Mykonos is the travel destination embodying the most popular triptych of a Greek summer in the most obvious way; sun, sea, and nightlife. If you approach Mykonos island after dark you may be disoriented, as the lights spreading everywhere make it seem like a port on the mainland. This impression is even stronger if you happen upon one of the floating cities, the modern 800-2,500 person cruise ships, which often transport the wealthier tourist to Mykonos. The Hora of Mykonos has been a favorite destination worldwide since the 50’s.
Despite the tourism, enough residential elements are vibrant in Mykonos. Mykonos attractions, the endless narrow alleys, the windmills, the whitewashed ledges, the blue and red domes –allhere. The cube houses still play on blue and white; they make for a harmonious yet repetitive whole, given the extend of residential development. The trademark of Mykonos' Hora, an image famous around the world, is Kato Myli, the windmills on the low hill of SE Hora. In the Town of Mykonos, besides the shops where the pulse of European Fashion beats, it is worth seeing the neighborhood of Alefkandra and enjoying the sunset from Little Venice –another world famous image in photographs and postcards- and the City Hall, housed in an elegant building with obvious classical influences from 1780. Next to City Hall is the neoclassical building of the first public elementary school, built in 1857. Right in front of the sea is the small church of Aghios Ioannis of Kadhena(1700). Near City Hall you will see the Folklore Museum, while three other very noteable museums operate in the town of Mykonos –Archaeological, Maritime and the Agricultural Museum- Boni Windmill.
One of the most photographed Christian monuments in the country is behind Little Venice; it is Paraportiani Church of Mykonos which, in essence, is a complex of five smaller temples –four at the base and one sitting atop the other four as dome. The oldest is Aghii Anarghyri (14th century), while the others where completed in 1920. The name “Paraportiani” derives from the small gate (paraporti) of the medieval castle next to the temple. In Hora, the metropoilis of Zoodhochos Pigi or Meghali Panaghia is also pretty; it is built prior to 1650, as attested to by its Byzantine icons. The bishop’s throne and the Venetian wood-carved iconostasis are exceptionally crafted. South of town, is Vrysi, near the hotel “Tharroe”, a domed tomb dating to the Mycenaean period (14th cenruey) has been found. On the busiest street at the most central part of Mykonos town, next to cafés and restaurants you will also see Tria Pighadhia (Three Wells), the water supply for the entire Mykonos' Hora in the 18th century. About 5 km north of Mykonos Hora (Town), on the NW cape of Armenistis, it is worth visiting the Lighthouse of Mykonos (1891). The lighthouse ison a 19m-tall tower, while its old mechanism is exhibited in the courtyard of the Aegean Maritime Museum of Mykonos.
The most important archaeological position on the island of Mykonos is at the Hill of Paleokastro, in Panormos bay; there are remains of an ancient wall and buildings, as well as pottery from the Geometric, Archaic and Hellenistic years, right under the Venetian Gizi castle, above which the 18th century convent of Paleokastro rises. This is where the second archaic city of Mykonos is thought to have been located. A bit further north along the coast, in Ftelia, traces of Neolithic settlement dating to the 5th millennium BC have been found. The most picturesque village in Mykonos, Ano Mera, as well as the Monastery of Panaghia Tourliani (1543) around which the settlement was built later, are nearby. Tradition has it that the iconostasis, alter and icons of the main building were crafted in Florence, Italy. You will see several traces of ancient square or round towers all around the countryside of Mykonos, which are thought to have been a part of the island’s defensive strategy. You will see such structures behind Platys GHialos in Portes, named after the three shiseled granite monoliths once comprising the tower gate, the tower of Linou, with traces of a fortified enclosure and two Early Christian chapels. At cape of Tasranas, on the SW coast, on the peninsula Dhivounia or Dhimasto separating the beach of Aghia Anna from the beach of Kalafatis, traces of a prehistoric settlement have been found. |
