7. Where was the Greek island the Beatles wanted? The evidence for the three locations linked to them
Greek islands in at least three different locations have been linked to the Beatles. But two of these possibilities were apparently quashed at an early stage.
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There has been some confusion over which Greek island the Beatles wanted to buy in 1967. A large number of reports say it was the guitar-shaped Trinity Island (Agia Triada), while Tsougria, off the coast of Skiathos, is also sometimes suggested. And I’ve argued that it’s likely that the group wanted to buy some of the Lichadonisia islands.
So which of these was it? In one sense, the answer may be ‘all of them’. But for two of these locations at least, it appears that any interest the Beatles may have had was quashed before detailed discussions about a possible purchase could take place.
We do know, however, that there were detailed discussions within the British government – recorded in the UK’s National Archives – about whether to grant the Beatles’ request, which concerned a specific island. These conversations began with a letter from the Beatles’ lawyers on 25 July 1967, and continued until permission was granted in mid-August.
And it was not until much later that the Beatles’ lawyers informed the government that the proposed purchase would no longer go ahead. A memo from a Bank of England official on 30 October explained they had been told that “although negotiations with the vendors of the Greek island [the Beatles] were proposing to purchase did proceed, they were advised of certain legal difficulties and of additional sums required to acquire the land in question”.
So which island was it that was referred to in the Beatles’ application?
Trinity island: ‘wasn’t for sale’
Many articles claim that the Beatles were interested in buying Trinity Island (Agia Triada), which is opposite Eretria in the Evian Gulf and often said to be shaped like a guitar. According to a member of the family that owns the island, while the Beatles did visit this island in the 1960s, it wasn’t for sale.
In 1958, the island was bought by Sophocles Papanicolaou, who was Keeper of the Privy Purse to the King of Greece, meaning he managed the government budget to the king as head of state, as well as the private finances of the Royal Family. Sophocles' wife Lilika was an internationally renowned artist whose paintings of outer space became famous, and was also close to the Greek royals. And Sophocles was the nephew of the doctor George Nicholas Papanicolaou, who invented the ‘Pap test’ for early detection of women’s cervical cancer. During Sophocles’ ownership, the island was visited by the King and Queen of Greece as well as other prominent people, including Aristotle Onassis, Winston Churchill, Sheikh Yamani, the then Minister of Petroleum for Saudi Arabia, and the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie.
Sophocles' son Nicholas, who is the only surviving member of the second generation of the owners of the island, told me that in the mid-1960s – he thinks in 1967 – his late father was approached by Alexis Mardas, whom he knew socially, to ask if the Beatles could visit the island. Sophocles was happy to allow the Beatles to join the island's list of famous visitors. But having recently added amenities onto the island such as houses and electricity generators, he was not interested in selling: “When it turned out that the Beatles might have an interest in purchasing it, at that point my father really was not interested.”
And the Beatles’ interest in this island apparently went no further than that.
Tsougria: sale ‘blocked by the Greek government’
At the time, the Greek media linked the Beatles to Tsougria, a small islet off the coast of Skiathos. But this possibility was apparently blocked at an early stage by the Greek government.
In a 2017 article on lifo.gr, the journalist Fontas Trousas refers to an article in the Greek newspaper Makedonia on 29 July 1967, which discusses the Beatles’ apparent interest in Tsougria.
The article, accessible in an online archive, describes Tsougria as “a little island opposite Skiathos, thick with pine, olive and fruit trees and with three sandy beaches”. The “charming little island”, it says, was to be sold by its owner to the Beatles for 12.5 million drachma (at the time, equivalent to about £150,000) – but this would have meant denying access to the Greek people, as (the article says) had happened before with many other islands and beaches.
The Makedonia column continues:
“The Ministry of Agriculture prohibited the sale and rejected the intervention of tourism, which thinks everything is about money and supported the sale. So Tsougria will remain free Greek territory for all Greeks to enjoy.”
(The reference to ‘tourism’ here presumably refers either to the government ministry responsible for tourism or another official tourism body.)
The article also reports comments from Paul McCartney on the discussions:
“We wanted to buy it, said one of the Beatles, Paul, but they are no longer selling it to us. They told us that selling big plots of land is no longer allowed in Greece.”
And the Makedonia writer adds:
“There is no doubt that if the Beatles were to settle in Greece, it would be tourism propaganda of the first class. Besides propaganda, though, Greeks have the right to enjoy the Greek land, for which they have worked so hard and which is so blessed by nature.”
This article does indeed indicate that the Beatles were interested in Tsougria. But it also says that the Greek government had blocked the proposed sale before the end of July.
Lichadonisia: ‘couldn’t reach an agreement’
The Beatles’ apparent interest in both Agia Triada and Tsougria, then, seems to have been rebuffed an early stage – meaning that these islands are unlikely to have been the subject of the later extensive discussions among British government officials.
What’s more, neither of these islands matches the existing descriptions of the island the Beatles actually began the process of buying. A number of accounts describe this island as about 80 acres big, with several smaller surrounding islands. In contrast, Tsougria is about 290 acres large, while Agia Triada is about 12 acres. Tsougria does have some smaller islands fairly nearby – but these are generally seen as separate entities rather than part of an archipelago.
A much better match for these descriptions are the Lichadonisia. The largest island in this group, Monolia, is about 85 acres in size, and very close to the smaller islands. What’s more, The Beatles Anthology documentary contains images of an island which closely resembles Monolia.
There is also an account of the Beatles’ interest in this group of islands. Giorgos Lyberis, whose family owns land on Monolia, told me he had heard from his grandfather that many years ago, a representative of the Beatles had visited the island and made inquiries about the group buying it. In Giorgos’ understanding, it was not possible for the different people that owned the land to firmly agree on going ahead with this, so ultimately the sale didn’t happen.
Giorgos Lyberis told me that about five families have historically owned land on Monolia - but due to plots being divided through inheritance, he estimates that there are probably now about 50 or 60 individual land owners. (Most of the smaller Lichadonisia are owned by the local municipality. One, Strongyli, is owned by the Greek navy and may not have been included in the plans for the sale.)
This account is consistent with the archive records, which suggest that negotiations over the island purchase continued for several months before the plans fizzled out. One possibility is that the Beatles, through their lawyers, may have put in an application to the government for permission to buy the Lichadonisia, while discussions continued with the various land owners there over the practicalities.
(Through their representatives, I have offered Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr the opportunity to comment on the matters discussed above.)
Another mystery: Aegos in Konstadinos or Agios Konstantinos?
That could help explain the absence of a vendor’s name in the documents. But another mystery is the name given for the island in the archive files: Aegos in Konstadinos. I know of no Greek island with this name, and have been told it doesn’t sound like a Greek place name.
Interestingly though, there is a port with a very similar name – Agios Konstantinos – on the Greek mainland across the gulf from north Evia. It is very close to the Lichadonisia, and not far from Agia Triada and Skiathos (today, ferries regularly depart from there for Skiathos).
It’s conceivable that someone connected to these discussions was aware of the name Agios Konstantinos. Whether this could somehow have led to the puzzling name ‘Aegos in Konstadinos’ being attributed to the island in the official documents, we can only speculate.
Read more: Journal of Beatles Studies: ‘Used as propaganda?’
Watch: Interview on Plastic EP YouTube channel
Listen: Beatles Books podcast: Follow the Sun