Folegandros

This is the church of Aghios Nikolaos, one of the many churches in the Hora of Folegandros. It is located at a square with the strange name, Dounabis (Danube) square. The locals gave this name to the square, because it is one of the very few places on the island with some water sources, and 3-4 trees, a "forest" for the facts of Folegandros. The rare shadow of one of the rare trees can be seen on the church' s wall.

Folegandros is one of the most arid and dry islands of the Aegean. The landscape is "wild" but beautiful. There might be less than 50 trees all around the island. The locals say, joking, that the trees are as many as the churches, because everytime they manage to plant a tree and see it grow, they build a church to "celebrate" it!

The arid ground is not the only problem. The other problem are the fierce winds, blowing almost all year long. Even when a tree, finds "food" and "water" in the ground, the wind usually throws it down.

To avoid this, sometimes the inhabitants of the Ano Mera especially, build walls, small "houses" with no roof, around the trees to protect them from the wind.

Folegandros is the ideal place for relaxing vacations. It has an original Cycladic landscape that has not been influenced by the touristic development. Walking on the paved lanes of Chora and Kastle, climbing Panagia rock with the amazing view of Aegean Sea, swimming in both deserted and busy beaches are some of the island's features that create beautiful Cycladic scenery. It extends over 32 km2 and is located between Sikinos and Milos in the SW side of the Cyclades complex. Its coastline is 31.5 km long and has 670 inhabitants. According to mythology, leader of the first Cretans that settled here was Folegandros son of Minoa.

Like most Cycladic islands, the town ('chora') of Folegandros is built on the highest spot on the island. Overlooking the sea, the locals were able to distinguish an enemy ship approaching from miles away!
The need for protection against pirates and other kinds of sea enemies urged the habitants of the Cycladic islands to build small, protected towns, with small alleys, and beautiful colours, creating a different, unique and beautiful puzzle in each island!
And of course, with the best sea view!