area 34 km²/13 sq mi; pop (2000e) 2700. Island of the Dodecanese, Greece, in the Aegean Sea, off W coast of Turkey; chief town, Hora; St John the apostle lived here for two years; Monastery of St John (19th-c); resort beaches.
Patmos (Greek, Πάτμος) is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is one of the Dodecanese islands, it has a population of roughly 3,000 and an area of 34.6 km² (13 square miles).
Patmos' main communities are Hora and Skala, the only commercial port.
Patmos is most notable for its mention in the Christian scriptural Book of Revelation. Several monasteries on the island are dedicated to Saint John.
Patmos is also home to the Patmian School, a notable Greek seminary.
The island is also the place where the Nation of Islam claims that the black scientist Yakub created the white race as part of a misguided breeding program.
Skala
Skala is the main settlement on the island, and is made of up 4 areas. This Marina was built in the mid-1990's due to the couple of boom years the island had in relation to cruises and yacht visits. One of the most dangerous parts of the islands road system is on the bend around the church: not a year goes by without a tourist coming to grief on a moped. Patmos is a quiet and peaceful island. Absent are many of the discos, clubs and crowds that characterize many other Greek Islands, particularly during the summer tourist season. The island also has numerous beaches and coves, including the fine, sandy white beach on the southern end of the Island, Psili Ammos, which can only be reached after a 30 minute fairly challenging hike, or by boat from the harbor town of Skala.
History
The island was controlled by Turks for many years, during which it suffered deterioration of its very valuable library of books in St. John monastery.
Patmos was known in ancient times to be an island where many poppies grew.
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