For more detailed map please click HERE

For detailed directions from Athens Airport to Kimi click HERE

From Kimi you can take the boat and travel to the sporades islands as seen below

History

Kimi. In the past the city was also called “Koumi”. Some philologists consider that the name is a paraphrase of the ancient word “Komi”. Some others insist that it is pre-Hellenic. The name of Kimi is also connected with the name of a mythical female Amazon. On the contrary, the pragmatists believe that the root of the word is reduced to the noun “kima” meaning wave.

Kimi in Asia Minor “Aiolida”

A significant portion of historians believe that the Euboean Kimi is the metropolis of the ancient Greek colony in Asia Minor, Kimi in Aiolida. Moreover in the small confined Aegean, they can be found directly across each other.

Kimi in Italy “Campania - Cuma”

Both Greek and foreign scientists accept the historic relationship between Euboean Kimi and Kimi in Campania - Cuma (Italy), essentially the first Greek colony in the West. The Euboeans arrived around 750 BC and brought their written characters of the Euboean alphabet. The local inhabitants received it without change and created the later Latin alphabet. The letters C, F, L, P, m, R, S, X which differentiate the Latin alphabet from the Greek alphabet come from the Euboean alphabet of Kimi. A noteworthy fact which proves the prosperity of the latter colony is that, when it was destroyed by the eruption of the Vesuvius, it was rebuilt as a new city, the well known Neapolis (Napoli) in Italy. A characteristic of its cultural eminence is the existence of the oracle Cumean Sibillam, painted by Micelangelo in his famous frescoes on the roof of the Capella Sixtina.

Kimi in the 19^th century

From the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th is the time of new prosperity for Kimi, with its financial, social and cultural progress brought about by the seafaring trade with the trading centres of the Black Sea and France. Cumean ship-owners carried the local products, especially its famous red wine to those ports, especially Marseilles, where it was used by the French to colour their own wines. Wealth is brought back to Kimi, new enlightened ideas are carried over through the contact with western culture, and an urban way of thinking is developed. This can be clearly seen in the buildings, the local costume with its Renaissance influence, the cottage-industry, the lifestyle.

Georgios Papanikolaou (1883- 1962)

The famous doctor – researcher Georgios Papanikolaou was born in Kimi and raised here. He studied medicine in Athens and continued his studies in Germany. In 1913 he migrated to the United States where he was given the opportunity to devote himself to medical laboratory research. He is known worldwide for his discovery of the method of diagnosing uterine cancer. What we today know as the Pap test. This test has proven to be life saving to millions of women all over the world. His family’s house is preserved in Kimi.

 Traditional goods produced 

Silkworm art paintings, are arts and crafts made with the use of silkworms. They are the most representative products of traditional artwork done in the area.

In terms of agricultural products, figs are quite famous. You can easily find them wrapped in packages or sold loosely.  Equally famous are the local sweets like Baklava, Amigdalota (made with almonds) and sweets made from the juice of grapes called mousto like soutzoukia, haimalia and pastokidono.