1. Location and geomorphology

Islet located northeast of Milos, 5 miles away from cape Vani. Its common name is Erimomilos, and so it has been already since the Middle Ages. In ancient times, it was known as Ephyra or Ephora, meaning Watch Tower. Indeed, from its highest point one can view the sea for many miles. According to an interpretation of Homer, Antimilos was the place where Ulysses’ companions slaughtered the oxen of the sun god Helios.

It belongs to the Southern Aegean volcanic arc. It comprises of a large massif, with steep slopes that fall vertically to the sea without forming any shores at all. Only its upper parts are less rough. Up until the early Quaternary Era, Antimilos was an active volcano, while nowadays there is an inactive crater at the island’s top, 670 m high. Volcanic formations throughout the whole island are quite impressive.

2. Flora and fauna

Antimilos is treeless, but with rich bushy vegetation (genista, maquis, thyme, poirets). It has been designated as a national park and has been included in the “NATURA 2000” network as a Site of Community Importance (SCI). Antimilos harbors a rare species of wild goat (capra aegagrus pictus), akin to that of Mount Ida in Crete, the Spanish Granada and the Northern Sporades islands of Greece. However, intermarriage with domesticated goats threatens the species. On the island also proliferate the native species macrovipera schweizeri, the viper popularly known as viper of Milos, one of the most poisonous snakes in Greece and threatened with extinction too, as well as the podacris milensis lizard. The island is also included among the 196 Important Bird Areas of Greece (IBAG).

3. Habitation remnants and archaeological finds

Nowadays, Antimilos is uninhabited; however, remnants of field walls and traces of threshing floors attest earlier habitation. Plenty of wrought obsidian and also several arrowheads found attest habitation even at Prehistoric Times.
At the highest point of Antimilos, there is a circular cistern made of rectangular stones placed so that the walls expand gradually as they get closer to the water level. It is possibly dated in the Roman or Early Christian period.

Shortly before World War II, the Navy established an observatory and a radio station near the top, building a small dwelling and a subterranean tank. Worth mentioning is also a legend about an apparition called "Arapis" that lived at the cave of the same name and never let anyone come near the island.