The digital application "Paths of Culture in Sikinos" and the project "Recording and Highlighting the Flora of Sikinos" are two new initiatives implemented in 2025 with funding from the Cycladic Identity Initiative of the Museum of Cycladic Art.

Cycladic Identity aims at protecting the cultural and natural heritage of the Cyclades, as well as preserving, restoring, and showcasing their unique identity. With Culture, Biodiversity, and Intangible Cultural Heritage as its core priorities, the initiative functions as a platform for attracting and distributing resources to programs implemented by organizations active on the islands. The initiative is now completing its second year, having already supported 16 programs across 11 Cycladic islands, including one inter-Cycladic project. (Cover photo: Cycladic Identity Initiative)

The network of paths in the Cycladic islands is part of the region's cultural heritage and unique character. These trails were created over centuries with great effort and a deep sense of aesthetics by the local inhabitants. On Sikinos, the trail network includes seven marked routes with a total length of 56 kilometers, connecting landscapes of exceptional natural beauty with archaeological sites, chapels, and traditional settlements. (Photo: Cycladic Identity Initiative)

The "Paths of Culture in Sikinos" application, implemented by the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET), is a digital tool that allows visitors to explore the island’s historic trails safely, accurately, and with in-depth information about its cultural identity. In July, the first presentation of the app was held at Sikinos Elementary School. The event included a live demonstration of the application’s features, as well as an open discussion with the local community about the importance of preserving and highlighting the Cycladic identity through digital tools.

The new application, “Sikinos Paths”, available for free on both Android and iOS, serves as a navigation assistant for hikers, enhancing their safety through offline maps and reliable trail information. It also provides bilingual content (Greek–English), supporting the tourism promotion of Sikinos and attracting visitors looking for authentic exploration experiences. To ensure maximum accessibility, the island's trail signage has been updated with modern signs featuring QR codes that link directly to the application.

Trail 1 (Chorio – Episkopi – Manalis Well – St. Panteleimon – Alopronia) - walking distance12,9 km, distance Time 4 hours 30 mins - includes sightseeing of traditional windmills, the Episkopi church and ancient monument, the Byzantine churches of St. Anne and St. George, cobbled paths with impressive low stone walls, the chapel of St. Panteleimon, and  traditional vineyards (Source: GREEK PATHS OF CULTURE) (upper photos: Cycladic Identity Initiative)

Footpaths were shaped over the centuries through the hard work and refined sense of beauty of our ancestors. They connected towns and villages, facilitating not only the movement of goods but also the exchange of culture. Over time, however, with the advent of modern transportation, many of these paths were abandoned—overgrown by vegetation or, in some cases, bulldozed and paved over as a convenient way to build road networks. The Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET), through its “Paths of Culture” initiative, seeks to breathe new life into surviving footpaths of particular natural beauty and historical value. The “Greek Paths of Culture” program has already been implemented in 12 regions across Greece, and in October 2019, it  was honored with a Europa Nostra Award in the Awareness-Raising category. (Source: Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage - ELLET)

Flora of Sikinos (Photos: Cycladic Identity Initiative)

The second program completed in Sikinos is "Recording and Highlighting the Flora of Sikinos". Implemented by the Sikinos Association, this important initiative focuses on the scientific documentation, educational use, and public presentation of the island’s natural wealth. The project concentrated on cataloguing endemic and aromatic plants, as well as documenting the various flora species found on Sikinos. As part of this effort, a physical herbarium—a collection of dried and carefully documented plant specimens—was created. In July, the program and the herbarium exhibition were presented at Sikinos Elementary School. Students on Sikinos will now have the opportunity to learn about the island’s flora, gaining valuable knowledge with the aim of becoming future stewards of their natural heritage. Additionally, a proposal is underway to develop plans for cultivating aromatic plants on the island, focusing on native species with the best potential to thrive.

The island of Sikinos, one of the last inhabited islands in the Cyclades to retain significant uninhabited areas, has been proposed for a detailed study of its flora. Covering an area of 41,000 acres, with approximately 4,500 acres historically cultivated, Sikinos has traditionally maintained a predominantly agricultural lifestyle, setting it apart from many other small Cycladic islands. Unlike its neighbors, it lacks a strong maritime tradition, focusing instead on cultivation. The island’s cultivable lands, rocky barren landscapes, gorges, and uncultivated areas provide a unique habitat for characteristic flora, including potentially many endemic species that remain largely unaffected by cultivation, pesticides, road construction, and building developments. (Photo: Cycladic Identity Initiative)

Sikinos is a relatively small Cycladic island, perfect for a quiet holiday filled with relaxing walks through scenic locations and swimming in crystal-clear waters—far from the crowds. The visitor escapes the stress and anxiety of everyday life on this charming island, nestled between Ios and Folegandros. Sikinos is characterized by terraced landscapes, low stone fences, and countless chapels scattered across a scenery bathed in the stunning green and blue hues of the Aegean Sea. While its terrain is largely rocky and lacks abundant greenery, the island’s most striking feature is the steep cliff on its northwest side, where the picturesque Chora is perched. (Source: visitgreece.gr, Photo: aegeanislands.gr)

Chora is one of the most beautiful capital towns in the Cyclades, with stone manors and narrow alleys. It has two settlements, the oldest of which is called Kastro (Castle), also called Sikinos, while the second settlement, Chorio (the Greek word for village), has been built in recent years. (Photo: aegeanislands.gr)

The monastery of Zoodochos Pigis (meaning Life Giving Fountain) or Chrysopigi, built at the top of a cliff, in an amazing location, gives at first the impression of a castle. It was built in 1690 and as it appears from the fortification, the battlements and the murder holes, it was a last resort of the Sikinians every time the Castle was under malicious raiders. The visitor enjoys a breathtaking sunset from there.  (Photos: aegeanislands.gr)

The monument of Episkopi on Sikinos is a Roman mausoleum dating back to the 3^rd century. Because of its conversion to a Byzantine church, it was continuously used and has therefore survived nearly intact. Its ancient structure, combined with interventions from several historical periods, offers an incomparable palimpsest of archaeological periods that is rarely preserved in ancient monuments. The Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades decided to restore the building in 2016 and reopen it to the public. During the restoration work on Episkopi, archaeologists made many valuable discoveries, such as inscriptions and remnants of Roman and Byzantine wall paintings, which were preserved by implementing a microclimate monitoring system. The most important find was the hermetically sealed grave of a woman of high rank, named ‘Neiko’, which was dated to the 3^rd century. This "palimpsest of history" was awarded the European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award in 2022 for its significant cultural value and restoration efforts. (Source: europeanheritageawards.eu,  Photo: Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades )

Read also:

Cycladic Identity initiative moves into its second phase – “Greek Islands Trail, Cyclades” to propose a unified hiking route

Cycladic Identity: keeping alive the heart of the Cyclades

Cycladic architecture, stunningly blending with the endless blue of the Aegean sea

I.A.

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One of the most important attractions in the prefecture of Kilkis is the Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia. It is located in Pontokerasia, a village near Kilkis, about 70 kilometers from Thessaloniki. The garden is located in the deciduous oak forests of Mount Mavrovouni, part of the Kroussia mountain range, at an altitude of 600 meters.

BBGK’s mission is to support research, maintenance, propagation, evaluation, conservation and sustainable use of the native plants of Greece and the Balkans, combined with raising public awareness of the environment.

The garden was founded May 19, 2001, following an initiative of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization "Demeter", and became a member of the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in the same year. It features a diverse flora that includes both endemic species as well as species indigenous to the Balkans, and plants from all over Greece, including the island of Crete.

The garden covers an area of 31 hectares (310,000 square meters), half of which is covered by natural oak forest. In the forest, hundreds of indigenous species and subspecies are preserved, both ex situ and in situ. In the rest of the garden, species of Greek flora are cultivated ex situ, including more than 90 taxa from over 150 categories. These include rare and endemic species, including remarkable populations of at least eight different orchid species.

There are over 8,000 different plant species and subspecies on the Balkan Peninsula, a significant proportion of which are endemic and do not grow in any other region of the world.

Visitors to the Botanic Garden have the opportunity to explore the following zones: the seasonal biodiversity path, the alpine and alpine subalpine plant growth area, the grassland biodiversity and the adventure path. Signage and maps are available in Greek and English.

The garden also features a tree grove with shrubs and trees from around Greece, lakes and small waterfalls with aquatic vegetation, a wide variety of aromatic, medicinal and flowering plants and the Garden of Senses with buildings that host annual photographic exhibitions on plants.

BBGK prioritizes Greek endemic plants with a narrow distribution, Balkan endemic plants with a narrow distribution, endemic plants to the collective region of the Balkans, and native plants with aromatic-medicinal properties, alimentary value, ornamental-floricultural or breeding potential. Many hundreds of plant-collecting expeditions have been organized in all phytogeographical regions of Greece to collect seeds, bulbs, rhizomes, cuttings and living individuals from the wild.

N.M. (Based on an original article in Griechenland Aktuell; intro image: Entrance to the garden, by Nikthymakis via Wikimedia Commons)

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Sigmund Freud was already “a man of mature years” when he travelled to Athens for the first and last time in 1904, accompanied by his younger brother, Alexander. Greek history and mythology deeply inspired him since childhood, but the trip was the result of unexpected changes to his travel plans that year.  

Located on a limestone hill high above the city, the Acropolis of Athens in Greece is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. Over time, the site has been a fortress, a religious centre and a major cultural monument strongly associated with ideas of beauty and eternity.  

When Freud reached the top of the Acropolis hill, gazing toward the sea, he experienced a feeling of astonishment and disbelief that puzzled him for decades. In 1936, he wrote about his experience in an open letter to French author Romain Rolland – the text, titled ‘A Disturbance of Memory on the Acropolis’ is now considered a key point of reference.  

The exhibition Tracing  Freud on the Acropolis opened on July 26, 2023 and will run until 7 January 2024 at Freud Museum London bringing together archives, images and objects exploring Freud’s journey to Greece, and his encounter with the Acropolis.  This exhibition is organized with the kind support of the Acropolis Museum, the Hellenic Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Group Psychotherapy and the Institute for Digital Archaeology.

The exhibition’s curator, Marina Maniadaki, writes for the Athens News Agency, exploring the father of psychoanalysis’ relation to the Acropolis and to ancient Greek thought*:

Autumn of 1904: In Athens, September has arrived warm and civil engineer Nikolaos Balanos is carrying out extensive restoration work on the Acropolis; recently a systematic excavation revealed the sacred rock’s stunning antiquities. Scores of famous people from the all over the world flock to Greece to admire its monuments.

In the morning of September 4, a middle-aged man climbs the rock slowly, almost piously. Despite the posture of his body, which shows impatience to reach the top, his steps are steady and every now and then he raises his head to see what is being revealed to him. Another man, obviously younger, is walking with him. It is his brother, Alexander, ten years younger than him. "For this visit to the sacred rock I wore my good shirt" the Austrian neurologist-psychiatrist Sigmund Freud will later confess to his wife, talking about fulfilling of one of his life's dreams. He visits the brilliant exemplar of ancient Greece, from which he borrowed the core of his scientific theory. The methodology of psychoanalysis like that of archaeology, you dig into the past to interpret the future, according to Freud’s definition of the technique, which he himself has invented. In fact, in his work "The Etiology of Hysteria", he will articulate that "just as archaeologists discover hidden ruins, so the psychoanalyst can excavate a person's past, conducting an archaeological investigation of the mind".

History will show that Freud's relationship with Greece and Greek thought is deep and multidimensional. He himself knows about ancient Greece from the texts of ancient Greek literature and through his contact with the cultural currents of the West. His psychoanalytic theory stems from this relationship.

As a Jew, he is proud of his Judaism because he belongs to the people who gave the Bible to the world, but he renounces dogma and religion, which allows him be open to different cultures and theories. He passionately searches for and studies the sources that reveal the roots of ancient civilizations. His office in Vienna is full of finds, mainly from excavations in Egypt and Greece. His collection includes about 2,500 thousand pieces, among which several phallic symbols from Pompeii. His inspiration, however, as he says in his circle, is a bust of the tragic Sophocles, the "father" of the legendary Oedipus.

Freud, looking for answers on human sexuality, believes that it can be better understood through myths, because they are closer to the unconscious. Myths, he says, can describe things unknown to the person about themselves. Every myth is a focal point around which many of our fantasies and desires are woven; what is more, a myth acts as a carrier of elements of collective memory. But every myth also has a dark side, which can be explored by the psychoanalytic process. This process does not just investigate the obvious elements of the myth, but also delves into in the latent and its relationship with the obvious. For Freud, who persistently and devotedly studies ancient Greek literature, the ideal reservoir from which to draw myths is that of ancient Greek tradition.

According to the interpretation of the late doctor of Philosophy, fellow at the International Council of Psychologists and founder of the Hellenic Center for Mental Hygiene and Research, Anna Potamianou: "Freud, by selecting the ancient Greek myths of Narcissus and Oedipus, in fact suggests to us some forms, which organize our mental life. With […] the help of Narcissus, who let himself die admiring his image, he presents us with two courses that we could follow in life. One is to move slowly through ourselves into relationships of recognition with the other, of the different, and to finally arrive at the recognition of our own diversity, our sexuality, etc. The other course is to burn the bridges with the outside world and concern ourselves only with ourselves, denying and distancing ourselves from external reality, thus falling pray to this internal self-destructive drive, that Freud calls the ‘death drive’”.

A far as the myth of Oedipus is concerned, Freud chooses it as a form through which to demonstrate that ultimately, the human psyche needs certain fundamental representations that provide the concept of the difference between generations, the sexes, and how the law works - or does not work - in relation to hubris.

Of course, the scientist's relationship with the ancient Greek imprint is not limited to the two emblematic figures of Greek mythology (Narcissus and Oedipus), which he borrows to establish his theory. He has long been studying the basic question of the ancient Ionian philosophers: how the world arose from the universe, that is, how we came from chaos to a world organized with law and order. On this same question he will base his scientific conception of the birth of beings: how a child starts from the point, when it does not distinguish between the “I" (that is, what we call our consciousness of ourselves) and the "non-I" (i.e. the rest of the world), to differentiate between the twο, having in the meantime internalized certain values from its identification with parents and other persons in its environment.

“By the evidence of my senses I am now standing on the Acropolis, but I cannot believe it”

Sigmund Freud, 1936

His awe for the thought of the ancient Greeks and his admiration for their achievements keep him constantly connected to the place, which he has not yet been able to visit. Until the fall of 1904, that is, when he has lived 48 years of his life. This September, finally, here on the Acropolis, he will live an experience, which he will "dare" to describe only 32 years later in a text entitled "‘A Disturbance of Memory on the Acropolis". The text will be addressed to the French essayist and art historian Romain Rolland and will be included in an honor volume for his 70th birthday. As Freud himself tries to explain to his French friend, that visit to the Acropolis made him experience a passing hallucination or perhaps a dream, a "strange and as of yet inexplicable split personality." At the beginning he will monologue "so, all this does exist, just as we learned in school!" and later he won't believe his senses... "by the evidence of my senses I am now standing on the Acropolis, but I cannot believe it” . In the end he exclaims "no, what I see here is not real!"

"Attributing decisive importance to the event of 1904, which haunted him for years, Freud in 1936, perceives it mainly as a conflict between presence and absence" is the interpretation of  Ilias Papagiannopoulos, adjunct professor of Political Philosophy at the University of  Piraeus and writer of the book “Froyd the the Acropolis. An a-topography” (2019, in Greek).

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