Times discover and reveal to its readers the Athenians’ secret island hideaway for their summer vacations. It is no other, than Serifos — its name, meaning rocky, is thought to be derived from the Greek words steriphos or sterphos, fruitless or barren. Since antiquity, Serifos has been linked to the myth of Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, who having killed the terrible Medusa, brought her head back to King Polydectes and the Serifians, who became petrified in horror at its sight.

The aridness of the island — also attributed to the fallout from Perseus” feat — and its treeless mountains are at first glance more off-putting than welcoming. Most visitors arrive after the spring flowers that blanket the island in April and May have disappeared and the seemingly perpetual sun of the Greek summer has taken hold. First-timers, standing on the deck of the large car ferries, often catch their breath at their initial glimpses of the white-washed houses sprinkled in a precarious curve at the top of the mountain.

«It’s an hour before sunset in Hora, an unspoilt hilltop town and capital of the Cycladic island of Serifos. A handful of locals are drinking frappé in the shade of the elegant main square, Pano Piatsa. Elsewhere, I have the slim white-washed lanes almost to myself — enhancing the illusion that I’ve been let loose on some marvellous vintage film set.» the journalist mentioned in the article.