page_title: Kastellorizo
section_title: Ancient period
hierarchical_section_title: Kastellorizo / History / Ancient period
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Kaş in en:Turkey and the island of en:Kastelorizo in en:Greece on the Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation) of en:Piri Reis
context_page_description: Kastellorizo or Castellorizo, officially Meyisti, is a Greek island and municipality of the Dodecanese in the Eastern Mediterranean. It lies roughly 2 kilometres off the south coast of Turkey, about 570 km southeast of Athens and 125 km east of Rhodes, almost halfway between Rhodes and Antalya, and 280 km northwest of Cyprus. Kastellorizo is part of the Rhodes regional unit.
  The island has become more popular in recent years among tourists looking for an isolated place in the Dodecanese, thanks also to the 1991 Oscar-winning movie Mediterraneo, by Gabriele Salvatores, which is set on the island during the Second World War.
context_section_description: The island was colonised by Dorian Greeks, who named it "Megiste". In Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax it is written that the island belonged to the Rhodians. In addition, inscriptions found at the foot of the Knight's castle confirm that during the Hellenistic period the island was ruled by Rhodes, and formed part of its Peraia. The Rhodians sent an overseer, or epistates, to monitor events on the island.
caption: Historic map of Kastellorizo by Piri Reis.
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