Chora
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 lanes of the Kastro, Kato Rua and Mesa Rua
- The view from the cliff at Pounta square
- The zig-zag path up to the Panagia
- Rakomelo under the trees of the squares at night
- The 4th-century BC city wall in the cemetery
