If you’ve always dreamed of leaving the world behind and spend your days in a secluded paradise, moving to a Greek island might seem like the perfect solution. One Greek island was reportedly looking for residents, but unfortunately, the municipality says this is no longer the case.
The Greek island of Antikythera is twenty square kilometres of almost completely untouched nature, with emeraldine waters and only one village, Potamos, which also serves as the main harbour and arrival point on the island. It was also the place of discovery of one of the oldest analogic computers ever found, the Antikythera Mechanism, built sometime around 150 and 100 BC— its gear wheels and clockwork mechanism were used to predict astronomical positions, eclipses, orbits, and even mark the four-year period between each Olympic Games.
The island is two hours by ferry away from the much bigger Crete, and around four hours away from the closest city on the mainland, Laconia in the region of Peloponnese. Sadly, Antikythera has been losing inhabitants, and the island can count no more than fifty official residents. That’s why the island decided to start a sort of relocation program and take in people wishing to relocate there. Five Greek families were selected to move to Anthikythera from Athens before the scheme was brought to an end.
While relocation to Antikythera is no longer possible, if you’re still looking for a way to live among the peace and quiet in an island that looks like it's dropped out of a postcard, there's a tiny Sicilian island looking for a new owner, as well as an Irish island in want of new residents.
This article was originally published on 28 June, 2019 and updated on 14 November, 2019 to reflect that the island is no longer looking for new residents.
