HISTORY:The island was initially inhabited by Phoenicians and Carians who called it Akys or Mepopia.They were followed by The Minoans who changed its name to Minoa. From That time on it shared the fate of the other Cyclades flourishing particularly from the time it was colonized by the lonians until the Classical era.As a member of the Athenian Confederacy, it took part of the Persian Wars. The extent of Sifnos power and wealth, stemming from its gold and silver mines, is reflected in the magnificent treasury its citizens dedicated to Apollo at Delphi. Under The Byzantine empire it belonged to the Theme of the Aegean , passing in 1207 to the Venetians and the Duchy of Naxos. Though it was sacked by barbarossa in 1537, its feudal rules, the Gozzandini, managed to hold onto the island until 1617 when it passed to the Turks. Sifnos was active in thww struggle for independence which it won at the same time as rest of the Cyclades.

SIGHTSEEING:Finds from excavation of Agios Andreas, Kalamitsi and Agios Nikitas prove that the island was inhabited from prehistoric through Hellenistic age without break.Near Platys Yialos there are ruins of a Hellenistic tower. The capital, Apollonia, is built like an amphitheater on the sides of three low hills in the heart of the island. Its old mansions and churches are particularly attractive, and there one can visit an exhibition of folk arts and crafts. Kastro, built on a precipitous rock on the east coast of the island, was inhabited in prehistoric times as digs of the British Scholl of Archeology reveal. Up to 1836 it was the capital of Sifnos. While ancient traces date from the 8th century BC, the castle itself belongs to the 14th century. The most impressive Byzantine monument on the island is the  monastery of Prophitis Illias, dating to the 8th century. Other monasteries worth visiting are Vrysi (16th c), Chrysostomos (1550), and the Panayia of Chrysopighi (17th c). At Seralia one can detect the outlines of the mediaeval harbour installations.