Antiparos sea caves
— the dark cool of the island, a long flight of steps down.
Not only on a wall.
Antiparos sea caves, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
“Antiparos is a small island just west of Paros, a short ferry across a kilometre-wide channel. The most cited cave of the island is inland: the great stalactite chamber on Mount Profitis Ilias, reached by hundreds of stone steps cut into the rock. Smaller sea caves notch the coast and the islet of Despotiko, visited by the small boats that run from the port in summer. Above and below the water, the Cycladic blue is the same.
The place, in three passes.
Antiparos lies in the central Cyclades, separated from Paros by a channel about a kilometre wide and reached by a short car ferry from Pounta. The island's most cited natural feature is the Cave of Antiparos, a stalactite chamber on Mount Profitis Ilias on the south of the island, known and visited since antiquity. Greek, Roman, and later European travellers left inscriptions on the walls. Smaller sea caves are scattered along the southern coast and around the uninhabited islet of Despotiko.
The Cave of Antiparos descends about eighty-five metres below the entrance, reached by a long flight of cut stone steps. The chamber holds stalactites and stalagmites of considerable age, including one column described by Greek geologists as among the oldest in Europe. Inscriptions on the walls include a Christmas mass celebrated in the cave in 1673 by the French ambassador the Marquis de Nointel, and the carved names of later travellers, among them Lord Byron. The cave is fitted with discreet lighting and is open seasonally.
The Cave of Antiparos is open from roughly May through October; the walk up Profitis Ilias from the bus stop takes about twenty minutes, and the descent inside the cave is another long flight of steps. Small boats run from the port of Antiparos to the southern coves and to Despotiko, where the Sanctuary of Apollo is under active excavation. The car ferry from Pounta on Paros runs every half hour through the day.
