Ancient Parian Marble Quarries (Marathi), Butterfly Valley and Aliki's Folklore Museum

Between Parikia, Lefkes and the southern fishing village of Aliki lie three stops that reveal the geological and artistic soul of Paros, starting with the underground mountain tunnels that gave the ancient world its greatest sculptures.

1. The Ancient Underground Parian Marble Quarries at Marathi

Just ten minutes east of Parikia on the road to Lefkes (turn left at the sign in the tiny hamlet of Marathi), a stone footpath leads into a quiet ravine holding the Ancient Marble Quarries of Paros. From the 7th century BC through the Roman Empire, this hillside produced Lychnites, so named by Pliny the Elder because ancient miners had to tunnel 100 to 190 metres deep underground by the light of olive-oil lamps to follow the purest, snow-white, semi-translucent seam. While Pentelic marble in Athens could allow light to penetrate 1.5 cm into the stone, Parian marble let light pass 3.5 cm deep, giving sculpted marble skin a lifelike, glowing luminescence:

• What Was Carved from This Exact Quarry: the Venus de Milo (in the Louvre), the Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace, the Hermes of Praxiteles (in Olympia), the Peplos Kore on the Acropolis, the roof tiles of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, and in the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb in Paris.
• The Cave of the Nymphs & 1844 Industrial Buildings: walk 5 minutes up the path past the ruined 19th-century French-Belgian mining buildings to peer inside the gaping rock portals of the two ancient underground quarry galleries, and look just inside the right-hand entrance of the Quarry of Pan to see a 350 BC rock-carved relief dedicated to the Nymphs and Pan carved directly into the quarry wall by ancient master-sculptor Adamas.

2. Butterfly Valley (Petaloudes) & Aliki's "Benetos Skiadas" Folklore Museum

• Petaloudes: a lush, spring-fed walled garden of cypress, plane, olive and carob trees where thousands of black-and-red Jersey Tiger moths gather in the cool shade from June through August (combine it with the panoramic sunset viewpoint at nearby 18th-century Christos sto Dasos Monastery).
• Aliki Fishing Village & The "Skorpios" Cycladic Folklore Museum (Southern Tip): at the calm southern bay of Aliki, visit the extraordinary open-air museum created over 50 years by local fisherman and self-taught artist Benetos Skiadas, featuring intricate, hand-carved scale stone replicas of every major monastery, castle and lighthouse in the Cyclades alongside miniature wooden warships.