Cycladic architecture is famous for its uniqueness and charm. In fact, the rapid growth of tourism in recent years has extended its reputation far beyond the borders of Greece. When you visit a city or town in the Cyclades for the first time, you may have the feeling of being in an enchanting setting.

The early builders of the Cyclades worked in the same simple yet bold style that distinguished the artists who created the Cycladic idols some 5,000 years ago. With the authentic and immaculate flair of folk artists, these craftsmen built buildings that suited not only the daily needs of the inhabitants, but also the beauty and grace of the Cycladic landscape.

Rarely does one come across public squares in Cycladic villages. Public spaces in settlements are, as a rule, quite small. The common area is usually the street, with its exceptionally well balanced building facades.

The street is characteristically paved with whitewashed profiled polygonal or rectangular slabs. The pattern of the slabs is generally adapted to fit along the exteriors of buildings, which are of two main styles: narrow-fronted (“stenometopo”) and wide-fronted (“evrymetopo”). Buildings in the same group or on the same block are more likely to be in the same style, with similar features. Therefore, a row of narrow-fronted houses will have approximately the same dimensions and the same design. The houses are usually on two floors, with an external staircase that allows access to the upper floor separately from the street.

The external staircase exists regardless of whether the house is used as a single-family dwelling or two separate families individually own the ground floor and the upper floor.

Separate ownership of individual flats is a popular tradition in the Cyclades, dating back centuries. It appears to have started due to a lack of space within the fortified settlements that were built in the late 14th century, when the islands first became settlements. Later, however, the ownership of separate floors continued even after pirate raids subsided (mainly after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571), and settlements were able to extend beyond the walls. Although the main reason for this is that it served the dowry institution, property on separate floors served other needs as well. storage spaces and rudimentary shelter. So, they bought these ground floors from the locals.

The exteriors of Cycladic buildings are simple and unadorned, whitewashed, with only a few windows, and a particular type of roof, which comes in three variations: vaulted, pitched, or sloped. For the most part, Cycladic houses resemble connected stark white cubes.

Perched on the cliffs, with an economy of space ensured by native ingenuity, these one- or two-story houses blend with church façades, fountains, windmills (where they exist) and dovecotes to compose images not seen anywhere. another part of the world.

Buildings that form a compact mass, irregularly aligned houses, economical use of curves and walls that subtly slope into the ground to give the impression that the building is growing out of the rocky soil of the island, white-bordered flagstone stairs to lessen its weight. When you add the painted doors (typically the cobalt blue of the sea), windows and balconies, which contrast with the white houses, you have the complete picture of Cycladic architecture.

But this is only the general picture. Each island has its own unique characteristics, determined by its history and topography, as well as the way in which local materials have been used.

The interior of the houses is also similar, with minor variations from island to island. The interior space is divided into two unequal sections by a kind of platform, 1-2 meters high and up to 3 meters wide, which extends the length or width of the house. This platform is alternately referred to as “krevatos” (bed), “kraatos” or “sofas” (sofa) depending on the location. The furniture, which impresses with its aesthetic refinement and utility, is in total harmony with the decoration and architecture of the house. The interior decoration consists of small cabinets, the stand of “stamnos” (water bottle), trunks for storing clothes, cabinets, shelves for icons, chests carved in wood, as well as a variety of furniture built into the walls.

This is often combined with pebble-paved front yards (particularly on Milos and Paros, as well as other islands), which add a particular grace to the otherwise austere but always harmonious constructions of the vernacular architecture of the island of the Aegean.