Ríneia

Just west of Delos, Ríneia (often spelled Rheneia or Rhenia) was the birthplace of Apollo’s twin sister Artemis. It’s four times larger than Delos, but not quite as depopulated.

Here, in the second ‘ritual cleansing’ ordered by Athens in 426 BC, that ‘no one should die nor be born’ on the island meant that the dying and the women about to give birth were transported to Ríneia. All the dead were exumed and transported as well; a necropolis near the shore was the repository of their coffins. It became a thriving, trading city, dealing in gneiss quarried on the north shore of the island.

On the other side of Ríneia are the ruins of a lazaretto, once used by Syros-bound ships sent into quarantine in late 19th and early 20th centuries – Alexandrian poet Constantine Cavafy spent two days there on his first trip to Greece in 1901.

In 2020, an intensive surface survey revealed that Ríneia had been inhabited into post-Byzantine times, as well as large bits of sculpture and perhaps a temple, discoveries that may soon lead to a more in depth investigation.

Today the island, like Delos, is a protected archaeological site, and uninhabited except for some 80 farmers and shepherds from Mykonos who live here part time and tend their goats and sheep, and are keen to keep the island as it is, or as much of it as possible.

But it does have four beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise waters; regular day cruises, many combining the island with Delos, depart from Mykonos and often include a picnic lunch.