In the last few days, the viral yet small and unknown island of Psimythos somewhere in the Aegean in Greece has generated endless memes and discussions on “X” (formerly Twitter). However, the catch is that this island doesn’t actually exist but is merely a prank or fabrication of the imagination.
Nonetheless, Psimythos, the imaginary paradise, has captured the imagination of users across the X platform.
The story of Psimythos, the viral yet fabricated island of Greece in the Aegean, began with a tweet from the user @beatBukowski, also known as News24. Behind that name is Kostas Maniatis, a journalist, who jokingly suggested:
“Come up with a fake island name, something cool like Psimythos, and say that’s where the scene was this year. Haven’t been to Psimythos? Oh man, you missed out. It was wild this year.”
This playful idea quickly caught on, with the Greek X community eagerly constructing the myth of Psimythos, a fictional island in Greece’s Aegean that has now won the hearts of “travelers” everywhere.
One Greek X user created a fake Wikipedia profile of the island, while others wrote a travel guide, set up a website, psimythos.gr, and even created a trailer for a documentary on the said island. There were also supposedly “photos” of famous Greek travel YouTubers Eftihis Bletsas and Tasos Dousis on the island and even a picture of Jennifer Lopez vacationing there.
Pop singer Pan Pan shared a poster for his next concert on Psimythos, and people could even book trips to the viral island supposedly in the Aegean in Greece. “Once you needed a boat, a caique, and a ten-minute swim to reach Psimythos, and now you can go directly by boat and even bring a car with you. There goes the island completely,” shared @o_silencios on X.
X user @Lysigakis posted screenshots of ferry routes, saying, “The rude lady at a ferry company refused to give me a discount on the route to #Psimythos. Only booking online from now on, guys.”
In a matter of hours, Psimythos went from a random tweet to a full-blown internet sensation. Users began sharing stories, photoshopping images, and even providing fake travel tips about the island, contributing to the illusion of a real destination.
Users on X shared things like, “In Psimythos, they make the best espresso and the best chocolate pie.”
“I’m spending a week in Psimythos. Towel under the tamarisk tree. Local ouzo with ice and marinated anchovy, lulled by the waves. What more could you want?” tweeted another X user.
Another user uploaded photos and videos supposedly from Psimythos captioning them: “The ship of the line to #Psimythos and Panagia Psimythiotisa with the monastery of the same name.”
From the best spots to watch the sunset to the must-try local delicacies, Psimythos quickly became the place to be in Greece—at least online.
Netflix seized the opportunity to promote the release of the series Lost on its platform by using the fictional island of Psimythos. After all, a key element of the show which caused quite a stir when it aired was the island—a fictional place with peculiar qualities.
Accompanied by an image of the island from the series and the text “Psimythos, the Lost Island” in bold, Netflix’s post for the series reads:
“Lost for days on a single island…LOST, all seasons now on Netflix.”
The post on X by Greece’s health minister
It was inevitable that some people would get caught up in the whirlwind of comments and start googling “Psimythos,” while others believed it was all part of a grand conspiracy against them.
Conservative Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis blamed the Psimythos hype on “opposition trolls,” who, he claimed, were promoting a false narrative so as to imply that the National Health System (ESY) is collapsing. Georgiadis said:
“But what they did…crossed the line. It all started with a story about ‘the last rural doctor who posted on Facebook that he couldn’t take it anymore and was leaving…’ and then came the posts about how ‘Psimythos has been left without a doctor,’ etc. And ‘This is Adonis’ ESY,’ etc. But not only is the news about the doctor’s resignation false, but the island where healthcare is supposedly collapsing doesn’t even exist!…And they shouldn’t say they did it for fun, because by tomorrow, if I hadn’t made this post, half of Greece would believe that…Psimythos had been left without a doctor and that ESY was collapsing…So, at some point, this all had to stop.”
Nonetheless, the truth of the matter is that, for now, Psimythos remains the ultimate dream destination, one that exists only in our minds and on our screens—and perhaps that’s exactly what makes it so irresistible.
