Karpathos is a tiny, beautiful island between Rhodes and Crete that rises from the blue Mediterranean as a massive rock. Crete's fans know the island as a place with little tourism and friendly inhabitants. According to Greek mythology, Iapetus was king of the Titans and son of Uranus and Gaia. Athena is said to have sprung here from the head of Zeus. Karpathos was once a centre of Doric culture, which built four cities here and thus was known even to Homer as Tetrapolis, or the island of four cities. The cities are still there. Karpathos was once known as "Poseidion", in honour of Poseidon, the god of the sea.
