A fantastic hiking and island-hopping adventure to the ‘’other’’ Cyclades: Kythnos; the original, Serifos; the iron island, Sifnos; the noble, history and geology on Milos, Kimolos; the discreet. They are all fabulous! Less advertised than their ‘’eastern’’ sisters, they all charm the traveler with their unique landscapes and each one with its own particular character.
Kythnos has two very picturesque main towns in the inland, thermal baths and a pilgrimage church on the east coast, the double beach of Kolona on the north-west. Barley for the Greek brewery Fix had been produced on Kythnos for more than one century.
According Greek Mythology, it was on Seriphos that Danae with her son (and Zeus’s) Perseus had disembarked. Later Perseus brought Medusa’s head as gift to their host; king Polidectes. Iron ores were mined here until the middle 20th century. Pano Chora; the island capital, is one of the most beautiful Cycladic villages.
During antiquity, the inhabitants of Sifnos were among the wealthiest because of their gold and silver mines. In Delphi they had dedicated to Apollo the most magnificent ‘’treasure’’, entirely made from white marble from Paros and decorated with priceless sculptures. From the monastery of Prophet Elias; the highest point of the island, one can enjoy one of the most impressive panoramas of the archipelago.
The most famous statue of Venus comes from Milos. Its deposits of black obsidian (a volcanic glass) were intensively exploited during prehistoric times. Its volcanic rocks formations on the north coast are between the most spectacular in Europe.
The small neighbor island of Kimolos was called ‘’Argentiera’’ during the Middle Ages, because of its silver (argent) coasts, which are rich in Kaolin; a special extremely white mineral. Its main village; Chorio, is one of the most authentic Cycladic villages.