Tinos Town, where the pilgrims climb

In 1823, as the Greek War of Independence was beginning, a nun of the Kechrovouni convent named Pelagia had a dream in which the Virgin told her where to dig. In a field above the harbour the islanders found an icon of the Annunciation, and on the spot they built the church of Panagia Evangelistria, Our Lady of Good Tidings. It became the most important place of pilgrimage in Greece, and the town grew up around it.

Every day, and above all on the feasts of 25 March and 15 August, pilgrims come off the ferries and walk straight up the hill. Some carry candles as tall as they are. Some go up on their knees, along a carpet laid at the edge of the street, all the way from the harbour to the church. Inside, hundreds of silver lamps and votive offerings hang from the ceiling: silver ships, hearts, eyes and legs, given in thanks for prayers answered.

Beneath the church is a crypt with the place where the icon was found, and in the complex are the mausoleum of the sailors of the cruiser Elli, sunk in the harbour on 15 August 1940, and galleries of paintings and sculpture by Tinian artists. Lower down, on the street to the church, the Archaeological Museum shows finds from the sanctuary of Poseidon at Kionia.

Away from the two main streets, Chora is a lively small town that lives all year. The lanes behind the waterfront are full of tavernas, ouzeris, bakeries and bars, the fishing boats tie up at the old harbour, and in the evening people sit on the harbour wall to watch the sun go down behind Syros.