Why Visit
You can discover them either ob foot or by boat. The transparent, green and blue waters invite you for a swim any time of the day or night. There are trees on most of them offering their shade. The most popular are Glifa, Panagia, Psaraliki and the Camping Beach.
The island is the ideal place for a relaxing holiday. Visitors are attracted by Chora, the beautiful capital of the island, with the Venetian quarter of Kastro and the traditional architecture. Also pay a visit to the impressive Caves, on the southern side of the island.
History
Antiparos, southwest of Paros, is connected to it by a narrow channel. Very little is known about thehistory of Antiparos as it has been overshadowed by the neighboring island of Paros. Antiparos was originally known as Oliaros and many historians believed that it was in fact one with Paros at some point in time. The history of Antiparos starts from the neolithic times where remains of an ancient settlement dating back to 4000 B.C were discovered in Saliangos, a small island located between Paros and Antiparos in 1964 by the British School of Archaeology.
This further confirmed the theory that the two islands were united back then. The first inhabitants of Oliaros are believed to be Phoenicians from Sidon who came here in the Neolithic Age and were succeeded by various other conquerors. It was probably occupied by Minoan Cretans in the 2nd Millennium B.C. Excavations in the nearby island of Despotiko have also revealed ruins of tombs dating back to the Early Cycladic Era. Oliaros got its present name of Antiparos sometime in the 13th Century A.D. when it came under the Venetian Rule just like many of its neighboring islands.
Although the name was new to the island, it had its sources in ancient mythology where Antiparos was one of the fifty sons of Aegyptos and was murdered along with forty of his brothers by his wife Gritomethea, one of the fifty Danaides. It was around this time that the island was frequently attacked by pirates from Algeria, Crete, Kefalonia and other places. The Venetians made Antiparos a part of the Naxos Duchy and built the Kastro in order to protect the island from pirates and invaders. Three hundred years later, in 1537, Antiparos along with the rest of the Cyclades came under the Ottoman rule.
For a short period of time between the years 1770 and 1774, Antiparos was also under the Russian domination. This was also when Antiparos started becoming well known and visited frequently by foreign travelers who published their views and impressions about the archaeological sites on the island. The people of Antiparos were among the first in the Cyclades to participate in the Greek War of Independence in 1821.
After years of struggle and revolution, it was finally incorporated in the Greek state in 1832. Antiparos also actively participated in the resistance movement against the Germans during World War II and was used as a secret base by the Allies.
Museums - Archeological
Due to the small size of Antiparos, there are not many museums on the island. There is only a small folklore collection in Chora, the capital of Antiparos, with traditional items of the past decades. The uninhabited island of Despotiko, next to Antiparos, also has archaeological interest, but excavations are still on progress there.
To visit more museums and ancient sites, tourists can head to the neighboring island of Paros. There is a nice archaeological museum in Parikia with exhibits from the surrounding Cyclades islands. On the hill above Parikia, there is the Sanctuary of Asklepius, dating from the 3rd century BC.
Beaches
Glifa, Panagia beach, Psaralyki, Agios Spiridonas Beach, Camping beach, Kako Rema, Livadia Beach, Soros, Vathis Volos
Religious Monasteries and Churches
The entire island of Antiparos displays interesting and beautiful churches that stand out for their elegant architecture while some of them present a unique archeological interest. Their austere character and appearance bear witness to the typical characteristics of the Cyclades.
In the square of Antiparos, at the end of the port stands Agios Nikolaos, the main church of the island and in close distance you can see three small churches, Agios Antonios, Christos and Agios Ioannis blending harmoniously among the houses inside the medieval castle.
A walk in Chora reveals many post-Byzantine churches and chapels of Cycladic architecture but there are beautiful sites outside the main village as well. In Antiparos cave is the church of Agios Ioannis Spiliotis where a great festival is held every year, on May 7th. In the deserted islet of Despotiko lies the Byzantine church of Virgin Mary, accessed only by boat. On September 7th there is a nice festival.
