The cliff edge at Chora

Chora is built along the lip of a cliff, and at the western end of the village the houses stop at a low wall with nothing beyond it but air. The drop is around two hundred metres straight into the sea, and from the wall you can see the whole coast running north in bands of terracing cut into the rock centuries ago.

This is the frame Folegandros is known for and the reason people compare it to Santorini — the same vertigo, without the crowd. Standing back a few metres puts the last white houses on the edge of the picture with the drop behind; standing at the wall gives horizon and nothing else. Late light comes in from the open sea, so the rock goes gold and the whitewash warm while the village behind is already in shade.

Treat the edge as an edge: it is unfenced in places, there is no barrier below, and the wind that comes up the cliff is strong enough to move a dress or a hat. Keep children well back, and do not shoot beyond the wall.