Between the rocky crags and islets that form the small archipelagos just two strokes from the Turkish coast, lies an island large enough to be inhabited since the dawn of time. Its relative size is how Megisti, or largest, is said to have been named, despite being one of the smallest islands in the Mediterranean. This name was used until the Knights of St John arrived and built their Castello Rosso, a fortification atop a red cliff rising over the harbor and it was then named Kasterolizo. By another account, the island was named after the settlement that extended from the root (riza) of the kastello (castle) to the sea’s edge. Kastelorizo forms Greece’s easternmost border and lies in the embrace of the Asia Minor coast, a small island paradise that remains unspoiled despite its incredible beauty and long history, preserving both its landscape and its religious and folk customs. The feast of saints Constantine and Helen on May 21 is observed with a panigyri. The biggest is the observance of the feast of Profitis Ilias on July 20; according to local custom, on the feast’s eve, locals dive into the sea fully dressed—and sometimes pull guests in too. Music and dancing is also part of the panigyri of Ayia Paraskevi on July 26, while on August 14, the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin, children light fires and leap over their flames. On the day of the feast, church services include the transport of the icon through the village in procession.