Serifos

Serifos Σέριφος
Municipality
Airview
Serifos Location within the region
Coordinates:37°09′N24°30′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	South Aegean
Regional unit	Milos
Government
• Mayor	Konstantinos Revinthis(since 2019)
Area
• Municipality	75.21 km2(29.04 sq mi)
Highest elevation	585 m (1,919 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2021)
• Municipality	1,241
• Density	17/km2(43/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Postal code	840 05
Area code(s)	22810
Vehicle registration	EM
Website	serifos.gr

Serifos(Greek:Σέριφος,Latin:Seriphus,also Seriphos; Seriphos: Eth. Seriphios: Serpho) is aGreekislandmunicipalityin theAegean Sea,located in the westernCyclades,south ofKythnosand northwest ofSifnos.It is part of theMilos regional unit.The area is 75.207 square kilometres (29.038 sq mi)and the population was 1,241 at the 2021 census. It is located about 170 kilometres (92 nautical miles) ESE of the Athenian port ofPiraeus.

InGreek mythology,Serifos is whereDanaëand her infant sonPerseuswashed ashore after her fatherAcrisius,in response to an oracle that his own grandson would kill him, set them adrift at sea in a wooden chest. When Perseus returned to Serifos with the head of the GorgonMedusa,he turnedPolydektes,the king of Serifos, and his retainers into stone as punishment for the king's attempt to marry his mother by force.

In antiquity, the island was proverbial for the alleged muteness of its frogs.During the Roman imperial period, Serifos was a place of exile. After 1204 it became a minor dependency of the Venetian dukes of the Archipelago. In the late 19th century Serifos experienced a modest economic boom from the exploitation of the island's extensive iron ore deposits. The mines closed in the 1960s, and Serifos now depends on tourism andsmall-scale agriculture.

Among early ‘tourists’ were the British travellersTheodoreandMabel Bent,landing in December 1883. Bent opens his 1885 travelogue on the Cyclades with Serifos, although the couple visitedSyrosfirst.

Antiquities

The Hellenistic White Tower of Serifos

Worked blocks of island marble built into the walls of the medieval castle crowning Chora, the hilltop main town of Serifos, show that the ancient capital was there as well. Chance finds, primarily marble funerary sculpture, are displayed in the Archaeological Collection in Chora (open Tues.-Sun.).

The most impressive ancient monument is theAspros Pýrgos(Άσπρος Πύργος),a Hellenistic marble watchtower (c. 300 BC) with walls preserved to 2 m. and an interior staircase, standing on a hilltop just east of the road from Chora toMega Livadi,nearMega Chorio.Work began in 2011 to study the fallen blocks for an eventual reconstruction.

At least four other ancient towers have been located, including the megalithic Psaros Pyrgos (Ψαρός Πύργος) or "Couch of the Cyclops" in the SW corner of the island. The so-called "Castle of the Old Lady" (Κάστρο της Γριάς) above Ganema andKoutalaspreserves scant remains of a collapsed dry-stone construction in a notch below the twin rocky summits. Rough fragments of white marble and rooftile, and archaic fine-ware potsherds on the SE terraces of the hillside suggest the existence of an ancient sanctuary.

The fortified Monastery of the Taxiarchs, dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, was built in 1572 just outside the village ofGalani.The sole monk is Archimandrite Makarios, who entered the monastery as a youth in 1958 and continues to maintain it.

Churches gallery

• 
  St Athanasius, Piatsa
• 
  Church of Christ
• 
  Evangelistria church, Kato Chora
• 
  Evangelistria, Kato Chora
• 
  Agios Konstantinos church
• 
  Agia Varvara church, Chora
• 
  Agia Theodora, Koutalas
• 
  Monastery of Taxiarches

History

Antiquity

Serifos was colonized byIoniansfromAthens,and it was one of the few islands which refused submission toXerxes I.By subsequent writers, Serifos is almost always mentioned with contempt on account of its poverty and insignificanceand it was for this reason employed by theRoman emperorsas a place of banishment for state criminals.It is curious that the ancient writers make no mention of the iron and copper mines of Serifos,which were, however, worked in antiquity, as is evident from existing traces,and which, one might have supposed, would have bestowed some prosperity upon the island. But though the ancient writers are silent about the mines, they are careful to relate that the frogs of Serifos differ from the rest of their fraternity by being mute.

Middle ages

Serifos was part of theByzantine Empireuntil 1204,when the island came underVenetian rule.During this time the mines reopened, after about 1,000 years of inactivity.In 1394, a strike of the miners against the Nikolaos Adoldos occurred.

The miners' strike of 1916

See also:Serifos miners strike

Headquarters of the former mine company of Serifos in Megalo Livadi

The mines

In the 20th century, the mines of Serifos were exploited by the mining company "Société des mines de Seriphos-Spiliazeza," under the direction of German mineralogist A. Grohmann (died 1905). In the summer of 1916, in response to low pay, excessive working hours, unsafe conditions, and the company's refusal to rehire workers who had been drafted into the Greek army and recently demobilized, the 460 miners formed a union andorganized a strike.Their leader was Constantinos Speras, a Serifos native educated in Egypt, who was ananarcho-syndicalistwith long experience of labor struggles on the Greek mainland. In response to the strike, Grohman asked for the help of Greek authorities, who sent a 30-man gendarmerie (Χωροφυλακή) detachment from nearbyKea.After detaining Speras and the strike committee, the gendarmerie lieutenant ordered his men to fire on the workers, who had gathered at the ore loading dock atMegalo Livadiand refused to permit a cargo ship to be loaded. Four workers were killed and a dozen wounded. The workers, supported by their wives, attacked the gendarmes with stones, killing three of them and routing the others. The freed leadership took control of island institutions and sent a message placing Serifos under protection of the French fleet at Milos. This effort at collective self-organisation was cut short by the refusal of the French navy to intervene, and by the arrival of a Greek warship. Speras was arrested and charged with high treason, but released a few months later when the royalist government was ousted. Grohmann was given once again the control of the mines, after granting improved working conditions and an 8-hour workday.

Chora, view from the north

Historical population

Year	Island population
1981	1,133
1991	1,095
2001	1,414
2011	1,420
2021	1,241

Communities

• Galani
• Kallitsos
• Koutalas
• Livadi Serifou
• Mega Chorio
• Mega Livadi
• Panagia
• Sykamia
• Serifos (town) or Chora

See also

• Communities of the Cyclades

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Seriphos".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.

External links

• Serifostravel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website(in Greek)