Sifnos · The south coast · Φάρος
Faros and Chrysopigi
Faros is a small fishing village on the south-east coast, with boats in the bay, a few tavernas and three little sandy beaches: the one in the village, Glyfo, and Fasolou with the monastery of Stavros a little beyond. From Glyfo a path follows the shore to Chrysopigi, the monastery of the Virgin who is patron of Sifnos. It stands on a flat rock cut off from the land by a narrow channel of sea, crossed by a little bridge, and the sight of it from the path, white on gold rock above deep blue water, is stunning. On Ascension Day, forty days after Easter, the whole island comes for its great feast.
The island's old port, and its patron monastery on a rock split by the sea
The story of Faros and Chrysopigi
Faros takes its name from the lighthouse that once guided ships into the bay, and until 1883 it was the official port of Sifnos. Today it is a quiet village of about 150 people, with fishing boats pulled up by the tavernas.
Chrysopigi, the Golden Spring, was built in the 17th century. Islanders tell that its icon was found by fishermen floating in the sea, and that when a nun chased by pirates prayed to the Virgin here, the rock split in two between her and them. The channel is still there under the bridge.
The feast of Ascension is like nothing else in the Cyclades. On the eve, the icon is carried from the house of that year's host to Kamares, and the host and the priests board the regular ferry from Piraeus, which for that one trip calls at the rock of Chrysopigi. The pilgrims come by road, there is vespers, a shared dinner and an all-night vigil. Next morning a caique takes the icon round to Kastro, and it is walked through the villages to Apollonia.
The poet Aristomenis Provelengios, born in Exambela in 1850, called one of his last books of poems simply Chrysopigi.
Where to stay
Where you'll wake up in Faros and Chrysopigi
Faros · The south coast
Good to know
Before you go to Faros and Chrysopigi
Getting there
Faros is about 10 km from Apollonia by bus or car. A road also runs out to Chrysopigi, or walk the shore path from Glyfo.
When to go
Late afternoon, when the rock turns gold and the swimmers at Apokofto have the sea to themselves.
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Kastro
A medieval village whose houses are its walls, on a cliff lived on since antiquity
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