Informations about Kythnos
Geographical & Historical Outline of Kythnos
Kythnos is also called Thermia, with reference to its mineral springs.
It lies between Kea and Serifos islands.
Kythnos is about 100 square kilometers in area with a coastline of about 100 kilometers.
The island has small cultivated areas between low hills, where the locals grow fruits, garden produces and vines.
It has more than 70 beaches.
As the finds from the limited excavations on the island, show it was inhabited from the Mesolithic period, and the settlement discovered here is the earliest in the Cyclades (7500 – 6500 BC).
Its present name derives from Kythnos, the leader of the Dryopians.
According to mythology, these came from Evia and settled on the island.
The philosopher Aristotle dealt with the state of Kythnos in his Constitution of the Kythnians.
In 1207, Kythnos came under the rule of the Frankish overlord Marco Sanudo, and it remained in Venetian hands for 400 years.
After it falls to the Turks and the new capital was located inland, as the name Messaria suggests.
Later, this town became known as Hora (the generic Greek name for a capital town, also spelled Chora).
Under the Ottomans, Kythnos enjoyed religious freedom, but was a poor, under-populated place, still beset by pirates and suffering frequent epidemics.
Informations about Kythnos
HOW TO GET IN KYTHNOS
There are frequent ferry services from Piraeus port (distance 52 nautical miles) and from Lavrio port (distance 26 nautical miles).
Buses KTEL from Athens to Lavrio depart from Egyptou Square.
The island is connected with many islands of the Cyclades group.
USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS
- Municipality of Kythnos
Chora
Tel: + 30 22813 61100
kythnos.gr
- Municipal Tourism Office
Tel: + 30 22810 32250
- Port Authority of Kythnos
Tel: + 30 22810 32290
- Port Authority of Piraeus
Tel: + 30 210 4226000
Tel: + 30 2132147600
- Port Authority of Lavrio
Tel: + 30 22920 25249
- Health Center
Dryopida
Tel: + 30 22810 32234
- Medical Aid
Chora Kythnos
Tel: + 30 22810 31202
- Thermal Springs
Tel: + 30 22810 31217
