General
Located in the Aegean Sea, the Cyclades owe their name to the ancient Greeks who thought that they were arranged in a "circle"(kyklos in Greek) around the sanctuary island of Delos. In fact, the shape of the archipelago is more like a triangle pointing towards Evia and Attica to the north and bordered by the Cretan Sea to the south. Stretching over 132,000 km2 of maritime space, the Cyclades have 220 islands, 24 of which are occupied. They have a total of 120,000 inhabitants, 2,572 km2 of land area and 15,000 km of coastline. Since 2011, they are part of the periphery of the South Aegean (310,000 inhabitants), one of the thirteen Greek administrative regions, which also includes the Dodecanese islands (Rhodes, Patmos, Leros...). The city of Ermoupoli (12 000 inhabitants), in Syros, is the capital of this group. The Cyclades are part of the 8 archipelagos of modern Greece, as well as the two large islands of Crete and Evia and their islets, the Ionian Islands, the Sporades, the Dodecanese, the northern islands of the Aegean and the Saronic Islands.
Finding your way
In the centre of the archipelago, near the museum island of Delos (3.5 km2), 4-5 hours by ferry from Piraeus, are the three tourist islands of Mykonos (86 km2, 10,000 inhabitants), Naxos (429 km2, 19,000 inhabitants) and Paros (196 km2, 13,700 inhabitants) as well as the capital island of Syros (102 km2, 21,500 inhabitants), all of which have an airport. Naxos rubs shoulders with the Small Cyclades which gather less than thousand inhabitants on four islands (Iraklia, Schinoussa, Donoussa and Koufounissi). To the north-east, near Evia and the port of Rafina, are Tinos (195 km2, 8 600 inhabitants) and Andros (379 km2, 9 200 inhabitants). Below Athens are the western Cyclades: Kea (131 km2, 2,500 inhabitants), then Kythnos (100 km2, 1,500 inhabitants), Serifos (75 km2, 1,400 inhabitants), Sifnos (74 km2, 2,600 inhabitants), Kilomos (35 km2, 700 inhabitants) and Milos (160 km2, 5,000 inhabitants). To the east of the latter are Folegandros (32 km2, 750 inhabitants), then Sikinos (41 km2, 270 inhabitants), Ios (109 km2, 2,000 inhabitants) and Amorgos (121 km2, 2,000 inhabitants). To the south, 8h30 by ferry from Athens (or less than an hour by plane), Santorini (76 km2, 19 000 inhabitants) forms a mini-archipelago with Thira as the main island and the volcanic islet of Nea Kameni. Finally, Anafi (38 km2, 270 inhabitants) is the most isolated, 1 hour by ferry to the east of Santorini.
Geology
The Cyclades are the peaks of the submerged Aegean massif which was formed about 5 million years ago at the contact of the Eurasian, Anatolian and African tectonic plates. The archipelago itself belongs to the Aegean Sea micro-plate, which also includes the Peloponnese, the western coast of Turkey and Crete. The advance by subduction of the African plate towards the north-east (2.15 cm/year) gave rise between 120,000 and 10,000 BC to what is known as the Aegean arc: a group of volcanoes stretching from the Saronic islands to the Dodecanese via the Cyclades. Of the six main volcanoes, only those of Nyssiros (Dodecanese) and Santorini are still active. Famous for its immense submerged caldera (crater) surrounded by glowing cliffs, Santorini had its last eruption in 1925. It is now made up of several islands that were formed by an explosion around 1600 BC. Still in the Cyclades, Milos has thermal waters and fumaroles coming out of the beaches on the south coast.
Landscapes and resources
The Cyclades are characterized by hilly, arid and scrubby landscapes. Despite the presence of springs, the rivers are dry most of the year and water must be imported from the mainland or desalinated locally for the needs of tourism. Everywhere except Naxos. It is the largest, the most mountainous and the only island to be self-sufficient in water. It has the highest point of the archipelago with the mount Zas (Zeus) which reaches 1 004 m of altitude as well as three coastal rivers on the eastern coast. There are also green areas in Amorgos, Paros, Andros or Kea, which was the cradle of the silk culture in Europe during the Antiquity. As for the beaches, they are most often composed of fine white sand. But in Santorini, bathers can enjoy a small red sand beach and a large black sand beach. Thanks to their volcanic past, the Cyclades have benefited from numerous resources such as the white marble of Paros and Naxos, famous since the Neolithic period and still exploited, the obsidian of Milos, a vitreous stone which was used to polish statues, or the gold and silver mines of Sifnos and Serifos, now abandoned. The volcanic soils of Santorini produce incomparable white wines thanks to unique grape varieties, assyrtiko, athiri and aidini: the vine grows here at ground level and survives only on the morning dew.
Earthquakes
In the Cyclades, seismic activity is intense, but often without consequence, especially as the houses are well designed to cope with this kind of risk. Small earthquakes are permanently recorded in the archipelago and throughout the country. Indeed, the southern Balkans is Europe's largest seismic zone with deadly tremors in Skopje in 1963, Thessaloniki in 1978, Athens and Istanbul in 1999 and, most recently, Tirana in 2019. In the Cyclades, the last major earthquake was on July 9, 1956, when Amorgos was hit by a violent 7.5 magnitude earthquake that caused a tsunami as far away as Crete, and resulted in widespread destruction and the death of 53 people in Santorini, Anafi, Naxos and Paros. With its quiet but still active volcano and its position, at the intersection of two underwater volcanic lines, Santorini is under constant monitoring by activities. Since 2012, "seismic swarms" (repeated shaking) have been frequently recorded there, raising fears that a strong volcanic eruption is approaching.
In case of an earthquake
Here are the main tips given by the embassies. Before leaving, prepare and keep at hand an "emergency kit": flashlight, batteries, first aid kit, bottles of water, energy bars, disinfectant tablets for water, means of payment, metal whistle, etc. During the earthquake, if you are in a building: stay inside, take shelter under a heavy piece of furniture (table, desk, bed) or, if not, move away from doors and windows, and crouch down along a wall. If you are in an elevator: press the buttons on each floor and get out as soon as you can. If you are on the street: stay outside, take shelter in an open area, away from buildings and crowds. If you are in a car: stop away from buildings and bridges without blocking the road, stay inside the vehicle, listen to the radio for instructions from the authorities, do not get out of your vehicle and wait for help if electrical wires have fallen on your car. If you are on a bus: remain seated until the bus stops, then take refuge in a protected area or remain seated, lean forward and protect your head.
How to get there
Almost all the inhabited islands of the Cyclades are connected by ferry or hydrofoil to Piraeus, the main port of Athens. There, boats leave mainly from gates E6, E7, E9 and E10 (opposite and south of the metro station). Kea and Kythnos are not served from Piraeus, but from the port of Lavrio, near Cape Sounion, accessible by bus from the Pedion tou Areos bus station in central Athens. In summer, hydrofoils also leave from Lavrio for Serifos, Sifnos and Milos. Also in Attica, the port of Rafina is very conveniently located near Athens airport. It serves the neighbouring islands of Andros and Tinos, as well as Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini. There are many inter-island connections, but Syros, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos have the widest choice. Some islands can also be reached by ferries from Piraeus to Crete or the Dodecanese. As for the plane, Naxos, Paros, Syros, Mykonos, Santorini and Milos have an airport with national connections (Athens, Thessaloniki...) and with Europe in season, especially Mykonos which is the best served from France (Paris, Bordeaux...).
The effects of tourism
In the last century, the Cyclades have been transformed by the development of tourism, which has become the archipelago's main resource since the 1960s. This has led to a decline in ancestral activities such as crafts, agriculture and fishing. Thus, for example, we note the abandonment of the agriculture in terrace which had marked the landscapes of the Cyclades since Antiquity. The harbours have been developed to receive ferries, cruise ships and pleasure boats. As for the habitat, it was concentrated on the coastline. As a result, the villages created inland to escape pirates since the Middle Ages are now deserted. On the coasts, the dry stone houses have been replaced by whitewashed dwellings: a measure imposed by the Greek dictators for reasons of hygiene, but especially since the 1970s for aesthetic purposes. The most touristy islands of Mykonos (2 million visitors in 2018), Santorini, Paros, Antiparos and Ios are thus affected by a real "white measles" with the chaotic proliferation of hotels and private villas since the 2000s. The same islands are now the most affected by the lack of water, coastal erosion and pollution caused by the high influx in summer.
