Rineia: The island that time forgot

25 minutes away from Mykonos and one strait apart from Delos, this flatland is the last bastion of peace and quiet against the hustle and bustle of tourism that is characteristic of the region. The rules are simple and have remained the same for as long as most islanders can remember: Rineia is divided into 80 plots, leased to Mykonian residents in 1844 for a nominal fee in order to encourage farming activity, although there is evidence they had been using the land long before it was officially theirs.

Its proximity to Delos has given Rineia a nickname, referred to by locals as Big Delos. Much like its little sister, Rineia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but excavations haven’t revealed an equal wealth of findings, so archaeological focus remains on Delos.

Still, Rineia shows evidence of human habitation dating back to the 5th millennium BC. In 426/5 B.C., in the early years of the Peloponnesian War, Athenians imposed a ritual purification on the island of Delos, deciding that no one should be born or die on this sacred land, which instantly transformed Rineia into a vast necropolis. The bones of the deceased were disposed of into the so-called Pit of Purification, which was discovered in 1898 by Dimitrios Stavropoulos, the first Ephor of Antiquities of the Cyclades. After the Purification, pregnant women were transported from Delos to Rineia to give birth, as were those who were nearing the end of their lives. 

Stavropoulos discovered hundreds of vessels belonging to four centuries worth of burials (8th – 5th B.C.), along with a plethora of funerary stelae, which were the initial reason behind the establishment of the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, one of the oldest in the country. Sadly, all the tombs on the island were desecrated and the various sites had been pillaged for years, resulting in funerary stelae from Rineia finding their way to museums around the world, from Verona all the way to Oslo. 

Nowadays, the general public can exclusively access the island via organized tours and only farmers and their families, as well as a selected few, are allowed to hop onto the “voidadiko”, the boat that transports people and their small animals herds (voidi is Greek for cattle) to their destination twice daily.

In the springtime, Rineia is an ocean of vivid green, occasionally interrupted by wildflowers and small huts called “kelia”, meant to provide cattle farmers with temporary shelter. This little piece of heaven, consisting of two small islets connected with a narrow strip of land, is the only place where you can catch a glimpse of what Mykonos once was. The smell of thyme and rosemary overwhelms the senses and the sight of virgin land so close to one of the most cosmopolitan islands in the world is a shock to the system. 

Rineia practically has no streets, apart from a few dirt roads and footpaths, and transportation is conducted by tractor or donkey, although most people rely on their feet. There’s no electricity and the little huts solely rely on generators or solar power for their basic needs. You only get four hours to potter around your plot, tend to your vegetables and feed your sheep, as the voidadiko waits for no man. Leaving Rineia behind, one can’t help but wonder how long it can stand its ground against the pressures of tourism development. Time will only tell and, for now at least, it appears to have forgotten this island even exists.