Keros

Today I would like to introduce a beautiful little island to you which will make the hearts of all, who have an interest in archaeology and the Greek history, beat faster.
Keros is a small uninhabited island in the Cyclades in the northwest of Amorgos and the southwest of Naxos.


With its 15 km2 it is administratively part of the community of Koufonisia.
On Keros the landscape can give you two different experiences. On the one side you have a view formed through rugged landscapes and dramatic cliffs and when you go to the beaches you can admire white sand and turquoise blue water.
But the thing that makes this place unique in the end is its history, which is already shown a little bit through its shape: when you look at it closely it might remind you of a female Cycladic statuette floating in the sea.
This cute island is especially noted for the flat-faced Cycladic marble statues and was an important creation place of the Cycladic civilization that developed there around 2500 BC.
In the years 2006-2008 there was a big excavation under the name “Cambridge Keros Project” at Kavos on the west coast of the island.
This area is said to be the origin of the so-called “Keros Hoard” of fragmentary Cycladic figurines. Except the figurines there were found vessels and other objects made of marble.
Because there is a lack of joining fragments it is sure that only a part of broken material was deposited there, which was also shown through studies.
Also, around 2700-2300 BC the Keros-Syros culture flourished in this area, of which some of the best preserved artefacts are on Kea and Ios.
Nowadays it is a protected archaeological site from the Ministry of Culture and the only evidence of human existence are some rural roads out of dirt on its central part, some shepherds’ huts and two small churches.
Keros or in ancient times Keria plays a special role regarding the mythology. After the discovery of the shattered objects that were found in the cave of the island archaeologists hypothesized that dead people from the surrounding islands were brought there, as it was said to be one of the Gates of Hades, one of the Gates which connected the world of the living with the underworld.
But how can you go there. Because of its historical value it is forbidden to land there but you can use a boat, which would be from Ano Koufonisi around 4.5 nautical miles, 8.3 kilometres.
So what do you think is this island not worth a day trip from the bigger surrounding islands, I would do so.

 

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