Tinos
Getting There :The best way is to fly to Athens or maybe Mykonos, and take the ferry boat from there. From the port of Piraeus you can get ferries to Tinos as well from Rafina. From Rafina, during the summer, there are many ferries and fast catamarans that go to Andros, Tinos, and Mykonos. You can get the KTEL bus to Rafina from the area of Pedion Areos at Alexandras and Patission street in Athens
General Information Tinos is something like a Lourdes of the Orthodox. Every year, thousands of pilgrims from all over Greece visit the island and the church of the Virgin Mary, hoping that she will do miracles for them. The island also has many Catholics.
With its relatively green, mountainous landscape, where tiny chapels and dovecotes are scattered everywhere, Tinos is a very beautiful island. There are many villages, and exploring the surroundings with a car is definitely worth it. It is quite a windy island, so the sea can get rough around Tinos
The people traditionally live off agriculture, stock breeding and the green marble that has been important for the economy since antiquity. This marble was used when building the Louvre in Paris and Buckingham Palace in London, as well as Athens in the 19th century
What to See The most dominating feature of Tinos is its basilica Panagia Evaggelistria (Virgin Mary Evangelist). It was built after a nun had dreamt of an icon in 1823, and after searching and digging in the area, it was found, as well as a well of fresh water. The church is situated on a hill in Chora, with steps leading up to it. In antiquity, there used to be a Dionysus temple here.
One of the most common reasons for pilgrimages here is childlessness. When a woman visits the island for this reason, she promises the Virgin that she will name the child after her if she becomes pregnant. When the child is old enough, it is taken to Tinos in order to be shown to the Virgin. Therefore, there are hundreds of Marias and Despinas and Panagiotas all over the country, not because their grandparent was named so, but because they have been promised to the Virgin Mary of Tinos.In Chora there is also an archaeological museum.
Pilgrimage is of course not the only reason for going to Tinos. It is a beautiful island, with many little villages well worth visiting. For example Moundatos, Ktikados, Hadzirados, Kardiani, Volaka, with its huge rocks, Isternia, Kambos, Steni and Pyrgos, which is the largest and perhaps prettiest village. In Pyrgos you can visit the workshop of the sculptor Giannoulis Halepa as well as the museum of artists from Tinos.
The cave of Gastrion outside Kionia is quite fascinating with inscriptions dating back to antiquity. Here, there are also ancient remains of a temple to Dionysus and Roman baths.
On Mt. Exobourgo used to be a Venetian citadel , until it was blow up by the Turks in 1715. The Jesuits used to live here, and there is a Catholic, as well as an Orthodox church here.
The nunnery Kechrovouni is definitely worth a visit. It dates back to the 11th century, and allegedly it was built after three sisters had dreamt about it. This is where lived the nun Pelagia, the one that dreamt of the Evaggelistria icon . There is also a small museum here.
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