The word “anti” has been assimilated into the English language to mean roughly “being opposed to”, but its Greek meaning is primarily positional – “located opposite”. Thus, the name of Antiparos, one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Aegean Sea, which is separated from Paros by less than two kilometers of water. A frequently run ferry connects two islands, and on one of our days on Paros, we decided to explore its smaller neighbor. Here is a ferry approach shot of the main town.
That jumble of houses suggests a reasonably sized settlement, but while that may be true, for a visitor, Antiparos town is more or less a single commercial main street about half a kilometer long. We arrived early enough to have it practically to ourselves in the morning.
Towards midday, it becomes as busy as every other tourist-centric area in the Cyclades.
Anyone who’s been following my photo-retrospections of Greece should by now be familiar with the color palette of Cycladic settlements. Antiparos is no exception, with plenty of picturesque corners and details.
This ancient gate marks the entrance to the historic core of the town known as the Castle of Antiparos.
Inside the tiny castle precinct, the houses are packed a bit more densely, except in the very center, where they give a wide berth to the remains of the 15th-century castle and the strategically positioned church.
Back on the main street, the restaurant and shop signs and decorations make for, just like in Parikia, a delightful outdoor gallery.
An elevated glance towards town. Across the water, that’s Paros.
The cave of Antiparos is, by a distance, the most popular defined point of interest on the island. Curiously enough, there is a tiny church nestling in the overhang, which you can only reach after paying the entrance fee for the cave access.
A quick look inside, to reiterate the previously made statements about the relative simplicity of the interiors of small Orthodox churches.
The cave is quite big – around 85 meters deep from the entrance level at the top – with the lowermost walkway taking over 400 steps to reach.
It is also rather roomy, with only a couple of narrow passages along the way.
Impressive speleothem formations are found throughout the cave.
As we are a couple of hundred meters above sea level, viewpoints near the entrance offer perspectives over the southern reaches of the island…
… including the small village of Soros, which is probably the most photogenic on Antiparos.
For lunch, we went to a taverna located near a beach access road. Its terrace gave us this serene perspective.
Although Antiparos is popular with day-trippers from Paros, it is certainly quieter and, in large parts, downright tranquil.
We’ll next decamp to the Cycladic island that remains our favorite among them all.