It is a small barren island. In ancient times it was called Aegila. Aegila was located at the entrance of the Aegean Sea, at the passage between Kythera and Crete, and therefore it was of great strategic importance.
It is not known what the ancient ports of the island were because the sea level changed with the great earthquake in 365 AD. The island rose about 2-3 meters and the shape of its bays and ports changed significantly. It is believed that its inhabitants were engaged in piracy because some other islanders referred to its inhabitants as “Aegilian bandits”.
Excavations have shown that the island already had a castle or citadel at that time, which was probably the place where the pirate inhabitants of the island retreated to for protection. In the 1st century BC, Antikythera seems to have belonged to the Cretan city of Falasarna, or to have had close relations with it, since its bronze coins with a representation of Apollo and Artemis have been found on the island.
Aegila was destroyed when the Romans wiped out all the places they believed to be pirate bases. The island was inhabited again after the 4th century AD. It was probably occupied by the Arabs and later after the Byzantine Empire by the Franks and the Venetians. During the Turkish rule, when it was under the Venetians, it was used as a refuge for many Peloponnesians and Cretans who wanted to escape from the Turks. Following the history of the Ionian Islands, the island passed into the hands of the English, who made it a place of exile. It was united with Greece in 1864, together with the Ionian Islands.
The ruins of the Hellenistic castle are located on the hill above the present-day beach of Xeropotamos, and in some places the walls reach 4 – 6 meters. From the excavation research so far, it appears that the fortification was constructed towards the end of the 4th century. On the eastern bank of the Xeropotamos stream, two paths led to the fortified settlement. The western path, located very close to the beach, was narrow and did not allow the passage of wheeled vehicles. In many places, the protective embankment is still visible, as well as carved or stone steps. The ancient city was built on the western slope of the peninsula. In the southern part of the wall, which faced inland and was accessible from the interior of the island, there was a second gate, which led to the second, more passable path to the east of the harbour.
At the mouth of the Xeropotamos stream, built in the second half of the 4th century BC, a seaside sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis was found. The axis of the temple has a direction from SW to NE with a 45° inclination from the parallel, in the straight line of Delos. The enclosure of the sanctuary seems to have been in contact with the harbour. In 1888, agricultural work on the site brought to light a headless statue of “Kitharodos Apollo”.
In Potamos, the water mill of Andronikos is preserved, which according to testimonies was built at the beginning of the 19th century and was usually only in operation in winter. The cistern and the water tower, built of pierced limestone, which was connected to a peculiar device to cut off the water supply from the cistern, have been preserved.
At Cape Apolytares, at the southernmost tip of Antikythera, is the lighthouse of Apolytara. It can only be accessed by boat from the sea. After about 20 years of desolation, the lighthouse was rebuilt by the Navy and manned again by lighthouse keepers.
Due to the location of the island, many species of birds stop at Antikythera to rest before continuing their journey to Africa or Europe. The Hellenic Ornithological Society has installed a monitoring station for the migration of birds – one of the most important in the Mediterranean.
There are several small settlements on the island and most of the inhabitants (just 45 in winter) are in the village of Potamos, which is also the island’s port.
On 16 and 17 August, the celebrations for the patron saint of the island, Agios Myronas, and the corresponding festival take place. According to tradition, the icon of the saint was found on Antikythera by Cretan hunters during the period when the island was uninhabited.
The famous ‘Antikythera shipwreck’ occurred in the strait of Antikythera, which was found at a depth of 60 metres by sponge divers. The ship was probably a Roman ship, a ‘victim’ of a military conflict and was carrying valuable objects, probably from Rhodes to Rome during the time of Julius Caesar in the middle of the 1st century BC. The Antikythera Mechanism recovered from the wreck is considered one of the first computer systems. It is a clockwork mechanism with dozens of high-precision toothed wheels, rotating around several axes, as in mechanical clocks, made of copper and set in a wooden frame. It is estimated to have been made around 87 BC. The most accepted theory about its function holds that it was an analog computer, designed to calculate the movements of celestial bodies, eclipses of the sun and moon, and phases thereof. Statues, such as the famous “Teenager”, were found along with the mechanism. The bronze teenager is 1.94 metres tall. His right arm is extended to the side and is raised, creating a sense of movement. He was holding an object, but this is not known as it has not survived. The statue probably depicts either Paris holding the Apple of Eris, Perseus holding the head of Medusa or an athlete holding a globe.
