A beautiful Greek island – Antikythera is offering to pay families €500 per month for three years if they move there and also give them food and housing.

Antikythera (Also called Anticythera) is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. Its land area is 20.43 square kilometres and it lies 38 kilometres (24 miles) south-east of Kythira. It is the most distant part of the Attica region from its heart in the Athens metropolitan area.  It is notable for being the location of the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism and for the historical Antikythera wreck. Antikythera is 20 square miles. The island has just 24 permanent residents, with the population increasing to 40 in the summer.

The Diocese of Kythera and Monemvasia gives montlhy stipend (500 EUR) for shelter and food to families to move to the small island of the Aegean in cooperation with the municipality and the local community.

They made this decision for several reasons:

• Antikythera has an ageing population. Most younger people have moved elsewhere from the island.
• Andreas Harhalakis (Mayor of Antikythera) told Greek website iefimerida.gr that they need young families, large enough to make Antikythera alive and full of children’s voices. They hope this new scheme will attract young residents and their families.
• Mayor of Antikythera also said that he has received at least 15 phone calls from large families facing financial problems due to crisis. He welcomes them to go to the island to see the place and if they like it, to stay in Antikythera too.

Jobs like baking, fishing and building are available to newcomers! However, there isn’t a bank, cash machine or many shops in Antikythera. People who want to live there will have to go through selection process. This will give precendence to Greek nationals.

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