Kythera
«Tutto il mondo e il mondo, ma Cerigo e un altro mondo»
Kythera or Cerigo, as the locals call their beloved Island, is the southernmost of the “Ionian Islands”. According to Homer, Kythera is considered the holy place where Aphrodite Urania, protector of pure eros, was born, emerging from the foam of the sea waves as they crashed on the island’s shores.
A mystical place through the ages, the Island of Kythera ushers the free spirit to elevate and soar above the disturbances of everyday life. Peace and tranquility predominate the area, so much so that the saying “Journey to Kythera”, came to mean a journey to a serene and distant land, a utopia.
When someone visits Kythera, they take a journey through time. The unique location of the Island that stands between the Ioanian, the Myrtoan, and the Libyan Sea, as well as its hidden treasure, a seashell from which the pigment porphyra was produced, gave life to the Island from the Calcolythic Period, 3rd millennium BC. The traveler comes face to face with that ancient era as they walk the Island’s paths, discovering remnants of time ranging from antiquity to the Middle Ages and all the way to more recent times.
You get chills as you walk down the paths of the abandoned medieval city of “Kato Chora”, with the iconic winged lion of Venice still standing guard over the main gate. You get lost in thought by the endless blue of the sky and sea as you search for the entrance to the cave of Agia Sofia. As you visit the temple of Panagia Myrtidiotissa, the protector of the Island, you feel internal silence and serenity. The Sunset from the Monastery of Agia Elessa takes your breath away, and awe grips your soul when you climb the bell tower of Agia Moni, the view of the island below and the endless blue sea unobstructed to the distant horizon.
The Venetians, who occupied the Island for many years, used to say the following:
«All the world is the world, but Cerigo is another world»