Cyclades

The Cyclades - Κυκλάδες lay in a circle (Greek: kyklos) around the sacred island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo, and consists of 23 large islands and some 200 smaller ones. The archipelago is based on a submarine plateau which extends in an arc from the most easterly point of Attica and Evia towards the coast of Asia Minor. All the islands are hilly. The northern ones consist predominantly of Cretaceous limestone, micaceous schists, gneisses and marbles; those to the south consist in part of volcanic materials. 

 
With the exception of Naxos the islands have no perennial rivers, and as a result of the prevailing sharp sea-winds (the Meltemi in summer) are lacking in trees. Characteristic features of the landscape are the cubed whitewashed Cycladic houses and the thatch-roofed windmills, very romantic and ideal for a sailing holiday. 
 

History of the Cyclades

Evidence of settlement dating back to Mycenaean times has been found on the islands, but their first emergence into the light of history was in 743 BCE. In the 5th century BCE the islands came under Athenian influence, and in the 2nd century BCE the Roman Empire took over.
Later they became under Byzantine rule, and in 1085 were conquered by the Normans; subsequently in 1203-04 the Fourth Crusade brought another change of masters. The Cyclades now fell into the hands of Italian rulers, and came under Venetian control.

Venetian rule lasted until the fall of the Republic of St Mark in 1797. And during this period the islands provided a refuge for many Greeks fleeing from the Turks, including artists from Crete who founded a school of their own here, and throughout these centuries they enjoyed a richer cultural life than the rest of Greece.
After an interlude of French rule the young Republic of the Seven Islands became a British Protectorate in 1815; in 1864 Britain returned the islands to Greece.

Information was taken from website: www.sailingissues.com