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rineia

Unspoilt sanctUary

“WHEN PoLyKRATES oF SAMoS gained control of Rineia, he annexed it to Delos, linking them together
with a chain”, says Dr Themistoklis Vakoulis, an archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades.
It has no streets, no cars and no permanent residents, yet the people of Mykonos cherish Rineia dearly. Parts of
the island were given to Mykonos’s landless, who formed a co-op. Today, 72 locals keep cattle and farm the land
while protecting it. you need special licence to stay the night and to moor, as it is a designated archaeological
site under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture – as well as a living remnant of a bygone era, before the Christos Drazos
growth of tourism in the Aegean. As you approach by caique, the virgin beaches, turquoise waters and wild
nature beckon, and you start to feel a unique energy – Rineia is pure magic lost in time.

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