an island in the Archipelago, opposite to Paros, from which it is separated by a strait about seven miles wide. It is the Oleares or Óliaros mentioned by Strabo, Pliny, Virgil, Ovid, &c.; and was, according to Heraclides Ponticus, as quoted by Stephanus, first peopled by a Phoenician colony from Sidon. According to Tournefort, it is about 16 miles in circumference.

This island is remarkable for a subterraneous cavern or grotto, accounted one of the greatest natural curiosities in the world. It is 300 fathoms below the surface of the earth, and appears to be about 40 fathoms high and 50 wide, penetrating far into the bosom of the island. It is full of large and beautiful stalactites. There have been many descriptions of this celebrated grotto, of which that by Tournefort is supposed to be very complete and exact.—Relation d'un Voyage du Levant.