
An island almost mythical. We start now an atmospheric journey.
It’s the island of Amorgos with its endless blue, Amorgos with its energy fields, its glittering light, and its poetic beauty.
Located on the south end of the Cyclades but in the heart of the Aegean Archipelagos. A day tour on one of the special islands of Greece.
7: oo am.
As the day’s first-day boat departs from Aegiali, heading West towards the Cyclades and Piraeus. We guess on the faces of the passengers the possible end of their holiday, and this pleasant fatigue that leaves you a nice trip once it reaches its end. But, our day tour in Amorgos just begun.
Amorgos, it is said that it took its name from the”Amorgis” plant for a kind of flax by which Amorgos tunics were made off. It is located at the north end of the Cyclades, after Naxos and the Tiny Cyclades. With two natural harbors, Katapola and Aegiali, and an incredibly beautiful”hora”, one of the most beautiful of the Cyclades, Amorgos appear to intersect the Aegean Sea and its vastness.
9:35 am, the Amorgian Pastel
We start our day with a candy the traditional Amorgian pasteli and a Greek coffee of course.
Amorgos is renowned for some traditional and preferred products such as pasteli, rose-sugar, raki, raki…
Rose Sugar is a special product made from wild rose petals that bloom in May that are kneaded with lemon and sugar. It is the sweet provided on lemon balm, in case of baptism and parties, always accompanied with raki.
The French love Amorgos and Amorgos the French. In this long-lasting connection of love and mutual respect, the story of Bertrand stands out. Bertrand from Amorgos made a long journey to almost all the world to reunite with his ship to Amorgos. Now he organizes cruises with a traditional-boat in the Aegean, which he considers the best place for these trips.
12:15 pm, a bit closer to God.
Go to the monastery of Ag.
A stage where ancient times, Orthodoxy, a famed watermill, the god Apollo, Saint George, the water which foretells what will happen in the future, and the continuous search for the truth, exist altogether. From the 8th century, an icon has been found at the point and thus a monastery was built. Today it is a place of spiritual uplifting, tranquility, calmness and inner search.
13:30 pm A long journey in the”chora”
The capital of the island,”chora” of Amorgos features the classic Cycladic beauty with narrow, cobbled streets, whitewashed two-storey houses, arches, and countless churches. The picture is completed with pristine white, crystal almost blue sky and the loud, warm colours of the bougainvillea.
All of these are known and beloved in our Cycladic color palette.
Another characteristic is the typical hill with windmills, which gaze out over the Aegean Sea.
A big contradiction if you consider the years of pirate raids. These winding, narrow roads, this maze of the”chora” served then to escape of inhabitants, who ran and lost in here to escape from the pirates.
14:45 pm, Meeting with the history
A trip to the folk museum, where the island’s historical writings are hosted. This archive has been collected over several decades and has been digitized in the past few decades. The archive has documents from 300 years back.
In the documents, it is reflected the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the island and the changes that intervened during the centuries. Important historical facts and statistics about the older picture of Amorgos will also be on those pages of documents. You may even find listed, natural phenomena and disasters affecting the landscape but also the economy – society of the island.
15:45 pm, St Anne and the Virgin Mary of Hozoviotissa
Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and the Virgin Mary symbolically meets here on the East side of the island.
We are talking about the famous little chapel of St. Anne and the famous beach, with fantastically aquamarine colors of the water which formed the natural background for the movie of Luc Mpesson”Big Blue”. The Ag. Anna looks like it’s here in an ongoing conversation with the monastery of Virgin Mary of Hozoviotissa, which stands for nine centuries perched up there on the steep slope.
Amorgos is famous for its hiking trails. The most famous route is the climb to the monastery of Hozoviotissa, 300 staircase and many stopovers to enjoy this stunning perspective that’s breathtaking. Stand here, and respect the vastness of the world in one of the biggest and nicest balconies.
16:20 pm, Facing the Aegean Sea, seeking God
Constructed in defiance of the landscape, and at exactly the same time extolling the greatness of the world, hooked on steep rocks, the monastery of Hozoviotissa looks poised as a miracle.
It seems to balance on a thin rope that separates the material world from the spiritual Hymn to human will, and faith. Almost against natural laws, a meteor in the Aegean. Meteor as the tens of thousands of unanswered questions of mankind. The monastery was built in 1088 and also the event for its inauguration was to locate the icon of the Virgin Mary who arrived here from Hozhova in Palestine, a location close to the Holy Land and Jericho.
An island, an immense blue embrace, and a miraculous place that affects the soul of the people
We return to the”chora” and is already the hour of Vespers.
Visit then the numerous churches in the”chora” and we’re heading towards the Castle which dominates on the stone in the center of the village.
It is there because the 13th century. It’s a Venetian building. At the peak of the cliff will lead you a steep staircase built on the north side, while to exit the Castle you pass first from the chapel of Ag. George. From the Castle today the view is panoramic and reaches up to Naxos, the small Cyclades, and IOS. From this point, the people could restrain the sea of Naxos and Astypalaia.
Stop at the coffee shop with traditional music played by young musicians. Amorgos is famed for the revels organized at every chance…
Amorgos by N. Gatsos
Evil witnesses to men are ears and eyes if they have barbarian souls. HERACLITUS
With their country strapped to the sails their oars suspended in the end
the shipwrecked slept tame as dead beasts on sheets of sponges
But the eyes of the blossom are turned into the sea
Lest the south end bear them back with new-dyed sails
And a lost elephant is worth a bit more than the two breasts of a
trembling girl.
Only allow the roofs of ruined mountain chapels light up with desire for your
evening star
Allow the birds come in waves to the masts of the lemon trees
With the strong white gasps of new steps
And then the winds will come the bodies of swans that remain mild unsoiled
still
Into the steamrollers of shops in the cyclones of cabbage patches
When the eyes of these women became dark and the hearts of the chestnut
sellers broke
After the harvest was stopped and the hopes of the crickets started learning How to Make Pot Brownies