Anaphi continued page 3

Towns

The town is Hora, where rooms are to be found. There was a medieval Kastro at Hora.

Drinking and Dining

Traditional eateries are available. Some of the hotels have restaurants on site.

Accommodations

Email Us for information about accommodations on Anaphi.

History

Myth has it that upon killing the bronze giant Talus with the help of Medea, Jason and his Argonauts made their escape from Crete only to be met by a huge storm. Jason's patron deity Apollo, in answer to his plea for succor, caused Anaphi to rise from the sea to shelter them. Talus was also known as Perdix or Partridge (as in the fowl) and since Anaphi was over run with partridges it became closely associated with Talus.

Now as you may or may not know, if your Pliney and Aristotle are rusty, partridges are extremely lascivious birds. Pliney wrote that a hen partridge merely had to hear or smell a cock partridge to become impregnated and further noted that if the females were roosting, the males practiced sodomy to relieve their sexual frustrations. In fact they become so obsessed with their mating rituals that you don't even have to sneak up to them to kill them while they are at it. Unfortunately, partridges are extinct on Anaphi, so you won't be able to witness this phenomenon while there.

However, the connection to Apollo remains. Scholars have found that many of the songs and festivals on Anaphi bear traces of the ancient Apollo worship. If you are there during a festival, there is plenty of dancing and cavorting.

Long after the above events, Anafi suffered the same fate as the rest of the Cyclades–Phillip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Alexanders' Generals, The Byzantines, The Duchy of Naxos and the Crusader Barons, Turkish pirates, and Turks.

In the photo are the ruins of the Castro (castle) of Guglielmo Crispi which fell to the Turks in 1537. Mt. Kalamos, the large tadpole like protrubence at Anaphis' SE end is the site of the 16th C Monastery of Panagia Kalamiotissa and also the site of the Dragons Cave (Drakontospilo) with stalagmites and stalactites. You must bring your own flashlite and supplies.

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