Hydronetta and the cannons

Walk west from the port for five minutes and the paved way passes a low bastion still lined with cannon, then drops to Hydronetta: bare rocks, ladders into deep water and a bar built into the cliff. It is the closest thing Hydra has to a viewpoint, looking back at the town on one side and straight out to the Peloponnese on the other.

The cannons give a foreground that reads instantly as Hydra, and the rocks below give height, layers and clean sea without a building in frame. This is where the low sun actually lands: the port itself faces north and goes flat in the evening, while the headland takes the last light head-on and holds it until it drops behind the mainland.

It is also where everybody else goes to watch that happen. In season the rocks and the bar terrace fill from about an hour before sunset, so a session either arrives before the crowd or works tight, using the cannon line and the cliff edge to crop the audience out. The rock is uneven and there are unrailed drops to the water — flat shoes, and no reversing towards the edge for a wider shot.