The island of Kasos is part of the Dodecanese archipelago and it is located in the southernmost area of the eastern Aegean Sea, belonging to the periphery (region) of the Southern Aegean. The territory is mountainous (the highest peak reaches 601 meters), and on the 64 square kilometers of surface, with a coastline of 59 kilometers, live about 1000 people.
The sea, the boats and the sailors are the protagonists of this place. The capital is Fri, where the ferry port is located. On the side, 500 meters away, there is the small port of Emporios, where only fishing boats dock, and the beach of the same name, the only one on the island with an equipped bathing establishment. The other villages are Agia Marina, the largest and most populated, Polly, the oldest, located on an ancient acropolis, Panaya, above the old fishing port, and Arvanitohori, at the foot of the mountains.
In addition to the equipped beach of Emporios, you can take a nice swim in the clear waters by going to the beach of Ammoua, on the west coast, near which there are four other small beaches, or to the beach of Helatros, on the south-west coast, made up from pebbles. The most enchanting is that of very fine sand of Marmara, on the uninhabited islet of Armathia, the largest of all the small islands surrounding Kasos.
Festivals in honor of the saints are frequently celebrated throughout the year inside and outside the churches, characterized by live lyre and lute music, dances, poems and local food and wine.
Among the many churches, that of Agios Spiridonas, the patron saint of the island, in Fri, is one of the most suggestive, with its four semi-cylindrical domes and internal hagiography. In Arvanitohori we find the church of Agios Dimitrios, with a high bell tower and architecturally special, as well as the church of the Assumption in Pera Panagia.
Along the mountain paths, the stone huts of the shepherds stand out, the famous mitata, which reveal the pastoral soul, which coexists with the seafaring one, of the territory. In the cheese factory of Agia Marina you can buy all the varieties of local cheese.
At first glance, looking at Kasos from the ferry or from the plane just before arriving, one notices above all the rocky and wild shape of the island, but as one gets closer one notices the small villages, and gradually discovers that it is actually a very hospitable place surrounded by the blue sea.