Cyclades Guide - Escale Yachting

Towards the end of the 4th millennium BC and during the 3rd
millennium BC, parallel to the Early Minoan Period in Crete and the
Early Helladic Period in mainland Greece, and starting from Kea
(settlement of Kefala 3300-3200 BC) a civilization with special
characteristics evolved in the Cyclades, also known as the Cycladic
Civilization, with unique artistic objects,
including the world-famous Cycladic
Figurines.
This civilization developed in small
independent communities which were tied
to the sea, since the islands did not have
large cultivable areas on the one hand,
and on the other hand they were located at a meeting point for routes
that connected Asia Minor, Greece and Crete.
The Cyclades actively participated in the great Greek colonization in
the 8th century BC, and the two centuries that followed were the
period when the Cyclades thrived. Race, language, religion and habits
were the bonds between the islands; politically, however, each city
was a separate and individual entity, with its own ruler, aristocracy and
a powerful commercial middle class, as in the rest of Greece.
During the Classical Period, the Cyclades were party to the Athenian
Alliance, and all but Milos supported Athens
during the Peloponnesian War.
Following the dissolution of the 2nd Athenian
Alliance, the Cyclades became autonomous.
The cultural boom that followed was highly
significant, illustrative examples being the
exceptional works of the Aphrodite of Milos,
Hermes of Andros, the mosaics and murals of
Delos.
Over the centuries that followed, the Cyclades
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