established neighboring islands.
So much so that on Ikaria villages were built high above the coastline, with caves to retreat into if the Fourni pirates raided. There was even a rule that Ikarians were not allowed to have dogs in case passing pirates heard them as they sailed past and investigated.
When I finally got the chance to visit them, they turned out to be even more enchanting than I expected. Located at the northern end of the Dodecanese, not far from the coast of Turkey, this whole area is much less visited than Rhodes or Kos to the south – or even nearby Patmos, where the population now increases tenfold every summer, helped by celebrity visitors such as Julia Roberts and William Dalrymple.
The Fourni archipelago consists of three main islands: Fourni itself, where most visitors settle, Agios Minas and Thymaina – and 10 other beautiful small islets. One of these has a population of only three shepherds and an unspecified number of goats. The main island did not receive electricity until 1969, and today the population of the entire archipelago hovers around 1,200 people.
While there are stories of €70 sunbeds on Mykonos, there aren’t any for hire here – although beach bars have a few for free if you buy a drink – and instead the rare and fortunate feeling that the local population is still greater than the summer visitors. It’s the essence of everything you’d want from a Greek island experience, yet few people come for what, in an old joke among English-speaking visitors (who will hate me for publicizing the place), is a “Fournication”.
The small port of Fourni Korseon has everything: a bakery, a post office and a candle maker, or the equivalent, a small shop selling beeswax and honey, and delicious home-made pesto. There are some of the cheapest fruits and vegetables I have found in Greece for those who are self-sufficient (most rooms available to rent have simple two-pan stoves).
This can be supplemented with enjoyable foraging: wild thyme and fennel to flavor orzottos; and lots of ripe prickly pears to pick from cacti, deliciously chilled and scooped from the shell. Be careful not to touch the skin; the spines have an annoying habit of getting stuck and are too small to remove easily. Yes, I speak from experience.
A few cafes line the waterfront – crayfish is a local specialty – and a beautiful tree-lined street leads back to a small square. If you walk that way, many cats will watch you while the locals greet you with “kalimera”. Next to one of the more lavish bars is a beautiful marble sarcophagus from classical antiquity.
The Greeks have a charmingly nonchalant attitude toward their own past, partly because they know so much about it. The church above the harbor is built on the foundations of what was once a classical acropolis, not that there is a sign telling you to visit.
Prices are noticeably lower than on the more luxurious islands. Renting a scooter – the perfect way to get around – costs half as much as, for example, Kos or Zante. And having a scooter, or car as a family, is ideal for exploring the island, as there is only one taxi and the driver, George, is a busy man.
It may also be necessary. There is a reason why Odysseus and his fellow Greeks were blown to pieces when they tried to sail past the Dodecanese on their way back from Troy. There is lots of wind. But one advantage Fourni has over some islands is that, with beaches on all sides, there is always a sheltered spot: from Kamari with its excellent little taverna – the center for shipwreck research – to Vlyhada in the south, often empty, except for a few goats. , with a stretch of perfect sand and some tamarisk trees for shade.
That same strong wind may have caused all the sailing accidents of the past millennia. Research into shipwrecks has accelerated in recent years, as it has been realized that there is a greater concentration of wrecks around the Fournis than almost anywhere else in the Aegean.
An astonishing 23 shipwrecks of ancient ships were found by diving archaeologists at a rate of almost one per day when they explored these waters in 2016; It is believed that many more lie on the seabed. The earliest date from about 525 BC, while others span the Classical period into the Middle Ages.
Tensions arose when the Greek authorities – wonderfully named ‘Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities’ – subsequently declared an extensive archaeological zone around the coast, meaning local fishermen could not go there. Because almost every family has a boat and the islanders define themselves by their relationship with the sea, this was not popular.
That’s not to say the locals aren’t proud of their pirates. Some might even say they were obsessed with it. In almost every home or restaurant you will see ancient amphorae on display that were caught in their nets by local fishermen.
Archaeologists have been able to use the amphorae recovered from shipwrecks to analyze what was traded – or taken: garum, the fermented fish sauce that the Romans loved, along with cargoes of olive oil and wine, so the pirates must often have been rich from their spoils .
An old man in a cafe tells me that he and his friends have often searched for the pirate gold that is said to be hidden somewhere on the island. He was also proud of their cosmopolitan character: “We didn’t just have Greek pirates. We had pirates from France, from Turkey, from Malta, from Africa – they had all settled here! We probably also had the odd pirate from England.”
The islands are known for the wild thyme that gives such a strong flavor to their honey. One of the charms of walking the hills is the way the wild thyme and oregano release their scent when brushed against them.
On my last day on the Fournis I was very fragrant by the time I walked across the Fournis maquis from myrtle and laurel to a headland in the south, from where I could just make out the seductive silhouette of the double-backed Agathonisi in the evening sunlight. I’d heard it was even less frequented, with only one taverna and a handful of sugar cube pension houses; there was only one ferry per week. In Greece there is always another island to explore.
Essentials
Fly Easyjet to Kos or Mykonos from Britain and take a ferry via Ikaria with Ferryhopper (ferryhopper.com).
There are also fast ferries from Athens to Ikaria if you want to combine a visit to the Greek capital, as well as direct flights to Ikaria from Athens with Olympic Air (olympicair.com) or Sky Express (skyexpress.gr).
Accommodation in the various hotels along the quay costs an average of €40 per night per room and scooters can be rented from €12-15 per day.