Chora in Amorgos - day 2

Our second trip to the Chora had as its main aim to visit the castle, something we had not attempted to do the last time. The bus left us in the same square as before, 

we went past the same church, the Metropolis of Amorgos, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

except that this time it was open, 

so we had a quick look. I like the arches. On the left of the photograph you can see all the candles: people tend to pick one up, leave some money, and then light it and place it on the candle stand.

Instead of going straight on, we turned left this time,

past this kafeneion,

Greek houses on Greek islands are painted with limewash for two reasons: because the white reflects light thus keeping houses cooler, and because limewash acts as a disinfectant. And this is the reason why the stone paths are painted white around each stone - it's a way of disinfecting the paths and the process is repeated every year.

A lot of the houses have the Cycladic feature of limewashing the walls of the houses but leaving bits of the stone visible

you can see the painted bits of the stone more clearly here

from time to time there would be steps as we were climbing towards the big rock where the castle is perched on top

I can never get over how narrow some of these lanes are

We got our first view with the walls of the castle on top. The castle, a fortress really, was constructed in the 13th century by Venetian lords, as protection against invasions by Saracen pirates. It's 65 metres high.

We continued and got to this square, the Upper Square, which is massive

it takes up so much space, I was only able to photograph parts of it 

it is full of cafeteria and tavernas

You can see the castle from here,

so up we went

and walked through a labyrinth of narrow lanes

detail

kept going

and whoa! I thought I would be carried up by the wind and fly over the island

good view, 

but I had to get back in the shelter of the houses and the lanes before I was swept up

We couldn't even stand at the foot of the rock, let alone climb up to the castle

So we circled the rock, in the shelter of the houses

hoping for, I don't know what, trying to ease our disappointment

made another attempt out in the open

by the foot of the rock, 

but gave up and went back to the square

sat here, under this tree, as this kafeneion had the most customers (I know you can't see them in this picture, but it did). We had a cool drink

I liked the monkey holding the sign outside this kafeneion

I went inside this shop and bought a scented candle for a friend

and then we moved off

but not before having another look at the castle

and we somehow ended up where we were the time before - there is such a maze of streets ands alleys that it's easy to get lost.

We stopped here for our pre-dinner drinks, as we had enjoyed it so much last time

on the way back we had a look at the lit up windmills

and arrived at the lower square, and got our bus back to Katapola.

And, just to finish off, I am posting thephotograph of the rock and castle that I posted in the last post which you can see here

Chora, Amorgos - Day One

We visited the Chora three times. I will do a post for each visit, otherwise the posts would be too long.

Chora is the capital of the island. It sits around 400 metres above sea level. It's a typical Cycladic village with cubic, whitewashed houses, arches, hidden courtyards, maze-like alleys and numerous (and I mean numerous) historic churches. It has approximately 400 inhabitants.

It's built around a 13th century Venetian fortress (kastro) which was built by Venetian lords to protect against pirate raids - the village developed around it.

There are also the windmills of Troullos, a circle of traditional windmills which sit on a hill.

The place has a wonderful atmosphere: it feels like a preserved medieval settlement - it's invisible from the sea for protection, it's full of tiny chapels, stone paths and traditional cafes. Wandering its maze-like alleys rarely brings you to the same place twice.

We took the bus from Katapola, climbing up the mountain and arrived in this square, 

and the first thing one sees is the huge rock with the castle on top that dominates the place.

This is the lower square, a lively place with lots of cafes and tavernas

one can see the eight windmills from here.

One of the cafeneia of the square

One of the many churches of the town, with another one just visible behind it

We left the square behind us and started walking along a stone alley

which got narrower as we moved on

There are a lot of kafeneia (coffee shops) all over the town

a lot of them squeezed between the houses

and a lot of arches

and kafeneia fitted inside the arches as well

Looking through the window

Some of the lanes are so narrow you can barely fit in

The shops are good, selling clothes, ceramics, souvenirs, jewellery

I bought some gorgeous ceramic bowls from here on our third visit

It is literally a maze of narrow lanes

and then you get to another arch

Too many photos, I know, but I really want to give a feel of the place

and always steps

I love these staircases with the blue doors at the top

Should we go right or left? A question asked so often

A bit of a clearing

a shop

selling amongst other things, ceramics

a shop selling Psimeni Raki, the local drink

and now it's a series of kafeneia, tavernas and shops

some of them under cover

Not all food being sold is Greek

It's a nice part of town, because there is so much to look at

Another church

a bit of a clearing and from here we could see the windmills

I didn't know it at the time, but this place, Kath Odon,  would become very dear to us and we would spend quite a bit of time here

We could see some of the windmills again

some prickly pears, ready to be picked

We had arrived at Arbarorisa, a taverna that I had read about at BDS Greece,  when we were in Athens

a huge Palestinian flat dominates the interior

and this is how the menu is displayed by the front door.

They've had many problems with IDF soldiers who come to Greece for a holiday, who have been aggressive and abusive. But, this has not stopped them making their position clear on the plight of the Palestinian people

I had been really looking forward to coming here to eat, and because it was extremely windy and the taverna is quite exposed, I asked the waitress where she would recommend we sit so as to avoid the worst of the wind. She pointed at a table, but did say, that there was nowhere really, as the wind was so strong. I booked us the table she had selected for us, and then we went on our way to see the windmills which are extremely close to the taverna.

Two minutes later we had reached the top, and on our right, the view was fantastic

and the sun did not have long before it set

Almost there,  

We continued up the path and got up to the tip of the ridge

Eleven windmills survive today, all of them whitewashed with red roofs. Their wall thickness exceeds that of one meter. 

Each windmill was used to cover the flour-based needs of about 100 people. There were 18 windmills and a watermill, around 1900. 

Looking back I could see another four behind me

We wanted to get closer to the windmills but also to explore further up the ridge and look at the views ahead of us, but it was impossible. The wind was so strong I thought I would be carried away and down the valley. We had to turn back.





As I turned, I could see the Chora below and the rock with the castle on top rising up to the sky

zooming in a bit - I mean, look at that! Wow!

and zooming in more

The church, we saw earlier, or is it two? 

On the way down and as the sun was setting, everything was turning golden

a cat enjoying the last rays of the sun

We retraced our steps

the village looks so good from here

We stopped at Kath Odon for our pre-dinner drinks

We really liked it here, and the staff are really friendly. We talked to one of the waitresses and said how much we liked the Chora. She said that it's very different in the winter, when there are no visitors. 'I could walk naked from one end of the village to the other, and no one would notice', she said.

This little church is next to the bar

We managed to get another look at the windmills on our way to Arbaroriza - they had turned pink 

the sun had set.

We got to Arbaroriza and the wind was so strong, we did not think it would be possible to sit outside, and sitting inside in Greece in the summer, is just not on.

So went back to Kath Odon - we had enjoyed sitting there, and thought we would try their food and it was very good.

At the end of our meal the waiter brought us two complimentary glasses of Psimeni Raki, the local drink. The owner came over and explained that they were from him, because he liked  the fact that I was wearing a keffiyeh. We had quite a long, very pleasant chat and our relationship grew during the subsequent times we visited the Chota. 

The rock with the castle was beautifully lit up on our way down to the Lower Square where we would get our bus

again, we retraced our steps, but things looked slightly different in the dark

all the shops were still open even though it was getting on for 11:00

the bars and tavernas were going strong

and we caught the last bus back to Katapola.