Europe Summer 2017: Greece 3 – no legs allowed

August 17

     We took a bus tour around the the island of Tinos. Stopped at four places during the 6-hour trip: Monastiri, Volax, Pirgos and Panormos.

MONASTIRI

Monastiri

Monastiri church

       Monastiri is a convent of Greek Orthodox nuns. Monastiri was the home of the nun, Panaghia, who had a vision of the location of an icon of the Virgin and for whom the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Panaghia Evangelistria,in Tinos is named.

painting of Panaghia (kneeling)

      On a humorous note, I was not allowed to enter the monastery since I was improperly dressed—short pants with legs exposed. There was a rather formidable looking nun guarding the gate and adamantly repeating “No bermudas, no bermudas!” to me and the other improperly dressed men who had to cool our heels and (I assume) do penance outside. Perhaps they are worried that the good nuns might get overexcited by the sight of male legs? Road buddy had long trousers and and long sleeved blouse (properly covered) and was allowed to enter the monastery.

VOLAX

       Volax is a charming old country village, white-walled houses, narrow lanes, stone pavements and, of course, the inevitable little white-walled church, etc., a typical Greek town in the Aegean islands. 

ON THE ROAD

countryside village

windmill

       Along the route you can see many small white walled villages climbing up the slopes of the hilly countryside, and, here and there, windmills in various states of repair or disrepair. The brown hillsides of Tinos are apparently unique in that they are crisscrossed by a patchwork of non-mortared low stone walls that reminded me a little of the New England countryside where you can still see many such walls that define and delimit farmers' properties. There are also many unique looking structures called dovecotes (pigeon coops). Tinos is well known for its dovecotes. Pigeons are kept for the their meat and their droppings which make excellent fertilizer. The dovecotes are a kind of work of art in themselves. Decorated with various design elements they often look like embroidery. 

dovecote

stone walls of Tinos
(Tinos town in distance)

PIRGOS

Pirgos

an unadorned street in Pirgos

       Pirgos is a “large” town of about 450 population, a larger version of Volax with two large cathedrals of a dun colored finish that stand out among the white walls of the other houses, some of which are decorated with white marble. Tinos is famous for its white marble sculptural history. White marble is quarried in the Pirgos region. The abundance and availability of the marble gave rise to a large community of artists over the years since ancient times. The work of Tinos artists continues today in Pirgos and can be seen all over Greece, including conservation work on such archeological sites as the Acropolis in Athens.

one of Pirgos' two cathedrals 

white marble sculpture

white marble decorates architectural details such as stair railings, tile flooring, etc.

PANORMOS

       Panormos is a seaside village that used to be a shipping port for the white marble quarried in the Pirgos region and the end of our tour, except for the return trip to Tinos town and the local bus back to Agios Sostis. All in all a pleasant way to see the island of Tinos and a chance to get in some serious walking exercise. 

Panormos