It’s just a short 30-minute hop across from Naxos to the beautiful tiny islands of Koufonisia, the main island of Ano Koufonisi, the sparsley populated island of Kato Koufonisi and the mysterious archaeologically rich island of Keros. It’s our second visit here to see our dear friends N&H, spending four days unwinding on this unpretentious laid-back island with its impossibly vibrant crystal-clear turquoise water – and yes, it really is that colour!  

It’s still early in the season here in the Cyclades, with cooler low 20’s sunshine with the occasional refreshing morning shower, so it’s largely us and the locals on the island, but even in high summer there are few tourists here other than some day-trippers from Naxos. Koufonisia is one of the Cyclades’ true hidden gems, retaining its authentic Greek island slow-paced way of life. The beaches are spectacular and empty. The water has to be the cleanest in the Aegean. The restaurants plentiful and good. The locals as friendly as ever. Like Naxos before, using the odd occasional Greek word in conversation delivers big smiles and instant friends.  

Our days are slow and super chilled here, beginning with a relaxed stroll into the compact traditional Chora – narrow cobbled alleyways, small tightly packed whitewashed houses, blue-trimmed windows and doors, splashes of vibrant Bougainvillea and Geranium. And, in the centre of town, the blue-domed Church of Agios Georgios, where song emerges in the cool early mornings and the bells toll for service.  There’s one main dusty pathway (hardly a road) that meanders around the island, often in places no more than a track – it runs straight through the town beach of Ammos where the beach and road merge together in the sand – where a short stroll out of town will take you to the beaches of Finikas and Fanos, both with excellent waterfront tavernas, where a delicious lunch of freshly caught Calamari, a Naxian Greek Salad and a mouth-watering plate of Gigantes plaki, large Greek white beans baked in a tomato sauce. All washed down of course with a glass (or three) of local red wine. Then, once suitably rested after lunch, a refreshing swim in the Aegean, which is the most impossible glassy clear aquamarine I think I’ve ever seen.  

These gorgeous empty beaches face the uninhabited and mysterious ancient island of Keros, one of the most important archaeological sites of the ancient Bronze Age Cycladic culture (3000,2000 BCE), widely recognised as a crucial cradle of early European civilisation. As you look across the water to Keros and its mountain ridgeline, you can make out a distinctive illusionary shape of a reclining, stylised form of a nude woman, whose resemblance ties deeply into the cultural significance of Keros and mirrors the fertility, renewal and sacred themes from which the early Bronze Age Cycladic marble figurines reflect. There has been much archaeological excavation here on Keros for many decades, with the infamous Keros Hoard dug up and largely looted from the island in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. https://cycladic.gr/en/essay/o-thisauros-tis-kerou/?srsltid=AfmBOor2qAfokILLd5E-FieS_OAa4hMk_y2D4XagNRlglxB-Jjx0YDZV 

Hundreds, if not thousands of figurines, vessels and fragments were stolen and lost to the international antiquities market – much of it forever. Thankfully, some of these objects have been recovered and reside in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Naxos and the National Archaeology Museum in Athens. These enigmatic, highly stylised sculptures with sleek lines, folded arms and angular features represent a watershed in human art – which have heavily influenced modern art and clearly inspired many modernist sculptors and artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore.  

https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/cycladic-figures 

Leaving the Chora, a small dusty track takes you over the cliffs and past the most spectacular coastline – empty sandy beaches, natural rock-cut pools and large sea caves before finally arriving at the stunning crescent-shaped sandy bay of Pori Beach, known for its powdery white sand and turquoise clear waters. Again, I’ve pretty much got this whole place to myself!

 

Koufonisia is truly a hidden gem in the Small Cyclades, tucked away beneath Naxos and far away from the crowds of the better known ‘holiday islands’, so thankfully retaining its authentic rustic charm and quiet traditional way of life. We’ll be back!