The Cyclades without the crowds — clifftop Chora and ancient blue light
Folegandros is one of the smallest and least-developed inhabited islands in the Cyclades, just 32 km² and reachable only by a three-hour ferry from Santorini or four hours from Piraeus. Its capital, Chora, is a perfectly preserved medieval kastro built on a 200m cliff edge above the sea — no vehicles, only whitewashed passages and bougainvillea, with a 13th-century Venetian fortress at its heart. The island has no airport and no chain hotels, which means the visitors it does attract are largely Greek and word-of-mouth travellers rather than mass tourists. Sunset from the Church of Panagia per…
Folegandros was inhabited in the Cycladic Bronze Age and later settled by Dorian Greeks; its name may derive from the Phoenician word for 'rocky.' The island served as a place of exile under the Roman Empire — Augustus banished one of his rivals here — and its remoteness meant it was repeatedly sacked by pirates through the Byzantine and medieval periods. The kastro at Chora was built in the 13th century by Marco Sanudo of the Duchy of the Archipelago, and the maze-like inner layout was designed to confuse raiding pirates rather than to welcome visitors. The island was united with the Greek s…