Cythera-Anticythera

Cythera is located to the south of the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, 12 .5 nautical miles from Cape Maleas . It is a mostly mountainous island, mainly in the western part, but with several fertile valleys, streams, and springs . The coastline of Cythera exceeds 110 kilometres and is characterized by steep coasts, mainly in the west, but also several smooth beaches with the possibility of mooring . Besides its incomparable natural beauty, a special feature of the Cythera landscape is the presence of many caves, both terrestrial and marine . Of the latter, the most important is the cave on the islet of Chytra or Avgo, south of Cythera, as it constitutes one of the habitats of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus Monachus), which frequents several of the coasts of Cythera . Caretta Caretta turtles are also frequently seen, as well as dolphins, which usually pass from the Cape Spathi area to the Dragoneres islets to feed . The Cythera sea, rich in fauna, has facilitated the development of fishing . There are five fishing harbors in Cythera (Agia Pelagia, Avlemonas, Pla-

tia Ammos, Agia Patrikia, Piso Gialos) and one in Anticythera (Potamos), while catches are landed in the Kapsali port . In the area operates a professional fishing association and there are 82 vessels . The sea of Cythera has been associated with the birth of Aphrodite . According to Hesiod (Theogony, 188-202), the goddess was born from the surf of the sea, when the genitals of the father of Uranus fell into the sea, after his castration by Saturn . The earliest traces of human presence on the island date back to the 8th millennium, while the involvement of Cythera in the Minoan cultural sphere has been ascertained from as early as the 3rd millennium; the Minoans had settled permanently at Kastri, near Avlemonas, establishing one of the their earliest colonies in the Aegean . Much later, around the 9th century BC Phoenicians began to settle in Cythera, apparently looking to take advantage of the purple dye murex (Haustellum Brandaris), which “The castle and town of Cerigo and port was abundant in the maritime area of the island and was used to produce the much sought after of Kapsali -Cerigo” deep red pigment . For this reason, the island was (Lear 1863, 20) known in antiquity, according to Stefanos Byzan-

tios, as “Porphyrousa” . The ancient city of Cythera was located in today’s Palaiokastro and its port was Skandeia (Palaiopolis), but the exact location of the famous sanctuary of Cytherea Aphrodite has not yet been identified . According to Thucydides (4, 53, 1), the island was a station for trading ships from Egypt and Libya .

The earthquake of AD 365, which hit Crete and the Peloponnese, as well as the Slavic and Arab raids later on, were the cause of the almost complete desolation of Cythera for many centuries . At the end of the 10th-beginning of the 11th century, Cythera was repopulated by Peloponnesians and a little later by Cretans . The 4th Crusade was, in essence, the beginning of the centuries-long Venetian presence on the island, which had enormous strategic importance for colonial Venice . The island was characterized as “eye of Crete” and “beacon of the Archipelago” . Like the rest of the Ionian Islands, Cythera was found in the midst of the Napoleonic wars and in 1800 the island was included in the Ionian Islands State . Two years later, the barge “Mentor”, owned by the infamous Lord Elgin, loaded with crates full of sculptures from the Parthenon and other Athenian antiquities, bound for Malta and then Britain, attempted to approach Avlemonas but a sea storm caused it to crash into the rocks . Among the twelve passengers, all of whom were rescued, was the secretary of Elgin, who requested the assistance of Emmanuel Caloutsis, British vice-consul on the island, in order to resque the valuable cargo . The operation lasted nearly two and a half years and considerable effort was made to conceal the contents of the cargo . Seven Kalymnian divers undertook the recovery, for a nominal fee . The boxes with the antiquities were not opened, but were placed on the beach of Avlemonas, covered with seaweed, bushes or stones and kept under constant guard . Eventually, the sculptures continued their journey to Britain in the winter of 1804-1805 loaded onto other ships . In recent years, underwater research has been carried out in the area of the wreck, which has brought to light many of the personal belongings of the passengers and crew of the “Mentor”, ancient coins and fragments of two Egyptian sculptures .

In 1809 Cythera was occupied by the British and joined the federal United State of the Ionian Islands, which was created as a British protectorate in 1815 . During the British occupation, which lasted until 1864, many public works were carried out, among them the lighthouses of Kapsali and Moudari . The first was built in 1853 on the hill that dominates the Kapsali bay, where the port of Chora is located . The Moudari lighthouse was built at the northernmost point of the island, at Cape Spathi, in 1857 . With a tower height of 25 metres and a focal height of 110 metres, the Moudari lighthouse is the largest lighthouse built by the British in Greece .

At the end of the 19th century there was a significant migratory movement towards Smyrna, but also Piraeus, America and, above all, Australia . The migratory stream was revived after World War II, to the extent that entire villages were deserted . Despite this, the remaining residents, with the support of the numerous associations of Cytherian emigrants, undertook initiatives that contributed decisively to the implementation of infrastructure projects . Among them was the construction of the port in Diakofti, which began in 1982 . Being protected from all winds, it is one of the safest ports in the country . Apart from the old port in Kapsali, which now functions as a marina for recreational boats, there are ports in Agia Pelagia, Platia Ammos and Avlemonas . The construction of the new port and the airport contributed to the development of Cytherian tourism, a relatively neglected sector until the 1980s . In addition to the island’s magnificent beaches, one of Cythera’s best-known marine attractions and a popular diving spot is the halfsubmerged carcass of the cargo ship “Nordland”, which crashed into the islet of Prasonisi, outside Diakofti in 2000 . [AL]

The renovated Cavallini house, which used to accommodate the customs office during the 19th century

The small island of Anticythera is located between Cythera and Crete, from which it is 22 and 18 nautical miles away, respectively . It is a rocky, barren place, which, combined with its almost entirely steep coastline, did not favour habitation, even though its earliest traces date back to the 3rd millennium BC . There are very few ancient references to the island, which was known as “Aegilia” (Plutarch, Kleomenis, 31 & 32), which could be traslated as “Goat Island” . During the Bronze Age, Anticythera was clearly part of the Minoan cultural sphere, a further proof of how much Aegean shipbuilding and navigation had evolved during this period . According to the available archaeological data, the island was not permanently inhabited from the 13th to the 4th century BC, during the second half of which a fortified settlement was built, on the initiative of the Cretans of Falasarna, on the Castle hill, which was meant to function as an advanced naval base of then . The town was destroyed in the 1st century BC by the Romans and since then Anticythera remained largely uninhabited, while it was often used as a base for pirate ships . In recent years, Anticythera occasionally served as an anchorage or pasture and hunting ground for the inhabitants of north-western Crete and Cythera until the 1770s, when a few Sfakian families settled there . The inhabitants were engaged in fishing, farming and, probably piracy . In April

1900, the famous shipwreck of Anticythera was discovered by Symian spongers, at a very short distance from the north-eastern coast of the island . In November 1900, the Greek state undertook the retrieval of the findings with the assistance of Greek Navy ships . The operation, which continued until September 1901, was extremely difficult by the standards of the time . During the retrieval, one diver lost his life, while two others were struck down by ‘diver’s disease’ . The sunken ship, a Roman merchant ship, is estimated to have been wrecked in the 1st century BC, during a trading voyage from the coast of Asia Minor to the Italian peninsula . Its cargo was valuable, carrying amphorae, glass objects, marble sculptures, the impressive bronze statues of the ‘Anticythera Epheber’ and the ‘Philosopher’, and the famous ‘Anticythera Mechanism’ . The wreck was re-investigated in 1976, by the famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, while new scientific research with important finds has been underway since 2014 . In 1915-1918, during World War I Anticythera was used as a port of anchorage for units of the French fleet and as a communication staLeft: Section of the Anticythera Mechanism (photo tion . A few years later, one of the largest oil light houses in the Aegean was built on Cape Apoli credit: Tilemachos tara, at the southernmost tip of the island . It has Efthymiadis); right: a tower with a height of 23 metres . Access to The Anticyrthera the lighthouse is only by sea, and its approach is Ephebe. Both items are located in the National often impossible due to adverse weather conditions . Nevertheless, the Russian admiral Nikolaos Archaeological Filosofov served as a lighthouse keeper in 1926Museum 1933 at this remote lighthouse . [AL]