Andros

The thickly wooded island of Andros, the most northerly and, after Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, is a kind of south-easterly continuation of Evia, from which it is separated by a busy and sometimes stormy channel only 8 nm wide.

In the island's four ranges of hills, the largest of which is Mount Petalon (997 m), are marble quarries which were already being worked in antiquity. Thanks to its unusual abundance of water Andros - most Cycladic islands are rather barren - has a flourishing agriculture. Despite its charming port, Andros is rarely visited by charter yachts. Yet, the ports of Batsi, Gavrion and Kastro are definitely worth extra mileage.

In antiquity, Andros was sacred to the god of wine, Dionysos, and its festivals in his honour were famous. Originally settled by Ionians, Andros came under the control of Eretria at an early stage. In the 7th century BC it sent settlers to Chalkidiki. After the Battle of Salamis, when it had supported the Persians, it was unsuccessfully besieged by Themistokles. Later it became an ally of Athens; then in 338 BC it fell into the hands of the Macedonians, and thereafter became Roman.
From 1207 Andros was ruled by Venetian dynasts, who built the watch-towers still to be seen on the island. At the beginning of the 15th century Albanian incomers settled in the north of the island, preserving their language into the 20th century. In 1566 Andros was occupied by the Turks, and remained in Turkish hands until the establishment of the Greek State in the 19th century.