We explored the Mines of Marathi on Paros. The island is famed for producing some of the best marble in Greece. There are various forms but lychnitis is considered one of the finest for sculpting as it is softer in form and very translucent. Some famous sculptures are made of Parian Marble, The Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace. The Acropolis of Athens, the Temple of Apollo on Delos, the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion, the Thissio, the ancient agora of Athens and many more.
The quarries date back to antiquity and marble mining continued without interruption until 1881, bringing prosperity to the island. Today, the extraction of Parian marble continues at adjacent quarries on Paros.
Parian marble is white, clean and fine-grained, with a crystalline texture. The most transparent marble in the world. The first Cycladic idols were made of the “parian stone” or “lychnitis” (a name that may come from the clarity of the marble or the oil lamps used to light the galleries). Paros evolved into an important artistic center, with famous sculptors including Agorakritos and Skopas the Parian.
We descended as far as we dared into the Nymph Quarry. It went down a long way and extended in vast underground caverns held up by pillars of marble. We picked up a couple of stones on the way and marvelled at their brilliance. Loved the cobwebs.
The Mines are closed to the public following a tourist accident. There is not enough funding to keep them open though there are high hopes of developing a visitor centre there.
Our visit was made special by meeting Mr Anastasios, a man with a kind weather beaten face, who ran a little marble shop at the entrance. He told us how his grandfather had owned the land, how the marble was mined and taken out to the port nearby. He explained the types and showed us how to polish up the stones we had picked up. He has no electricity there but makes his marble pieces by hand and with the occasional use of a generator. Basil grew in olive oil tins, ripe tomatoes and courgettes flowers were abundant in his little garden and we were so thrilled with our interaction with him we went away with three Cycladic marble statutes which will forever remind us of this day.
Press on the link and scroll down to a two minute video of inside the Nymph Quarry.
The best known type of Cycladic artwork that has survived is the marble figurine, most commonly a single full-length female figure with arms folded across the front. The type is known to archaeologists as a “FAF” for “folded-arm figure(ine)”. I have to say that made me LOL.
Mezze Moments 
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