Description : Carthaea or Karthaia (Ancient Greek: Κάρθαια) was one of the four ancient Greek city-states on the island of Ceos (today Kea or Tzia) in the Cyclades. It was located on the southeastern coast of the island. The site was inhabited continuously for c. 1,300 years, approximately from the 8th century BC (Geometric period) till the 6th century AD (Late Antiquity). From that time on Karthaia remained abandoned. The ruins of the acropolis, town-centre and fortifications of ancient Karthaia have been preserved for centuries on the Aspri Vigla hills, Pindar’s “narrow ridge of land“. Two valleys, of the Kalamitsis on the east and the Vathypotamos on the west, and the sea on the south define the site completely, creating a closed unit with a beautiful natural landscape, a refuge for important populations of various species of bird-life, and a place conducive to a variety of endemic pharmaceutical and aromatic plants. Even today, Carthaea can be approached by land only on foot, walking for more or less an hour along cobbled paths, which in most cases follow the lines of ancient pathways, or by sea, by small boat, anchoring in the same place as the craft of previous periods, without the aid of modern harbour facilities.
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