Places of Interest

Many fascinating sites exist on Amorgos for the visitor to see, however most of them involve walking, or going by donkey, so most people miss the real gems. The most famous sight is the Monastery of Hozoviotissa, which dramatically hangs 180m up on a cliff which drops spectacularly straight down into the sea. It has 50 rooms most of which are only 6 feet wide and the library contains 98 hand written manuscripts. Also on display there, is the most precious icon the island, that of the Madonna. It comes from Constantinople.

There is another monastery on the island, called Theologos (above), but few people actually visit this 4th century church as it is off the beaten track. It is older and in a way more attractive than the more famous one. They have two festivals a year here that many of the local people from Aegiali try to attend. Last year we took our clients who took part in the festivities and listened to the service.

There are three ancient 5th century BC cities on the island, again very few people get to them as they are remote. We visit all three on our programme. They are Akro Kastri at the West end of the island, Minoa above Katapola, and Vigla just above Aegiali. In Minoa, particularly, many of the remains can be seen clearly. In remote farms and chapels that we visit on our tours 'recycled' stone from these ancient ruins can be observed used as door lintels and corner stones.

We visit little churches way up in the mountains that, unbeknown to other visitors to the island, contain many rare and interesting features. We take our clients to a hidden cove down a secret path where a British commando vessel hid out during WWII.

The places to see are endless but we arrange our programme so that you see a cross section of most things. By the end of your holiday you will have marvelled at most of the island, its ruins, churches, villages, cliffs, geological wonders, flora and fauna.

Hopefully you will also have had plenty of time to relax and perhaps see a little of the under water life on Amorgos. The water is so clear and blue that Luc Besson filmed his famous 1988 underwater movie, 'The big Blue’, here.

Many of our clients enjoy watching the islanders go about their every day life using farming and fishing techniques that have not changed for hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years. If you have a particular interest, our programme can be tailored towards your needs. Although you will have booked for a particular programme you can always join a different group one day and try your hand at painting, cooking or ornithology for example (subject to group numbers). Also for the walkers we always offer a saunter as well as a route march each day.


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Special Interest Holidays Amorgos, Paul & Henrietta Delahunt-Rimmer, Stroumbos, Amorgos 84008, Greece

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