Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together at medium speed the semolina, sugar, and yogurt. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add this to the mixture, beating all the while. Beat in the lemon zest. Add the Chios Mastiha and beat at medium-high for 5 minutes until the mixture is creamy. Lightly butter a large baking pan and pour in the batter. Bake for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until set and lightly golden. If the custard browns before it sets, cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking.

To make the syrup, in a medium pot bring all the ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the syrup is viscous but runny, about 12 minutes. Remove and cool immediately in an ice bath. (Alternatively, you can make the syrup first and let it cool while you prepare and bake the pie.) As soon as you remove the pie from the oven, pour over the cooled syrup. Sprinkle with the almond slivers and cut into small pieces. Serve each piece of pie with a ball of kaimaki or vanilla ice cream and drizzle with strawberry sauce.

Makes 8 servings.
 

In ancient times a sacred isle, birthplace of Apollo, Delos now attracts myriads of visitors, all coming to marvel at its monuments. Nowadays uninhabited and very close to Mykonos (3.5 nautical miles from its westernmost headland) there is a daily boat service with it. In the summer caiques making excursions from other Cycladic islands also call here. A small canal separates it from the island of Rheneia.

Delos was known as Ortygia in antiquity and, according to myth, Leto sought refuge here, escaping the wrath of Hera, and gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. Archaeological evidence attests that the island was inhabited as early as 3000 B.C. In Mycenaean times a settlement existed on the west side where there was also a shrine to a female deity. It seems that the Ionian colonizers who arrived in around 1000 BC introduced the cult of Apollo, god of light and music. From the 9th century BC Delos became the centre (political and religious) of an Amphictyony of Ionians living in the Aegean islands, under the hegemony of Naxos. In the 6th century BC the Athenians joined this Amphictyony, on the pretext of their Ionian provenance. After the end of the Persian Wars (478 BC) Delos became the center of the Athenian/Delian League and it was here that the representatives of the League's members met annually to confer. The common treasury of theirr contributions was also kept here until 454 BC when it was transferred to Athens. In 426 BC the island was cleanse( or purified, the bones of the dead remove( from their graves and deposited on the neighboring island of Rheneia. Thence forth it was forbidden to give birth or die on Delos. When the successors of Alexander the Great cam( into the ascendancy Athenian influence on the island was displaced and it became independent, the centre of diverse alliances under the Macedonians, Egyptians and Rhodians. In 16( BC the Roman Senate passed a decree placing Delos once again under the aegis of Athens. In 88 BC it was laid waste by Mithnidates, it: monuments destroyed and its population o' some 20,000 souls decimated. Close on it,, heels, in 69 BC, came a new disaster from which the island never recovered, remaining deserted, a haven for corsairs. In 1872 the French Archaeological School began systematic excavations there, which still continue today.

Delos is a vast archaeological site extending from its west side, which was the sacred harbour in ancient times. On the northwest side are the Propylaea and Agora of the Competaliasts or Hermaists, founded in the 2nd century BC and used by Roman merchants and freed slaves. Immediately beyond is the Sacred Way with bases for "ex votos". To the west stood the large Stoa of Philip, built in around 210 BC and opposite this is the so-called South Stoa (3rd century BC) and South Agora or Agora of the Delians. The Sanctuary of Apollo was located northeast of the Stoa of Philip, consisting of three temples dedicated to the god, of which the foundations of the third, the "temple of the Athenians", are nowadays visible. A little before the temple of Apollo stood the Oikos of the Naxians (6th century BC) and the Stoa of the Naxians (mid-6th century BC), to the north the Horn Altar (Keratinos) and northeast the temple of Artemis, built in the 2nd century BC upon the ruins of a previous temple of the 7th century BC. On the north side of the temple of Apollo were the so-called Treasuries and east of these the Prytaneion (mid-5th century BC). Southeast of this was the altar of Zeus Soter, protector of seafarers and, on the north side the temple of Dionysos (early 3rd century BC) and the Stoa reputedly founded by Antigonos Gonatas at the end of the 3rd century BC. To the west were diverse buildings, the Ekkiesiasterion where the Boule of the Deme of the Delians met and the Thesmophoreion, a 5th century edifice associated with the cult of Demeter. Situated on the north side of the sanctuary, in the quarter of the lake, was the Agora of Theophrastus, the Sanctuary of the Twelve Gods of Olympus, the Temple of Leto and the Agora of the Italians. A road led from the temple of Leto and north of the Sacred Lake to the famous Avenue of the Lions, votive of the Naxians in the 7th century BC. Only five of the original seven lions are still extant. At a slightly lower level lay the Sacred Lake on which the swans of Apollo swam in antiquity and which was filled in with earth following an outbreak of malaria in 1926. Northwest of the Avenue of the Lions was the Koine of the Poseidonists of Beirut, centre of merchants who worshipped Poseidon, two palaestrae, the sanctuary of Archegetes, the Gymnasium and the Stadium. The quarter of the Theatre, to the south of the Sanctuary was the major residential area and the houses of the Hellenistic and Roman periods were decorated with mosaics. From here one can easily reach the museum in which finds from the excavations on the island are housed. To the east of the Theatre quarter are remnants of various structures, while a road leads to the eminence of Kynthos, on the summit of which Zeus and Athena were worshipped. Northwest of the House of the Masks are remnants of the ancient Theatre (17 to 26 tiers of seats), which had a capacity of 5,500 spectators and was built in the 2nd century BC.

Next month: The Islands of the Cyclades - Ios, Part 15 of 22

Vintage Greek City Photos from the Cyclades Island Region - Delos
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