Skorpios

Geography

The island, spanning 83.2 hectares (roughly 205 acres), is irregularly shaped, with main axes about 1,500 m and 1,000 m. It is heavily forested from south to north and features over 200 varieties of trees imported to the once nearly barren island by Aristotle Onassis. There are some sandy beaches, most notably East Beach, which was created by Onassis, who brought sand from Salamis Island for this purpose. It is home to three residences, a helicopter landing pad and a boat quay. Onassis also built harbor facilities in the bay on the north side for his Christina O yacht.

History

Skorpios is primarily known as the private island of the late Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis. It was bought in 1963 and believed to have cost him the equivalent of about €11,000 of today's money (2015). Numerous high profile parties were hosted during the time of Aristotle Onassis. Skorpios was also the site of his wedding to former United States First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on October 20, 1968. In 1971, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was photographed nude by an Italian paparazzo on a Skorpios beach. Upon Onassis's death the island was passed to his daughter Christina, and then in turn to her daughter Athina Onassis, the only surviving heir. Onassis, his son Alexander, and his daughter Christina are all buried on the island.

Rybolovlev long term lease

In April 2013, Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the 24-year-old daughter of Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, bought a group of companies from Athina Onassis for $153 million from her trust. The assets included a long term lease to Skorpios and its smaller islet, Sparti. Beginning in October 2018 and with a completion date of 2020, Rybolovleva began developing a 10,000 m2 luxury resort on Skorpios for a total investment estimated at €184 million. The island is a Natura 2000 protected area with no more than 5% of its area to be developed. Specifically, Onassis stated in his will that the island would remain in the family as long as they could afford to cover its maintenance expenses. According to the will, if his descendants could not cover the expenses, the island would be donated either to the now defunct Olympic Airlines or to the state.

References

References

1. "Onassis Brought Life to the Greek Island of Skorpios".
2. (17 November 2009). "Secret of Jackie Onassis nude paparazzi pictures revealed".
3. (30 May 2013). "Sale of Onassis island in doubt".
4. Burnett, Erin. (10 April 2013). "Island playground sells for $153 million". [[CNN]].com.
5. Zeveloff, Julie. (11 April 2013). "Russian Billionaire Buys Greece's Most Famous Private Island For $153 Million". [[Business Insider]].
6. Busvine, Douglas. (13 April 2013). "Russian billionaire's daughter buys Onassis island Skorpios".
7. Brennan, Morgan. (15 April 2013). "Confirmed: Russian Billionaire Heiress Buys Famed Greek Island Of Skorpios". [[Forbes]].
8. Kokkinidis, Tasos. (14 September 2018). "Russian Tycoon Starts €184Μ Development on Former Onassis Island".
9. The Greek government is yet to confirm the legality of the purchase. An investigation is underway, as Giannis Mihelakis (a [[New Democracy (Greece). link
10. (28 May 2013). "The Greek state is investigating the sale of Skorpios".