Hydra

Hydra had only a small population in antiquity and is barely mentioned by ancient writers, and it emptied again in the Middle Ages, when pirate raids drove its people away. Arvanite settlers from the mainland repopulated it from the late Middle Ages, with a last wave in the early 18th century, and under Ottoman rule its merchants built a fleet that carried goods between southern Russia and the Italian ports of Ancona and Livorno. The plague of 1792 killed much of the population, but by the time of the Greek Revolution the island had some 16,000 inhabitants, and the captains' mansions around the harbour show how much shipping had made them.

In April 1821 Antonis Oikonomou expelled the Ottoman governor and declared for the independence struggle, against island leaders reluctant to lose their privileged position. Hydra's ships then became the core of the Greek navy: Admiral Andreas Miaoulis used Hydriot fire ships against the Ottoman fleet, and with the fleets of Psara and Spetses the islanders won control of the eastern Aegean. Lazaros Kountouriotis gave his whole fortune to the cause.

Independence ended Hydra's maritime importance, and hardship, unemployment and emigration followed; many mansions fell into ruin. During the Axis occupation of 1941–43 famine struck, and an estimated eight per cent of the population died of starvation. From the 1950s artists and tourists rediscovered the island, and tourism now sustains it. Fire destroyed much of the eastern pine forest in 2007, and in June 2024 fireworks launched from a yacht burned the island's only pine forest.

Hydra's identity rests on its naval past. The captains' mansions — of the Kountouriotis, Tombazis, Tsamados, Miaoulis and other families — still dominate the harbour, some now holding a maritime academy, a branch of the Athens School of Fine Arts and a branch of the National Museum of History. Each June the Miaoulia festival honours Admiral Miaoulis and the naval battles of the War of Independence.

Hydra is one of the few places where Arvanitika, the language of the Arvanites, long held its own: it was spoken by all Hydriots, favoured by the merchant class, and even used in church liturgy, and the Arvanite community survives today. The island is devoutly Orthodox, with numerous churches and six monasteries.

In the 1950s and 1960s Hydra became the adopted home of a community of foreign artists and writers, among them the Norwegian novelist Axel Jensen, the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, and Leonard Cohen, who wrote "Bird on the Wire" and "So Long, Marianne" here. The 2019 documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love recalled that time. Art remains part of island life: the Deste Foundation opened a Hydra space in 2009, Wilhelmina's Art Gallery shows contemporary work at Mandraki, and the house of the painter Panagiotis Tetsis is now a museum.

About 2,000 people live in the municipality of Hydra (2021 census), which includes the island of Dokos and a few islets, and most of them live in Hydra town; the rest are in small villages and hamlets such as Kamini, Vlychos, Mandraki, Episkopi and Molos. The island depends on tourism, and Athenians make up a sizeable share of its visitors, many of them driving to Metochi on the Peloponnese coast and crossing by the short passenger ferry.

The absence of wheeled vehicles shapes every day. Goods, building materials and luggage go up the lanes on the backs of mules and donkeys, the rubbish trucks are the only engines on land, and water taxis do the work of buses. The day turns on the arrivals of the hydrofoils from Piraeus, when the quay fills with day visitors, and on the evening, when they leave and islanders reclaim the harbourfront cafés.

Winter is quiet: ferries thin out, many businesses close, and the year-round community is small. Wildfire is the island's great worry after the fires of 2007 and 2024, along with the pressure of summer crowds on a small place.

Hydra eats the food of the Greek islands and the Saronic Gulf. Tavernas serve a spread of meze — tzatziki, taramosalata, melitzanosalata, dolmades and grilled octopus — with horiatiki, the village salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta, followed by baked dishes such as moussaka and gemista, or grilled souvlaki. Much of the seafood on the harbourside menus is imported frozen, so it pays to ask what is local.

The harbour is lined with cafés and restaurants, which form the island's social centre, while Kamini, west of the town, has a few simple tavernas where most of the customers are islanders, and the pebble beach at Vlychos has tavernas a few steps from the water. Ouzo with meze is the classic drink by the sea, and frappé coffee is part of the Greek breakfast.

Sweets follow the national repertoire: loukoumades, fried dough balls often spiced with cinnamon and drizzled with honey, baklava, and amygdalota, almond sweets made with sugar and flower water.