MYKONOS TRAVEL GUIDE

MYKONOS > CHURCHES & MONASTERIES

CHURCHES & MONASTERIES

There are more than 60 post-Byzantine churches in the region of Hora alone, while on the entire island there are around 800 chapels, many of which are protected by the Ministry of Culture as historical monuments. Most of these were built after pledges/homages made by seamen and families of seamen for them to have safe travel and return safely to their houses, but, also because they used to place the bones of their dead in the churches.

Most churches on Mykonos are similar being of small dimensions, frugally built, single vaulted with tiled roofs as on the other islands of the southern Aegean and with the characteristic red-tile colour of their arched roofs. Some are old of early /mid Byzantine periods, but the majority belong to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They representatively contain very interesting works of newer rural ecclesiastical decoration including icons, carved wood iconostasis etc. Mykonos also has monasteries of very interesting architecture and appreciable works of religious art.

The Madonna of Paraportiani

The Madonna of Paraportiani is located in the village of Kastro.It is a cluster of five churches of which the four are found on the ground floor and constitute the base of the building and the fifth that rests above them like domes. These churches are: the church of Agios Evstathiou that is also the centre of the base of the cluster, the church of Agios Anargyron which is the oldest, estimated to have been built in the late 14th century or the beginning of the15th century, the church of Agios Sozondas and the church of Agia Anastasia.

The church was thus named because in the past there was a small gate beside it to the medieval castle of Mykonos. It was built about the 16th - 17th centuries.

The Abbey of the Madonna of Tourlianis

The Abbey of the Madonna of Tourlianis is located close to the settlement of Ano Meras and was founded in 1542 in the place where the old church of Eisodion of the Virgin Mary had been built. Legends say that the Abbey was built by fugitive Monks of Noble Paros when they asked for asylum on the island of Mykonos. The Monks retreated to the higher part of island, to the small temple of the Virgin Mary that served the Nun Tourli.

Legend reports that the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary was found floating near the beach, near the bay of Tourlou and is considered the work of the Evangelist Loukas. It belonged to the Metropolis of Syros.

The Abbey of Paleokastro

North of the settlement of Ano Meras is the monastery of Paleokastro. It was built by the Gizi family, governors of the island, on the hilltop near the ancient settlement of Panormou. It is a nunnery of the 18th century and is a characteristic example of Cycladic monastic architecture.

The Church of the Life-giving Spring

The Church of the Life-Giving Spring or Great Madonna, as it was called by the locals, is the largest church in Hora. It is built in a single-vaulted style domed basilica; it has niches in the north and south sides and covers an area of 182.3 m².

Legend says that her icon was found in a well and for this reason it is called Madonna the Pigadiotissa. It is also known as Angel-built because when they were building the church during the years of Turkish occupation, the residents heard the sound of hammers at night and believing that it was daybreak came out in order to see. They observed that even though it was night the walls of the church had doubled in height in comparison to what had been left the previous day.

The precise date that the temple was built is not known, however, the oldest document in existence there is dated 1st April 1667.