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Panagia
This inland village, just south of Thasos, is nothing if not photogenic. Its characteristic architecture includes its stone-and-slate rooftops and the elegant blue-and-white domed and icon-rich Church of the Kimisis tou Theotokou (Church of the Dormition of the Virgin). To reach th
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Castle
The towns well-preserved fortress and Venetian kastro that overlook the town are fascinating. The kastro comprises a series of five terraced stone walls, built by a succession of conquerors (Doric, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Turk), that end at the towns waterfront. The walk and
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Moni Agia Paraskevi
A short path leads from Monodendris northeastern edge to Moni Agia Paraskevi, a monastery with spectacular views over Vikos Gorge. Agia Paraskevi has the oldest preserved church in Zagorohoria. According to legend, Michael Voevodas Therianos founded it in 1413 to thank God for heal
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Museum of Hellenic Culture
A passionate local collector has amassed a collection of over 10,000 items related to Greek education since 1830, plus historic books. This is no dull exhibit, but a delightfully colourful journey through the world of literature, from Aesops Fables to a 1567 Homer text, students wr
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Lesvos Petrified Forest
About 4km beyond the Moni Ypsilou monastery, a signposted left-hand road leads to this fascinating and rare monument of geological heritage. Its creation 20 million years ago is connected with the intense volcanic activity in the northern Aegean during the Miocene period. In 1985 t
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Paradeisos Waterfalls
About 500m past Kafeneion Ta Therma, a lush wooded path (100m) leads to a series of rock pools and waterfalls, the most impressive being 30m in height. This is gorgeous, Lord of the Rings –like terrain, where gnarled, 600-year-old plane trees covered in moss loom out of fog over a
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Castle of Myrina
Myrina’s lonely hilltop kastro dates from the 13th century and occupies a headland that divides the town from its popular beach. The ruins of the Venetian-built fortress are imposing, but deserted, except for the deer that roam freely. It’s worth the 20- to 25-minute walk up the hi
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Bourtzi
The island fortress of Bourtzi (1473), which lies about 600m west of the towns port, has served variously as a pirate deterrent, a home for executioners to protect them from vengeance and a hotel. Note that the battlements are identical in design to Moscows Kremlin; both it and Bou
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Napoleon’s House
This is where the man himself is said to have stayed incognito with a local family when his ship anchored in Crete for one night in 1798 on the way to Egypt. He apparently left a note revealing his identity. To find the building, go down the alleyway to the right of Babis Taverna.
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Marathon Battlefield & Tomb
Four kilometres outside the town of Marathon, 350m from the Athens–Marathon road, sits this 10m-high tumulus, or burial mound. In Ancient Greece, bodies of those killed in battle were returned to their families for private burial, but as a sign of honour the 192 men who fell at Mar
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Livadaki Beach
Follow the north-coast road out of Vathy for 10km and look for a signposted dirt road left leading to Livadaki Beach. Here, tropical azure waters lap against soft sand in a long sheltered cove with facing islets. The water is warm and very shallow for a long way out, and Livadaki’s
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Moni Agiou Nikolaou
This 14th-century monastery, occupying a gorge below Metsovo, has post-Byzantine frescoes and a beautiful hand-carved wooden iconostasis. It’s signposted from the main square’s west side (a 30-minute walk).
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Grave of Nikos Kazantzakis
Crete’s most acclaimed 20th-century writer Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) is buried south of the centre in the well-preserved Martinengo Bastion. The epitaph on his grave, ‘I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free’, is taken from one of his works. To get there, pick up Moussour
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Church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris
At the foot of Filopappou Hill, the 16th-century Church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris (Greek for cannon), is named after an incident in which a gunner from a Turkish garrison on the Acropolis was killed by a thunderbolt while attempting to fire a cannon on the Christian congrega
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Mikro Horio
When pirates prowled the Dodecanese, the medieval settlement of Mikro Horio was Tilos’ main population centre. Its last inhabitants only left around 50 years ago and it now stands empty, 45 minutes’ walk up from Livadia. With its houses in various states of ruin – one opens as a mu
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Moni Episkopis
From the saddle between Kastro and Hora, a surfaced road leads southwest to Episkopi. The remains here are believed to be those of a 3rd-century-AD Roman mausoleum that was transformed into a church in the 7th century and then became Moni Episkopis 10 centuries later. From here you
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Rhodes Aquarium
The New Town’s modest aquarium is housed in an art deco building that was constructed by the Italians in the 1930s as a biological research station. While it doesnt have the large tanks you might expect, it’s not bad for younger kids, with the interior imaginatively kitted out to r
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Kastro & Byzantine Walls
The kastro (castle) encloses Byzantine churches and timber-framed houses with overhanging upper storeys. Enjoy panoramic views from the tower by the eastern edge of the Byzantine Walls, built to survive sieges in the late 4th century BC. Emperor Theodosius fortified the walls; in p
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Holy Monastery of Zoodohos Pigi
The Orthodox convent known as the Holy Monastery of Zoodohos Pigi is tucked away in the back alleys of Hora. You can’t go beyond its pretty little courtyard, where a small church holds remarkable 17th-century frescoes. One of the 40 resident nuns will cheerfully point out Jesus on
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Myrtos’ Museum
Myrtos’ small museum houses the private collection of a former teacher who sparked the archaeological digs in the area after finding Minoan artefacts on field trips with students. The collection includes Vasiliki pottery from the nearby Minoan sites of Fournou-Korifi and Pyrgos as
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