This is a beautiful small island opposite Gargaliani.
It is only one mile from the shore. It has no water and it is inhabited. It is
used for the winter grass of the sheep. Its name, Proteas, is from the son of
the sea God Poseidon.
This island is of great archaeological importance. There are ruins
of the acropolis of either of Mycenaean or pre classical time with walls and a
circling castle. In the point "Grammeno" there are about 30 signposts
of wishes for fair voyages throughout the Post Classical, Roman and Byzantine
era. These signposts have wishes of the various salesmen who had been there with
their boats in order to survive from storms and asked the gods to offer them safety
during their voyages. In the island there is also a small chapel dedicated to
fair voyaging and Artemis and there has been built a small church to honour Virgin
Mary.
During the thriving of piracy, Proti was used as a hideout by the
pirate Katoulias, and it was in Proti that the battleship, "Spetsai"
anchored in 1899 to survive from a heavy storm in the Ionian Sea.
