Psathoura is the northernmost island of the group of Sporades. It is isolated and of course uninhabited. It has a beautiful exotic sandy beach with turquoise waters, named Mandraki. Although Mandraki beach is very beautiful we would recommend the trip to Psathoura ony to those who love isolation and explorations of the virgin nature. The islet is relatively far away from Alonissos and has nothing else to do there, so propably it is not worth the travelling (especially if you do not have enough days or if the weather is not calm) since all of the Sporades islands have magnificient beaches, many of them isolated and exotic. However if you love that kind of trips, Psathoura will be a unique experience.
Psathoura's name probably derives from its shape, as it resembles a straw hat (Psatha) floating on the sea. It has a diameter of two kilometres and an area of two square kilometres, and is eight miles from Yioura. Its highest point of 14 metres is on the northern side. Its position is Latitude N39°29.897' and Longitude E24°10.815'. Between 1893 and 1895 a lighthouse 25 metres tall was built, giving a steady light visible at 18 miles. Some ruins on the northern side seem to have been an ancient fortress, and on the southern and western sides are remains of habitations dating from Neolithic times.
Psathoura is formed from a volcano that was active in the Pleistocene era. The lava consists of augitic andesite and olivine. The surface is earthy and fertile, and there is some underground water. In the last century divers from Kalymnos reported seeing, off the southern coast at a depth of 10 to 17 metres, a ruined city.
According to K. Mavrikis in his book ANO MAGNITON NHSOI, Psathoura may have been the ancient Chrysi (‘Gold'). We give (in translation) some extracts from his book:
The name Chrysi was given to cities where there was gold mining, or which had some connection with the ‘Gold' of Athens, or a similarly sacred nature. Let us see what the great geographer Pausanias has to say about this island:
The island Chrysi is situated a short distance from Limnos. They say it was in Chrysi that Philoctetes met disaster in the form of a sea-snake. The entire island was covered by the waves, sank and disappeared into the depths. Another island called Iera (‘Sacred'), which had not existed before, (emerged): so ephemeral are the things of man. We return now to the Home