The miracle of Tinos is not only the miraculous icon of the Virgin, which gave the island its fame. It’s the wild beauty that excites you. Wind-eroded rocks, beaches with deep blue waters, Cycladic villages that climb up the hillsides…
Discover the miracle of Tinos Island
A thousand more miracles are just waiting to be discovered here on this Cycladic island: beaches – both secluded and organized – for scuba diving and surfing, local specialties, lunar landscapes, and pilgrims crawling to Our Lady of Tinos on their knees. About 750 chapels and churches, Catholic and Orthodox, 600 ornate dovecotes, 34 settlements and the Temple of Poseidon, where pilgrims are purified before continuing to the sacred island of Delos. An essential crossroads for nearly 2 million believers who visit this island rich in history every year.
What to do on Tinos
Villages like gems:
Pyrgos, Kardiani, Ysternia, Ktikado, Triantaros-Berdemiaros, Falatados, Loutra, Tripotamos. The villages of Tinos are like ornaments decorating the slopes and valleys of the island.
Discover this treasure dressed in marble: squares, skylights or even fountains where you can cool off are of timeless beauty. Take a break in a traditional café in the shade of sycamore trees and have a coffee or a bite to eat. There is always tinian cheese, Louza (smoked meat) and sweet raki. This is real hospitality!
Immortal Tinian sculptures
Legend says that Phidias taught the art of sculpture to the Tinians. And who will argue the legend? In the museums of Tinos – the Cultural Center of Tinos, the Museum of Marble Crafts and Tinian Artists of Pyrgos – you will admire immortal works of Neo-Hellenic sculpture. Giannoulis Halepas, Dimitris Filippis, the Fitali brothers, Lazaros Sochos and Georgios Vitalis have all left their mark here. Learn the secrets of their art by taking classes in the marble carving workshops.
The famous dovecotes: every one a masterpiece
Peristeriones are typical of the Tinian landscape and are among the most impressive works of art in the Cyclades. There are more than 600 dovecotes in slate, stone and limestone covered with lithographs. Pigeons and doves surround them, but you will need keen fingers on your cameras to catch them in flight!
Tinos: the holy island of the Cyclades
Every year on August 15, thousands of believers descend on Tinos to accompany the procession of the miraculous icon. You can barely make out the icon of Panagia Evangelistria, hidden behind the many offerings that surround it. On their knees, the pilgrims begin the ascent from the port to the church, dominating the town of Tinos since 1880. Be a witness of this miracle of faith.
Volax: a lunar landscape in the Aegean
Surrounding the village of Volax is a surreal plateau with huge rocks. Like the abandoned toys of a playful giant. Round rocks of all sizes are hundreds of years old. They are not meteorites, but the consequence of geological erosion phenomena. Discover the wild beauty of this lunar landscape as you travel through the Kakovolo region from Falatado to Panagia Kaki Skala.
The peak of Exomvourgo
At 640 m above sea level, the mountain of Exomvourgo stands out among the monuments of the island. At its base you will find the Catholic Monastery Ieras Kardias (Sacred Heart), one of the island’s most impressive attractions. The fortress of Exomvourgo, at the top, was once the highest in the Aegean, but it was besieged and destroyed by the Turks in 1715. A height that allows you to observe not only Tinos, but also Samos, Ikaria, Naxos and Delos… breathe in the Aegean Sea!
Tinos through the different seasons
Tinos is appreciated in its best days: sunny and hot summer days ideal for a nice swim in the open sea. However, this deep blue water, essential for our summers, is also a real problem for homes during the rest of the year. Indeed, the sea is a source of high humidity. Which, combined with the salty nature of the water, forms an ideal mixture for rust and erosion. Added to this are the many rains, risky winds, thunders, as well as the invasions of insects and rodents: a nature not so lenient after all but which knows very well how to be forgiven by offering this heavenly climate that we can have in summer.
Estia Services is committed to ensuring that you do not have to worry about harsh winter weather conditions and the consequences they could have on your property, so that for you Tinos will forever remain a symbol of summer and rest.
