Serifos

Serifos is a typical Cycladic island with white villages, quiet harbours, golden beaches, bare hills and beautiful landscapes. The growth in tourism has not affected the island’s nature and traditional features.

Serifos is closely associated with the legendary figure of Perseus. When Danae bore Perseus to Zeus, Danae’s father, Acrisius, king of Argos, (fearing an oracle that he would die at the hands of his grandson) locked his daughter and grandson in a trunk and abandoned them in the Aegean Sea. Mother and son were washed up on Serifos, where Perseus was raised. The king of Serifos Polydeuces fell in love with Danae, a love not reciprocated and despised by Perseus too. The king sent Perseus away on what he thought an impossible task – the decapitation of the Medusa – but Perseus managed the deed and when he showed the Medusa’s head to the king, Polydeuces became petrified in horror.

Apart from relishing the joys of sea, sun and sand on the 72 fantastic beaches of the island, one can go cycling or walking along the seven trails on the island, scuba diving in the old mines or in a WWII wreck, or sightseeing in the fortress-like monastery of Taxiarches, built in the 16th century.

For the romantic types, the sunset at Agios Konstantinos is unique whereas the adventurous ones can take a trip to… the centre of the Earth! Megalo Livadi is an open air mining museum. Iron ore mining thrived here until 1963, and the abandoned bridges, railways and wagons conjure up this period, as does the underground mining museum.

Website: www.serifos.gr

Source: GNTO