Rheneia (‘Megales Diles’ as it is called by today’s Mykonians) is identified with the island of Ortygia where, according the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Artemis was born. After part of Rheneia was ceded to the sanctuary of Apollo Delios by the Samian tyrant Polykrates, in the sixth century BC, part of the island passed into the territory of Delos and served as place of burial and birth of the Delians, after the second cleansing on the sacred isle, carried out by the Athenians in 426/5 BC. Apart from the impressive Delian cemetery and the ten rural estates that were exploited by the Delian sanctuary of Apollo on Rheneia, there were also two Delian sanctuaries on the island, one dedicated to Artemis – one of the most important in Delian territory – and one to Dionysos. On the northwest side of the island (at today’s ‘Epano Diles’) lies the ancient city of Rheneia, with its cemeteries and sanctuaries. On the northeast coast there are ruins also of the ‘quarantine station of Delos’, from where C. Cavafy passed in 1901, on his first visit to Greece. Today Rheneia is divided into ‘parcels’ –that is, tracts of farmland which are leased by Mykonians, and keeps largely unspoilt the agricultural and stock-raising character that has predominated for centuries. Since 2019, the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades has been conducting an intensive surface survey on the island, in order to document all the many visible finds and constructions, from all periods, with the aim not only of their institutional protection but also of understanding basic historical issues regarding the relationship between Delos and Rheneia, and the latter’s role in Aegean history. Participants in the research are Greek and foreign universities, as well as L’École française d’Athènes.
Image source: Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades Archive
