Siphnos

(Local Name: Sífnos) Area of island: 73 sq. km/28 sq. mi

Altitude: 680m/2,230ft

Chief place: Apollonía

Sífnos, one of the southern Cyclades, lies roughly in the center of the triangle formed by Melos, Sérifos and Páros. The north and northwest of the island are occupied by barren ranges of hills, the east and south by gentler uplands. The coast is much indented, and lined by cliffs for much of its length. Agriculture (particularly onion-growing) on the island's fertile soil, the manufacture of pottery of traditional type and weaving bring the inhabitants a modest degree of prosperity.

Already well populated in the period of the Cycladic culture (third and second millennia B.C.), the