HISTORY: Kythera, a large island opposite the south-east coast of the Peloponnese, was first settled in the second millennium BC by Minoans, Phoenicians and then Mycenaeans. It belonged in turn to the Spartans, Athenians, Macedonians and Byzantines, in later years,falling to the Venetians, Turks and British. Like the other lonians, Kythera was joined to Greece in 1864.

SIGHTSEEING: In earliest times, Kythera was a holy place dedicated to Aphrodite, whose sanctuary lay near present-day Palaiokastro. Mycenaean tombs have been discovered at Palaiopolis, and the iocal museum’s collection includes an importan! statue of Aphrodite with Eros. The capital is dominated by the Venetian castle (1316). Worth seeing are the Cave of Agia Sophia with its stalagtites and stalagmites and Mylopotamos with its 24 water mills. Among the most interesting religious monuments are the church of the town’s patron saint Elessa (1871) and the monastery of the Virgin Myrtidiotissa (19th c.). An isiand of great natural beauty, Kythera has few facilities for tourists. One can visit wild, sparsely populated Antikythera by caique to ”get away from it all”. It was off Antikythera that an ancient shipwreck was discovered, containing among other treasures the famous statue of the Ephebos of Antikythera (4th c.).