Ag. Efstratíos

The remote little volcanic triangle of Ag. Efstrátios (or Aï stratís, as the locals call it) lies 21 nautical miles southwest of its big sister Lémnos, which along with the port of Lávrio east of Athens has the most regular ferry connections to the island.

Only 11km long and 6km at its widest, it’s so remote that it was used for exiling political prisoners: between 1936 and 1962 and again in the 1970s Ag. Efstrátios was the second most important after Makrónisos. Poets Kostas Varnalis and Yiannis Ritsos and the composer Mikis Theodorakis all unwillingly spent time here. Today the population is around 250.

It’s above all a place to go in search of solitude, and really good fish. Monk seals shelter along its coasts, and it’s part of the Natura 2000 network.

Named for the 9th-century saint who was exiled here for opposing the Iconoclasm and buried there, the island has been inhabited from Mycenaean times. On the north coast stand the walls and ruins of the ancient settlement, which endured into the Middle Ages.