The Aegean islands are the peaks of an ancient land called Aegeis that sunk under the sea millions of years ago and, as a result, they are scattered today in the three-continent crossroad. The Aegean is the sea, the volcanic activity, the life motion, the communication network, the cultural interaction between people. The historical, social and economic conditions of the insular landscape of the Aegean led to the formation of a particular identity defined by the transcendence of its maritime borders. The dual role of the sea that both connects and separates people fostered trading, communications and innovation. The limited but valuable wealth-producing resources and the dynamic insular communities played an important role in the formation of the insular identity.…

One of the greatest things the Aegean civilization created is art, unique for that era, not just in the Aegean Sea but in the entire world. The simplicity and inventiveness characterizing the artists of the Bronze Age are reflected on the artefacts they created. Since the ancient times, the Aegean Sea bears a spiritual air and this is well reflected on literature, poetry and art. The limited archaeological research does not allow us to have a full picture of the artistic activities during the fourth millennium BC (Late Neolithic) in the Aegean Sea. However, from the settlement and from the cemetery of the site Kefala in Kea, we have some evidence that allows us to reach the conclusion that the…

The Aegean Sea has always been a bridge of communication between continents, a cradle of cultures and a source of inspiration and creation. Through it, goods and ideas were circulated. It was the crossroads where the mentalities and cultures of three different continents met. The Aegean man, merchant and sailor was at the center of this meeting, if he was not the one who caused it. So he had the opportunity to judge and compare ideas and form his own opinion. In the Aegean world, the humble human scale dominates. An anthropocentric culture prevailed, in the norm of which even the representation of the uncle took human form.

The Aegean prehistory (particularly the Bronze Age period and more specifically the prehistory of the 2nd millennium BC) is an extremely fascinating research and science subject. The archaeological data of the Aegean islands provide insight into ancient times past. Aegean island history researchers are tasked with studying and understanding them, not because these islands are distinct places, which by deduction will lead to particular analysis of cultural development and social process, but because they are part of a broader ecosystem, which we have to decipher. The need to study these environments that were considered marginal, not only because of their extreme isolation conditions, but also because no one actually spent time and energy on them, has led to the emergence…

Our memories The life we lived or did not live is hidden among our wrinkles Our memories dig trenches of tears and laughter, to remember not to forget! Memory lives inside legends that have not been told Stories that have not been written… Forgotten traditions… Narratives of storytellers that know secrets of madmen and kings, travelers and gods, ghosts and men… All that is hidden inside minds that never age…among the waves and the rain…among the wind and the fire… inside particles of those yet unborn…in hearts beating differently and souls traveling with their sails torn and intact yesterday today now! Our memories Walk on walls where knights walked, in alleys that Giants visited, in paths that the girl followed…

The hostile intentions of invaders, mainly pirates, led many islanders to fortify their settlements. The outer houses of those settlements were built very close to one another forming a wall with only a few openings to the inner castle. The streets between the village houses, which are 1 to 2.5m wide, follow the outline of the houses with their recesses and protrusions. The walls on the corners of the buildings have been cut out, so that beasts of burden could pass through the narrow streets. At some parts of the settlement, the streets are flat and paved with large irregular stones that are whitewashed at the joints for cleanliness reasons, while in other parts the cobblestone streets are inclined and…

Their solitary figures rise in places that are significant for navigation and usually inaccessible: on steep capes, at the entrance of the ports, on rocky islets. The lighthouses of the archipelago fascinate the travelers. In fact, on some islands, where the lighthouses are relatively easily accessible by land, many people visit them, following the paths which the lighthouse keepers once walked on… At night the lighthouses give hope and a sense of security to those who circumnavigate the islands as they illuminate the impenetrable darkness. The Greek network of lighthouses is generally considered one of the largest, densest and more organized in the world, because of the many island groups of our country. The lighthouses at the passages of the…

As small boxes, the islands of the archipelago preserve to this day the treasures of popular culture: music, traditional instruments and dances, weddings, Easter, Christmas and carnival customs, the arts and the innumerable festivals organized throughout the year. The Aegean Sea is the dominant element that unites and divides the inhabitants of the islands. The customs and traditions of each place marked its diversity, while at the same time becoming an occasion for the islanders to come closer and share experiences.

In the cities and villages of the Cyclades and the Dodecanese islands the visitor will have the opportunity to get to know their long history, folklore, mining past, customs, local architecture and the design of traditional houses, through the collections of dozens large and smaller museums. Many of them are housed in buildings of special historical and architectural interest.

They say that you will only really know a place if you walk it. The paths of the islands of the South Aegean are often the same ancient roads that followed centuries ago for people to reach their sanctuaries and temples, to build their towers and settlements, to take care of their animals and land. Unique treasures unfold before the eyes of the walker who will explore walking the barren Cycladic landscapes, or the fertile hinterland of the Dodecanese islands. He will admire the works of stone craftsmen: dry stones (terraces), bridges, pigeons, watermills and windmills, “cells” for animals, small rural settlements, frying palaces and observatories. He will discover thousands of chapels and Byzantine temples, ruined monasteries, chapels, fountains and…