Antikythera (Cerigotto to the Venetians) is a small rocky island between Kythira and Crete, with a few dozen inhabitants, a little port (Potamos) and a station for studying migratory birds.
Its fame comes from the sea. In 1900 sponge divers from Symi, sheltering from a storm, discovered a Roman-era wreck of the 1st century BC on the seabed, laden with bronze and marble statues, jewellery and pottery. The finds included the celebrated Antikythera Youth and a corroded lump of bronze that turned out to be the Antikythera mechanism: a device with dozens of gear wheels that calculated the positions of the Sun and Moon, lunar phases, eclipses and the calendar of the Panhellenic games. It is considered the oldest known analogue computer, and nothing comparable is known for over a thousand years. The mechanism and the finds are in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens; underwater research on the wreck continues.
Getting there
Ferries linking the Peloponnese and Crete (Kissamos-Kythira-Gythio) call at Antikythera a few times a week; services are limited and weather can change schedules.
See also Greek science and Kythira.