Φολέγανδρος · 'Iron Folegandros': a village on the lip of a 200 m cliff, a medieval Kastro still lived in, and farmsteads walled against the wind
Walk the lanes of a medieval Kastro on the edge of a cliff, climb a zig-zag path to a white church built from an ancient temple, swim in coves reached by little boats and eat hand-made matsata in a farming village of stone walls.
Greetings from Folegandros
Folegandros
The boat left us in a tiny harbour and the bus climbed straight up to a village hanging on the edge of a cliff, with the sea 200 metres below. We walked the lanes of the Kastro, where people still hang their washing on medieval balconies, and climbed the zig-zag path to the white church on its rock at sunset. Today a little boat took us to a cove at the foot of the cliffs with water so clear the boat seemed to float in air. Tonight it is matsata, rakomelo and a violin under the trees of the square.
Hour by hour
The Kastro in the morning cool, a boat to a wild cove, lunch on the sand, a farming village and the Panagia at sunset.
Start in Chora on a terrace hung over the drop, with the open Aegean 200 m below.
Walk in through the Paraporti, along the two lanes of the medieval village, under its outside stairs and little balconies, before the sun is high.
Drive down to Agali and take the little boat or the cliff path to Agios Nikolaos, a beach of sand and pines with crystal water.
Lunch at a taverna on the beach: fresh local fish, octopus and a Greek salad, with your feet nearly in the sea.
Drive up to Ano Meria and visit the Ecomuseum, a farmstead with its olive press, oven and threshing floor, among the stone walls and the mules.
Back in Chora, climb the zig-zag path from Pounta square to the white church on its rock as the houses below turn gold.
Dinner on the squares of Chora: matsata with rooster in tomato sauce, then a rakomelo late into the night.
Where to stay
Chora
Anemomilos Boutique Hotel · Boutique hotel · €€€€
Chora
Hotel Castro · Family hotel in the Kastro · €€€
Karavostasis
Vardia Bay Studios · Studios · €€
Only on Folegandros
What makes Folegandros different from every other Greek island.
The medieval Kastro of Chora was built to protect the islanders from pirates and has been lived in without a break ever since. Its north side runs along the edge of a cliff some 200 m above the sea; inside, two lanes, Kato Rua and Mesa Rua, run between whitewashed houses with outside staircases, entered by only two gates, the Lotza and the Paraporti.
On the walls and roof of Chrysospilia, a cave 30 m up the north cliffs, some 400 names have been recorded, most of the 4th century BC, written by young men from all over Greece who reached it, it seems, in a coming-of-age rite.
Ano Meria is a village of themonies, self-sufficient farmsteads with their own oven, cistern, threshing floor and pens, scattered among dry-stone walls. The north wind blows so hard that the island's trees lean south, so every lemon tree grows inside its own round stone wall.
Every Easter the icon of the Panagia leaves its church on the rock and, over three days, is carried on foot to every house on the island: Chora on Sunday, Ano Meria on Monday, and Petousis, Livadi and Karavostasis on Tuesday, where it blesses the boats and, if the sea allows, sails round the bays.
“…iron Pholegandros”
Towns & villages
A village of squares on the lip of a 200 m cliff, around a medieval Kastro lived in without a break since it was built
Chora, the island's capital, stands about 200 m above the sea on the edge of a sheer cliff on the north-east coast, on the site of the ancient city of Pholegandros. Its oldest part is the Kastro, a walled medieval settlement built against pirates, whose north side runs along the very lip of the precipice and which has been lived in ever since. Around it the newer village spreads in whitewashed houses, cobbled lanes and, unusually for the Cyclades, one square opening into the next: Pounta, Dounavi and Piatsa, shaded by trees and full of tables at night. No cars are allowed inside. Above it, on a rock, stands the white church of the Panagia, reached by a zig-zag path.
The white church on the rock above Chora, built from an ancient temple, at the top of a zig-zag path
The church of the Dormition of the Virgin, simply the Panagia to everyone, is the largest church on Folegandros. It stands white on a bare rock above Chora, probably on the site of an ancient temple whose stones went into its walls: ancient inscriptions, sculptures and the bases of statues can be seen in its courtyard and inside. A cobbled path zig-zags up to it from Pounta square in about 15 minutes, and the view from the top, over Chora, the cliffs and the open sea, is the most famous on the island.
Things to do
Culture
Take the cobbled path that zig-zags up the rock to the white church of the Panagia, about 15 minutes, and watch the sun set over Chora and the cliffs.
From Pounta square, Chora
Culture
Go in by the Lotza or the Paraporti and walk Kato Rua and Mesa Rua, the two lanes of the medieval village, to the square of the Pantanassa.
Chora
Beach
Ride the caique 10 minutes from the port, past the sea cave of Georgitsi, to the wildest and clearest beach on the island.
From Karavostasis
Good to know
Folegandros is a small, rocky island of about 32 km² in the south-western Cyclades, between Milos and Santorini, with 719 people (2021). The ancients called it 'iron Folegandros' for its harsh rock, and it is still all cliff and terrace, lashed by the north wind, so dry that much of its water is rain kept in cisterns. Its capital, Chora, stands about 200 m above the sea on the very edge of a precipice, around a medieval Kastro that has been lived in since it was built, with a chain of squares under the trees, which no other village in the Cyclades has. Its second village, Ano Meria, is still a farming community of scattered farmsteads. In between lie a handful of coves you reach on foot or by boat, a cave whose walls carry the names of ancient youths, and an island that, in the 20th century, Greece used as a place of exile.
When to go
Easter, when the icon visits every house and the island is green, is the best time of all. May, June and September are warm and quiet. In July and August the meltemi blows hard and the boats fill up; book beds and ferries early, and leave a spare day before your flight.
Getting around
The bus links the port, Chora, Agali, Ano Meria and Livadi and meets every boat. A scooter or small car helps for Ano Meria and the dirt roads in the north. Many of the best beaches are reached only on foot or by the little boats from Karavostasis and Agali.
How long
Three to five days lets you walk the Kastro and climb to the Panagia, take the boats to Katergo and Agios Nikolaos, walk Ano Meria to Livadaki and sail round the island. Pair it with Milos, Sikinos or Santorini.
Getting there
No airport: take a fast boat from Piraeus, about 4 hours in summer, or fly to Milos or Santorini and hop over by sea.
Flights & ferries
A village of 2500 BC on a northern cape, a Dorian city on the cliff that paid tribute to Athens, the Venetian Kastro, pirate raids and a sack in 1715, emigrants who built the new Chora and, in the 1930s, political exiles.
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