I first visited Mykonos in the summer of 1955. At that time, I could not imagine what would happen in the next sixty years on this magical and peaceful island with its unique twelve-seater bus and abundance of donkeys.

On the day of my arrival, the island hosted about fifteen visitors. On a typical summer day in 2018, on the contrary, it accommodates from 120,000 to 140,000 visitors. [...]

Mykonos was like an independent island principality, with its own culture, dances, songs, poetry, cuisine, fabrics, architecture, and even its own language. All these developed and shaped carefully over thousands of years, amidst wars, occupations, droughts, and other disasters. One should not underestimate how isolated the Aegean islands were during the era of sailing and how unique and distinct the civilizations that flourished in their territories were.

It is not an exaggeration to claim that life in Mykonos has changed more in the last sixty years than it has in the past 3,000 years. The island had limited agricultural potential, scarce water, good fishing, and minimal other natural resources. In a way, it represented an untouched example of an exceptionally organized, self-sufficient Aegean culture. It lived in balance with its available land, water, and marine resources, supplementing its income with exports and trade of caiques, as well as with remittances from Mykonian sailors and immigrants. How lucky I was to have known the island during that time, when it was on the threshold of its future dramatic change.