The Kastro
Houses on the cliff edge.
Zde — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zde — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zde — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zde — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zde — CC BY-SA 4.0
Chora is the main village of the small island of Folegandros in the southern Cyclades, about 51 km northwest of Santorini in a straight line. The island covers about 32 square kilometres, and about 720 people live in its three small villages. The Greek poet Aratus called it «iron Pholegandros» for its ruggedness. An ancient town stood on the site of today's Chora and was a member of the Delian League. In 1207 the Venetian Marco Sanudo took the island, and from Venetian times survives the Kastro, a fortified quarter whose tightly packed houses form an outer wall on the edge of the cliff. Inside the Kastro, white houses with outside staircases and blue and green wooden balconies line stone-paved lanes hung with bougainvillea. The village opens onto small shaded squares, and on the cliff edge a white church looks out over the sea from a great height. The village stays quiet even in summer; visitors spend evenings in its squares and tavernas and climb the zigzag path to the Panagia church at sunset. Ferries arrive at the port of Karavostasis, linked to the village by bus.
Houses on the cliff edge.
At sunset.
Shaded by trees.
Chora, Folegandros island, Greece
By ferry to Karavostasis, then the bus.
Quiet even in summer.