The Municipality of Karpathos belongs to the Prefecture of the Dodecanese of the South Aegean Region and its present form is due to the consolidation of the former municipality of Karpathos and the Olympus community, according to the Kallikratis Program. The Municipality consists of the islands of Karpathos, Sharia and the neighboring islets.
The Municipality has an area of ​​324,07km2 and a population of 6,226 inhabitants, based on the latest census of 2011.
The seat of the Municipality of Karpathos is Karpathos and the historic seat of Olympus.
Karpathos is the second largest island in the Dodecanese and is located between Rhodes and Crete.
Tradition says that Karpathos was the birthplace of Proteus, while Prometheus lived for years on the island. The island was first inhabited by the Cretan Minoans.
The Dorians followed along the path of Karpathos joining the Athenian Alliance. Later the Romans came, while during the Byzantine period the island suffered many attacks by pirates. In 1206 he was captured by Leo Gavalas, followed by the Genoese, the Knights of Rhodes and the Venetians. In 1538 Karpathos was subjugated to the Turks for four centuries. In the revolution of 1821, Karpathos managed to liberate itself for seven years, but in 1832, the basis of the London Protocol was returned to the Turks until 1912, when the Italians conquered it. Karpathos joined with Greece in 1948.
The capital of the island, which is also a port, Karpathos or Pigadia is built between a hill and a sandy beach and most of its houses are new.
Olympos or Elympos, as the locals call it, is a village built on the mountains of the island. The inhabitants were forced to create this settlement in the 7th century in order to escape the Saracens pirates. In Olympus, time seems to have stopped in the Middle Ages, because the settlement remained undisturbed despite the end of the centuries. Tradition was also preserved in the customs and customs of the inhabitants. Still women wear the traditional costume of the area, a phenomenon unique in modern times.
The beaches of the island are many with the most famous of Kyra Panagia, Diakofti, Apella, Amopopi and others.