The alley in Artemonas, on the Greek island of Sifnos in the Cyclades where Henri Cartier-Bresson took a famous photo in 1961


Sifnos;( the spelling Siphnos is obsolete in English but still by convention often used to refer to the island in ancient times) is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. Sifnos lies in the Cyclades between Serifos and Milos, west of Delos and Paros, about 130 km (81 mi) (80 nautical miles) from Piraeus (Athens' port). It has an area of 74 square kilometres (29 sq mi) and is 15 km (9 mi) long and km ( mi) wide. and a shoreline of 70 km (43 mi), with a permanent population of 2,625. The island is reached on the ferries which run on the Piraeus- Kythnos- Serifos- Sifnos- Milos- Kimolos line. There are also infrequent sailings to other islands in the Cyclades. The island's rich clay veins, sunny weather and temperature have made Sifnos a capital of pottery in the Aegean, with unique jars and pots that are a "trademark" of the island. They are typical of the Sifnian everyday life, such as ashtrays, cooking and food vessels, "masteles", "foufoudes" (kind of chimneys) etc. Locally, 'Sifnios' was a variant word for potter. Snowy-white houses with traditional chimneys made of potter’s clay and small churches with blue domes, built on green hills, which lead to sandy beaches. This is Sifnos, the gem of Cyclades. In 1961 Henri Cartier-Bresson the French photographer visited Sifnos and took a famous photo from this point in the village of Artemonas with a young girl running out of the picture.


Size: 5501px × 3929px
Location: Artemonas, Sifnos, Greece
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: artemonas, blue, cartier-bresson, cyclades, door, greece, sifnos, white