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IOS
(Area 108 sq. km. Distance from Piraeus 107 nautical miles).
The coastline of this predominantly mountainous island with its
countless chapels, its olive trees, its vineyards and its limpid
air, is adorned with small, attractive coves. Those features
combine with the crystal clear sea, the superb sandy beaches and
the good range of amenities to make Ios a magnet for tourists.
Locally called Nios, this is an island whose history goes back
to prehistoric times. According to Herodotus, the "poet of
poets", the "god-like" Homer was buried at Plakotos, in the
north of the island. Pausanias tells us that there was an
inscription at Delphi confirming the poet's interment on Ios,
which was the homeland of his mother, Clymene. Above the pretty
harbour of Ormos, where fishing-boats and yachts bob at anchor,
stands the capital of Ios or Hora. The town stands on the site
of the ancient city of the same name and is a typical Cycladic
settlement, with whitewashed houses, narrow alleys and chapels.
Among the churches, those of St Catherine, StJohn the Baptist
and Sts Cosmas and Damien stand out. The whole beautiful image
is rounded off with the bulk of the medieval castle and the row
of windmills which top the town. The sites of Ios include a
Hellenistic tower and the remains of an ancient aqueduct at Agia
Theodoti, traces of an ancient temple at Psathi,
a ruinous
Venetian castle at the spot known as Paleokastro, and the
Hellenistic tower at Plakotos which we have already mentioned.
The Archaeological and folkloric Museum in Hora and the Museum
of Modern Art (Drot-Gaiti) at Kolitsani are also worth a visit.
Lovers of the sea will be enraptured by the superb beaches of
Ios, some of them busy (such as Milopotas, Dear Hora), and
others no less attractive but much quieter (Agia Theodoti,
Psathi, Kalamas, Plakes, Tzamaria, Kolitsani and Manganari).
The authentic Cycladic beauty of los, in combination with the
island's rapid development for tourism, has had the effect of
attracting ever-increasing numbers of visitors.
How to get there: By ferry from Piraeus
Information: Piraeus Port
Authority, tel.: 01/422.6000.
Useful telephone numbers:
Automatic dialling code: 0286.
Police:
91222
Municipal Offices: 91505
Ios Port Authority: 91264
Information Bureau: 91028, 91029.