Page 190 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Greek Islands

25 STREAMLINE
LÉROS MODERNE
ARCHITECTURE
As part of colonization
ΛΈΡΟΣ by the Italians, compre ­
hensive town planning
was under taken at
~ Parthéni 4 Lakkí, Agía Marína @ Plateía Plátanos, Lakkí on Léros. Much
EXPERIENCE The Dodecanese including by the Italians from 1912 until 1943, who left a style, but Lakkí is a
Plátanos n Harbourfront, Lakkí; www.leros.gr
building was in the
Léros is marked by a varied history of occupation –
prevailing Rationalist
splendid example of
unique collection of modernist buildings. United with
Streamline Moderne, a
Greece in 1948, Léros was subsequently used as a prison
form of Art Deco. The
for political dissidents by the junta. Tourism is low-key,
model town included a
but life here is traditional and the locals are friendly and
market hall with clock
very welcoming.
tower and circular
arcaded primary school
1
(still in use), Ágios
base, sit huge dry docks,
Nikólaos church and
Lakkí site of the former Italian naval atrium (1936), an
which remain some of the
Lakkí, the main port and busiest in the Aegean. Albergo Romana.
former capital when Léros was Housed in an Italian-dug
occupied by Italians, has one underground gallery, the
of the best natural harbours in War Museum at nearby 2
the Aegean, and it served as Merikiá tells the story of a
an anchorage point in turn for battle that took place here in Plátanos
the Italian, German and British November 1943 with histrionic ⌂ 4 km (2 miles) N
fleets. Today the town recordings, military debris of Lakkí
resembles a disused film set, and interesting archival
full of 1930s build ings, the footage from the aftermath. Expelled by the Italians,
legacy of Italian attempts to native Lerians moved north
rebuild Lakkí to Mussolini’s War Museum to Plátanos, now the island
vision of a Fascist dream town. ⌂ Tunnel, Merikiá § 22470 capital. Straddling a hilltop,
Around the bay at Teménia, 28199 # 10am–1pm daily the town’s houses spill down

Stone steps descending from
the Byzantine kástro above
the village of Plátanos
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