1. Settings – Environment

Nimos is the largest of the uninhabited skerries surrounding marchland Symi, and is located to its northeast, in the area of the Dodecanese, north of Rhodes and northeast of Tilos, where the Asia Minor gulf of Doris is formed. Its ground is dry and arid. Its shores at the north side are steep, while at the south side the coastline is not that wild.

2. History

The cultural development of Nimos has been defined by the fate of neighboring Symi, which was influenced itself by the largest Dodecanesian island, Rhodes. Human traces from the Neolithic (4th millennium B.C.) up to the Mycenaean Period (1600-1200 B.C.) prove how little Nimos and the rest skerries were involved in Prehistoric developments.

3. Archaeological sites and monuments

We have traces of tower-like structures dating from Hellenistic Times, the so-called “Castles”. Symi and the skerries are scattered with them, proof of the great prosperity of this island complex during that time. Residents of Symi and Nimos belonged to one of the Hellenistic Rhodian municipalities of Peraia, probably the Municipality of Kasareis.

4. Cultivation and farming

On its surface, we can see oblong zones of land, which surround natural channels marked with stone structures (dry-stone walls) and retain the soil and moisture (from rain water), creating thus favorable conditions for the development of cultivable land. In addition, vertical stone structures diverted the rain flow, channeling it into basins and pits for the animals. The agricultural-farming exploitation of uninhabited and arid skerries suggests an interesting model of non-bourgeois development of faraway areas, according to the local society’s needs, aiming to enhance a more traditional and nature-friendly way of developing.

5. Current condition

Nowadays, Nimos is uninhabited. Nevertheless, the church of Panagia i Apokoui and its beautiful and deserted beaches attract few lucky tourists in the summertime. With a small boat (kaiki) from Symi, they can visit them, following a more alternative way of vacation. In 1971, Nimos had six residents, obviously shepherds, while it’s located within an area that dominated until recently the sponge trade worldwide. At the same time, its entire surface has been acknowledged as a wild life sanctuary, demonstrating thus that an area is not deserted when abandoned by men; on the contrary, it can be a core of a balanced growth of flora and fauna.