Amorgos, Greece

Amorgos History And Culture, Greece

The most eastern island in the Cyclades, Amorgos is still off the beaten tourist track. Amorgos still preserves the authentic atmosphere of the Cyclades Islands with its white houses, blue sea, wind and wild landscapes. Just nature, trekking, good food and secluded beaches, only accessible by rugged paths worth the trek for their enchanting endings, delighting travelers who love the Greek islands.

Like all the Cyclades Islands, the beaches and mountains of Amorgos was populated by the Cretans, Romans, Venetian and Turks. In fact, in addition to being a long island, Amorgos is a mountainous island.

Peaks climb to the 821 meters of mount Krikelon (the highest peak on the island) whose steep cliffs drop to the sea. Proof of ancient civilizations are found in the Greek Minoa, above Katapola, high on the plateaus called Moundoulia at the Hosviotissa monastery, built during the Byzantine era in the eleventh century on a 300 meter high cliff over the sea, in Chora, dominated by the Venetian kastro (castle), built in the twelfth century on the rocky ridge by the Ghisi (the Venetian family who owned the island). Mystical like a hermitage and remote like an exile, which it was in the Roman era and during the Greek Military Junta of the 70's, Amorgos enchants you with its rugged nature, scant on most of the island and only luxuriant in the south, in the verdant valleys around Arkesini. Its sea is so blue that Luc Besson chose it for his film, "The Big Blue", starring the deep, Molinari and Mayol (played by Jean Reno and Jean-Marc Barr). Amorgos is not for everyone, just those who love the simple life of the Cyclades, old-fashioned tourists seeking relax at the beach, under the sun and in the landscape.