Overshadowed by its better-known yet smaller neighbor Delos, the enchanting and mysterious Cycladic island of Rineia, which is closed to the general public, has a peculiar history that few are familiar with. Nevertheless, it is important because it formed a part of the renowned sacred island of Delos in ancient times and is an archaeology buff’s dream just a short boat ride from the popular holiday destination of Mykonos.

Delos and Rineia drone video

Archaeologists Dimitris Athanasoulis and Zozi Papadopoulou from the Ephorate of Cycladic Antiquities talk to Kathimerini about the island’s history and the five-year field research program they are conducting, together with Maria Sigala.

The program, which is being carried out with the support of the Municipality of Mykonos, got off to a dynamic start last year with a team of scientists from the ephorate, the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, the Federico II University of Naples, the French School at Athens and a number of foreign and Greek university students. Due to restrictions resulting from the health crisis, work this year will mainly be limited to mapping and documenting finds and locations.

“We want to broaden and deepen the archaeological research into Rineia that started a century ago, but we also want to document everything on the island so that it can be protected from any unlicensed activities or antiquities theft. The fact is that Rineia was looted in the 18th and 19th centuries, so now we are documenting everything,” says Athanasoulis, adding that the site is also being mapped in detail, with place names and the location of every structure and find that is made, be it ancient, Byzantine, post-Byzantine or modern.

Fragments of massive bird sculptures and steles collected at the site are on display at the Delos Museum. However, experts also found ancient farmsteads, a road they had no previous knowledge of, and traces of a large altar in a spot called Homasovouni, which has also yielded evidence that there may be an impressive building waiting to be uncovered. The archaeologists believe from existing evidence that the building may be a sanctuary dedicated to Artemis that included a temple, an altar, a dining area and houses.

Archaeological research on Rineia began 120 years ago, thanks to the efforts of the country’s first ephors for the Cyclades, Dimitris Stavropoulos and Dimosthenis Pippas. “They did not manage to record all of their finds,” says Papadopoulou, explaining that Stavropoulos began excavating on the island’s southern coast in 1898, after decades of pillaging. Treasures from Rineia can now be found in museums and collections in Venice, Verona, London, Paris, Vienna, Oslo, Odessa, St Petersburg, Copenhagen and elsewhere.

Source: ekathimerini