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Chora - Mylopotas
Exploring Chora means, first of all, walking. Choose a cool morning,
wear your most comfortable shoes and get ready to set off. One hour is enough
for the ones who just want to have a look at this whitewashed village, perched
on the slope of the hill between the port and Mylopotas. The more demanding
ones will need the whole morning to discover the hidden beauty of Chora.
That's because Chora was built up for the sun and it's the sun that reveals
the village to the visitor or hides it from him. |
| To go up to Chora, just follow the wide stone steps of the
old ascending road that comes from the port. On your way, right before entering
the village, you will come across a part of the walls that once surrounded
the ancient town. Following the same road you reach the first square of
Chora. To your right stands the modern Orthodox Cathedral of the island,
named Evangelismos (Annuciation) and, nearby, a church dedicated to St.
Ekaterini, where in 1903 an excavation unearthed the remnants of Byzantine
foundations and the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo. Above
these ruins the Christians built the Byzantine Cathedral, whose altar rests
upon two of the temple's columns. |
Mylopotas Beach
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| To your right there is the marketplace and the two main
roads that lead you across the village and to the square of the mills.
Following the road that goes up, you reach the second square of the village,
with its four cafes. On the left side coming from this square, the stone
steps lead to the old castle of Chora, where the sublime church of Panaghia
Gremiotissa (Our Lady of the Cliffs) is situated, built during the years
of the Turkish occupation. According to one tradition, an icon of the
Virgin was found among the rocks of Mylopotas' seashore, with a lit candle
standing on it. The legend has it that the inhabitants of Crete had thrown
the icon in the open sea to protect it from falling to Turkish hands,
and that the waves had carried it to that coast. The icon was then taken
to the church of the Holy Cross, but only to be found again the following
morning on the same steep mountainside. When the islanders tried to build
a new church for the icon, but not on the exact spot where it had been
found because of its inaccessibility, the foundation stones of the church
kept disappearing every day in a miraculous way.
.... from Chora to Mylopotas
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| It was only then that the islanders understood that the
icon had chosen that exact spot, because it was the only one from where
the dim shape of Crete could be viewed. On this piece of rough land they
built the new church, known today as Gremiotissa, with its miraculous
icon.
A little beyond this church you can see the ruins of the castle walls
and enjoy the magnificent view of the port and of Vigla.
If you walk towards the northern side of the castle, you will come across
the ancient walls again.
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Chora
Mylopotas
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| On the other side of the market area, the square with the old windmills
is a centre of commercial activity and a meeting place for the local
festivals. Today, because of a complicated system of private ownership,
the square remains undeveloped, used only as a parking space, but
we hope that the efforts of the local authorities will soon pay off,
so that the inhabitants and the visitors will have the opportunity
to enjoy the fantastic view from a reorganised square. |
| From the square of the mills, you can follow the narrow street
that goes up to Prophitis Elias. A path of 500m., with magnificent
view to Chora and to Mylopotas, leads you to the church of Prophitis
Elias. In periods of water shortage, a procession with icons and banners
is made along this path towards the church. |
| Read
also: Ios Architecture |
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