Monasteries ~ Chappels ~ History

👉 Chora    ~   The beaches    ~   Nature

• The Castle

Visiting the medieval castle town of Skiathos at the NW edge of the island, is a trip in time, which can be easily combined with a small trekking route, since you will need to walk for a quarter of an hour from the moment you leave the car, unless you prefer to take the boat, which will leave you at the beach that is below. In the middle of the 14th century the inhabitants of Skiathos built their castle, which included 300 houses and 30 churches in order to avoid pirate attacks. The Castle remained the capital of the island for 450 years, until 1829, when the inhabitants of Skiathos returned to today's

Chora upon the establishment of the Greek state, and built there the current town, the capital of the island. Today, there are only four churches, the gate, and part of the wall in the Castle. From the highest point of the rock, where the Greek flag waves, there is a panoramic view to the Aegean Sea and Castronisia (islands of the Castle), the two small islets located to the opposite.

• Monasteries

~ Ikonistria Monastery is located at a distance of 8 km from the town. Virgin Mary "Kounistra" is the patron saint of the island. In 1670 the miraculous holy icon was found here by monk Simeon from Skiathos. According to folk tradition, the icon of Virgin Mary was found hanging from a pine tree and was moving. This is why it was named "Kounistra" (hanging and moving). The icon can be seen in the metropolitan church of Skiathos, and every year on November 21st a big festival is organized.

At a small distance the small church of Agios Ioannis Kryfos (1726)

~ Evangelistria Monastery The monastery is located at a small distance outside the town of Skiathos into a lush landscape. It started being built in 1794, and was completed in 1806. It significantly helped morally and materially with the revolution of 1821. It was there, in 1807, that the first Greek Flag with the white Cross in the middle of a blue background was created. There are three museums: Museum of Sacred Relics, Museum of the Balkan Wars, and Folklore Museum.

~ Agios Charalampos with wonderful hagiographies is locat- ed. The monastery of Agios Charalambos is 2 km away from the monastery of Evangelistria. This is where Alexandros Moraitidis lived as a monk during the last years of his life, by the name Andronikos.

~ Kechria The monastery of Kechria is located within an idyllic site at the northwestern side of the island, 8 km away from Chora. The monastery's catholic was built in 1540.

• The house of Papadiamantis 

Alexandros Papadiamantis The “saint” of Greek Letters. One of the most significant Greek litterateurs, was born in Skiathos on March 3^rd 1851.

He was one of the nine children of the teacher and priest Adamantios Emmanuel (1817-1897) and Gulos Moraitis (1822-1896). Thus, young Alexander grew up in an atmosphere of reverence and religiosity. He learned the first letters in his homeland and in Skopelos, then attended the high school of Chalkida and completed his high school studies in Athens (Varvakeio) with a thousand and two deprivations. In 1874 he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens, but did not receive his diploma.

At the age of twenty he went to Mount Athos with his cousin, also a short story writer, Alexandros Moraitidis to worship. Papadiamantis loved the simplistic life, he had the big secret to transform his dream dreams into exquisite stories.

"The top of the peaks" according to K. P. Cavafy. He wrote mainly short stories, which occupy a prominent place in modern Greek literature.

Today, it functions as an exhibition room of old and new publications of Papadiamantis. The house was characterized by the Ministry of Culture as a historical pro tected monument.

• Bourtzi

Bourtzi is the reference point for every visitor. It is located in front of the town of Skiathos, and is connected by a bridge, dividing the harbor in two parts, the old and the new. The small peninsula with the pine trees and the ruins of the old fortress, which was build in 1207 by the Venetian Gkyzi brothers, is impressive. The fortress was completely ruined in 1660 by the Venetian admiral F Morozinis, and today only a few parts of its walls and some of the old canons are saved.

In 1906 the elementary school of the island was built there by donation of Andreas Sygros. The neoclassical buildings of the school were renovated, and today operate as cultural center of the Municipality, with the summer theater in its yard, where the events of the island take place. At the edge of the peninsula there is a cafeteria. At the entrance of Bourtzi you will see the bust of Al. Papadiamantis, which has been there since 1925, while in 2004 the bust of Alexandros Moraitidis was also moved next to it. The monument of the Unknown Sailor of Skiathos is located exactly before the entrance to the peninsula since 2007.