Folegandros and Sikinos
OΦολέγανδρος, between Milos and Santorini, is still barely touched by the tourist trade. The cliff-fringed eastern part of the island, with its highest hill of 413 m is bare and arid; the western half is milder, with water from springs, and supports a modest terraced agriculture. With its poverty and lack of sheltered harbours Folegandros was never an island of any importance. Its destinies were closely linked with those of Naxos and in Roman times it was a place of exile.
From the sailing port of Karavostasi – a must-see when sailing in Greece - it is an hour’s walk or a short trip with the only taxi on the island to the chief place, Chora, a beautiful village of typical Cycladic houses with a medieval Kastro.
To the east is the hill of Palaiokastro, with scanty remains of the ancient town.
There are a few anchorages around Folegandros, notably Vathi on the west coast, yet all are very beautiful but lack the shelter and should only be used as lunch-stop.
Σίκινος is a bare rocky island fringed by sheer cliffs, with rugged hills in the north and north-west and with gentler country in the south-east (terraced cultivation). With its inhospitable soil and lack of sheltered anchorages, Sikinos was never of any political of cultural importance in antiquity. Like Folegandros it was used as a place of exile.
