KYTHIRA, THE APHRODITE’S ISLAND
General Information on Kythira Kythira belongs to the Ionian islands. It is located opposite the eastern tip of the Peloponnesus peninsula, has a surface area of about 280km² and is inhabited by approximately 3,400 people. The rugged terrain is a result of prevailing winds from the sea which have shaped its shores into steep rocky cliffs with deep bays. Despite the fact that it is considered an Ionian island, Kythira resembles more to the Cyclades islands in terms of architecture and landscape. Since World War II, most of Kythira’s inhabitants have immigrated to Athens or Australia. That’s the main reason why many of the island’s villages are deserted. Tourism is still quite undeveloped here and Kythira looks like a calm refuge, with astonishing deserted beaches and traditional villages.
History of Kythira Kythira is known as the isle of Aphrodite, goddess of love, for mythology says that Gaia (Earth), who wanted to punish her husband Uranus (Sky) for all the evils he had caused her, called her children and asked them to kill their father. Cronus killed his father by cutting him into pieces. Those parts fell in the sea near Kythira and formed two islets. The falling blood touched the sea foam, creating Aphrodite. The first temple for the worship of Aphrodite was found on Kythira and that is why Homer and Hesiode called it the holy island. However, despite the efforts, mostly by Heinrich Schliemann, to find of the remains of the temple, nothing has been found. The island of Kythira was inhabited during the Minoan period (3000-1200 B.C.) as well as the Mycenaean period (1400-1100 B.C.). There are very few archaeological finds on Kythira, still the earliest finds of local pottery date to the 3rd millennium B.C. It is known that the island was mainly under Sparta’s control and it continued to be inhabited during the Hellenistic and Roman period. In the 7th century, Kythira was part of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine gave the island to the Pope who, later on, gave it to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1207, three years after the Franks captured Constantinople, Marcos Venieris became the Marquis of Kythira. After the Franks, the island passed to the Venetians who tried to fortify and inhabit it as soon as they