Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and later by the Macedonians. In 146 BC the islands became a Roman province and luc-
rative trade links were established with many parts of the Mediterranean.
The division of the Roman Empire in AD 395 resulted in the Cyclades being ruled
from Byzantium (Constantinople), but after the fall of Byzantium in 1204 they came un-
der a Venetian governance that doled out the islands to opportunistic aristocrats. The
most powerful of these was Marco Sanudo (the self-styled Venetian Duke of Naxos),
who acquired Naxos, Paros, Ios, Santorini, Anafi, Sifnos, Milos, Amorgos and Folegan-
dros, introducing a Venetian gloss that survives to this day in island architecture.
The Cyclades came under Turkish rule in 1537, although the empire had difficulty in
managing, let alone protecting, such scattered dependencies. Cycladic coastal settlements
suffered frequent pirate raids, a scourge that led to many villages being relocated to hid-
den inland sites. They survive as the 'Horas' (capitals) that are such an attractive feature
of the islands today. Ottoman neglect, piracy and shortages of food and water often led to
wholesale depopulation of more remote islands, and in 1563 only five islands were still
inhabited. The Cyclades played a minimal part in the Greek War of Independence, but
became havens for people fleeing from other islands where insurrections against the
Turks had led to massacres and persecution. Italian forces occupied the Cyclades during
WWII. After the war, the islands emerged more economically deprived than ever. Many
islanders lived in deep poverty; many more gave up the struggle and headed to the main-
land, or to America and Australia, in search of work.
The tourism boom that began in the 1970s revived the fortunes of the Cyclades. The
challenge remains, however, of finding alternative and sustainable economies that will
not mar the beauty and appeal of these remarkable islands.
ANDROS ΑΝΔΡΟΣ
POP 9170
Andros, the second-largest of the Cyclades, is a walker's paradise. Its wild mountains are
cleaved by fecund valleys with trilling streams and ancient stone mills. On this lush is-
land, springs tend to be a feature of each village and waterfalls cascade down hillsides
most of the year. It's worth renting a car to get out to the footpaths, many of them
stepped and cobbled, that will lead you through these majestic landscapes and among its
copious wildflowers and fascinating archaeological remnants. The handsome main town
of Hora, also known as Andros, is a ship owners' enclave packed with neoclassical man-
sions.
