At the monastery of Panagia Kalamiotissa there are ruins of a temple built as an offering to the god Apollo Aegletus (Greek: Απόλλων Αιγλήτης).

Some of the inscriptions from the island (Inscriptiones Graecae XII, 248 line 8) refer to the god Apollo as asgelatos (ασγέλατος, a unique usage, said by some scholars to be a variant of Aigletes, 'radiant').

Ruins can also be found at Kasteli, and most of the findings, such as the statues, are now located at the Archaeological Museum at the Chora, in an extremely small room.

After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, when the Cyclades were taken over by Venetians, Anafi was granted by the Duke of Naxos, Marco I Sanudo to Leonardo Foscolo.

[8] In 1307, following a treaty between the Byzantines and the Republic of Venice, the island was recovered by the Dukes of Naxos,[7] who assigned it as a fief to Januli Gozzadini, of Bolognese origin.

He describes Mount Kalamos as "une des plus effroyables roches qui soit au monde" ("one of the most terrible rocks in the world").

Some of the ancient remains from the island were acquired by French and British antiquaries; one Hellenistic statue from Kastelli (of a woman holding an incense cup) can be found in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

[13] Tourism developed after the fall of the military junta in 1974 and the installation of an electricity generator and undertaking of harbor works the same year.

The building of paved roads that begun in the late 1980s not only increased tourism but revived the island's agricultural economy.

Antonis Kaloyerou has published a walkers' guide to the island, in Greek, profusely illustrated, with detailed instructions, timings, and distances (Αντωνης Καλογηρου, Τα Μονοπατια της Αναφης, ROAD 2010, see www.road.gr).

On the island, the epithet (unique in Greece) applied to the Virgin is Kalamiotissa, as the icon is said to have been found on a reed (kalami) on the peak of Mount Kalamos.

[17] The port is served by a Pireas to Rhodes ferry, which also stops at Heraklion (Crete) and Athinios (Santorini) among other places.

Anafi has a relatively diverse flora for its small size, represented by 314 plant genera and a total of 635 species and subspecies, 37 of which are endemic to Greece.