Agios Efstratios

Agios Efstratios — the island the locals call Ai Stratis — is one of the least visited and most moving places in Greece. The ferry comes from Lemnos to a little harbour, above which the island's single village climbs the hill. The island is bare and windswept, with a few hundred inhabitants, a few churches, and a landscape of low hills, fields, and wild, empty beaches. The beaches of the north coast run for kilometres with only the wind and the sea for company, and the water is of extraordinary clarity. A small museum tells the island's story — the story of its exiles, for Ai Stratis was a place of internal exile and imprisonment for much of the 20th century. The island has a quiet, dignified sadness and a strange, powerful beauty. It is not an island for everyone — but for those who come, it is unforgettable.

Agios Efstratios has been inhabited since antiquity, when it was known as Halonnesus, and its history is one of the most poignant in the Aegean. The island was used as a place of exile in ancient times, and in the 20th century it became one of Greece's most notorious places of internal exile and imprisonment — first for the communists and leftists of the interwar years and the civil war, and later for the political prisoners of the military junta of 1967–74. Thousands of prisoners were sent to the island, and the camp, the barracks, and the cemetery of the exiles are still there, preserved as a place of memory. The island's population, once several thousand, has fallen to a few hundred, and the island has returned to a life of fishing, farming, and quiet. Today Agios Efstratios is a place of remembrance and of a profound, affecting peace — a small island that has lived a large history.

Agios Efstratios has some of the wildest, emptiest beaches in Greece. The north and east coasts are lined with long stretches of sand and pebbles, reached by paths and tracks, where you can swim completely alone. The beach of Agios Dimitrios, on the west coast, is the island's most beautiful: a long golden bay with clear, warm water. The coves near the village are small and quiet. The water is clean and clear, and the island's emptiness is its greatest luxury. Bring water, food, and a mask, and expect the beach to be yours alone.

Agios Efstratios food is the simple cooking of a small, self-sufficient island. The island produces its own vegetables, its own cheese, and its own wine, and the sea gives the daily catch. The taverna of the village serves grilled fish and the island's own dishes with a quiet, generous warmth. The island is too small for a grand cuisine, but what it has is honest and good: simple food, fresh from the earth and the sea, eaten in the shade by the harbour as the island's slow day unfolds.

The best time to visit Agios Efstratios is in late spring and early autumn, when the weather is warm and the sea is calm, and above all in summer, when the island is at its most welcoming. The island is windswept, and its beauty is in its wildness and its peace. July and August are the liveliest months, when the island's few visitors come, but even then it is one of the quietest places in Greece. Whenever you come, plan to stay at least a couple of nights — the island's peace is its greatest gift, and it takes a little time to receive it.

Agios Efstratios is reached by ferry from Lemnos and the other northern Aegean islands, and from Piraeus via Lemnos. There is no airport, and the sailings are infrequent, so the crossing has to be planned ahead.

The island is small and there is no airport; you can walk everywhere, or use the island's few taxis. Visit the museum of the exiles and the ruins of the camp — they are essential to understanding the island — and walk to the beaches of the north and the beautiful bay of Agios Dimitrios. Bring everything you need, including cash, water, and food for the beaches. And give the island time: it is a place that rewards stillness.