The gentle bay that is formed approximately in the middle of the southwestern coast of Kimolos, where the fertile valley of Dekas ends, has direct visual contact with the northern coast of Melos, so controlling the passage of the strait between the two islands as well as the maritime routes to and from the Aegean.
In this extremely privileged position, with the eloquent place-name of Hellenika, the remains of the ancient city make their presence felt on every side: on the sand and rocks of the beach, on the seabed and on the islet opposite, known by the name of Daskaleio or Agios Andreas.
How the place looked in the past is not what it is today. Geological changes over the centuries are detectable throughout the region and it is not unlikely that some of them were responsible for the destruction, perhaps even the abandonment, of the city, a large part of which was gradually covered by the sea. Over time, the water has largely eaten away the soft limestone rock. Today there have disappeared even those few signs that until the 19th century had showed that the island and the mainland were once united.
The ruins have always been visible, easily accessible from land and sea. Half-buried in the sand of the beach, the tombs of the necropolis have been an ideal place to search for treasures for centuries, both for the island’s inhabitants and for foreign travellers.
Systematic archaeological research has not been carried out at Hellenika, except for a few excavations limited in number and duration over the last fifty years. Surface and excavation finds attest to human presence in the area from the Mycenaean times to the first Christian centuries; they document the existence of an organized cemetery with a long-term use.
The form, extent and organization of the settlements remain unknown. The islet is being consumed by the sea year after year – not even the chapel of Agios Andreas is standing anymore. On it, unexplored remains of houses cover its entire surface and their half-collapsed walls perch on the edge of the cliff – silent guardians of the memory of their former inhabitants
