DODECANESSE – or “12-Islands” is a complex of 12 major and 151 small islands and islets in the east-south Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, southward of the island of Samos and northeastward of the island of Crete. In fact Dodecanese islands are the south-easternmost Greek frontier.  Out of total 163 islands only 26 are inhabited. Each one of them has long history dating as far back as pre-historic times and all of them are proud for their local color, architecture, rich history and the numerous and interesting sites for sightseeing. The islands’ complex was for centuries and still is controlled by the beautiful island of Rhodes, which is the largest and the most well-known of the chain.  The small distances between the islands and the frequent connections makes the Dodecanese islands also an ideal destination for island hopping. Though undoubtedly Greek in terms of history, culture, language and origin of their inhabitants, the islands of Dodecanese, during the course of their long and turbulent history, have been many times under occupation (the last have been by the Italians), have known many cultures, and were considered as a “bridge” between Asia, Europe and north Africa, due to their geographic location. Nowadays Dodecanese islands are a prime and most preferred tourist destination, due to the beauty of their Mediterranean nature, their historical and sometimes – as in case of Nissyros – geological interest and are visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. This effectively means that some of these islands (like Rhodes and Kos) are very developed in terms of touristic accommodation, offered entertainment and they certainly are a “shopping-paradise”.