An almost mythical island. Today we start an atmospheric journey.
It is the island of Amorgos with its infinite blue, Amorgos with its energy fields, its brilliant light and its poetic beauty.
The island of Amorgos, cradle of poetry and the poet Nikos Gatsos.
Located at the southern end of the Cyclades but in the heart of the Aegean archipelagos. A day tour in one of the special islands of Greece.
7:00 am.
As the day one boat leaves Aegiali, it heads west towards the Cyclades and Piraeus. We guess in the faces of the passengers the possible end of their vacations, and that sweet tiredness that leaves you a nice trip when it comes to an end. However, our day tour in Amorgos has just started.
8:40 am, southeastern Cyclades
Amorgos, it is said that it took its name from the plant “Amorgis” as a kind of linen with which the robes of Amorgos were made. It is located in the extreme north of the Cyclades, after Naxos and the Little Cyclades. With two natural ports, Katapola and Aegiali, and an incredibly beautiful “hour”, one of the most beautiful in the Cyclades, Amorgos seems to intersect with the Aegean Sea and its immensity.
9:35 a.m., the Amorgian Cake
We start our day with a sweet, the traditional Amorgian pasteli and of course a Greek coffee.
Amorgos is famous for some traditional and favorite products like pasteli, rose-sugar, raki, raki…
Rose Sugar is a unique product made from the petals of wild roses that bloom in May that are kneaded with sugar and lemon. Cake is made with honey and sesame seeds. It is the sweet that is offered on lemon balm, in case of baptisms and celebrations, always accompanied by raki.
10:42, the “Captain Morgan” of the Cyclades
The French love Amorgos and Amorgos love the French. Bertrand’s story stands out in this lasting relationship of love and mutual respect. Bertrand de Amorgos made a long journey to almost all the world to return with his ship to Amorgos. Today he organizes cruises with a traditional ship in the Aegean, which he considers the best place for this type of trip.
12:15 pm, a little closer to God.
Visit to the monastery of Ag. Georgios de Valsamitis.
A point where antiquity, orthodoxy, a famous water mill, the god Apollo, Saint George, the water that predicts what will happen in the future and the constant search for truth coexist. In the 8th century, an icon was found on that spot and a monastery was built. Today it is a place of spiritual elevation, tranquility, serenity and inner search.
13:30 A long trip on the “chora“
The capital of the island, “chora” of Amorgos, presents classic Cycladic beauty with narrow cobbled streets, whitewashed two-story houses, arches and countless churches. The picture is completed with pristine white, an almost crystal blue sky and the strong, warm colors of bougainvillea.
These are all known and loved in our Cycladic color palette.
Another feature is the typical hill with windmills, facing the Aegean Sea.
A great contradiction if you take into account the years of pirate raids. These narrow and winding streets, this labyrinth of the “chora” then served to escape the inhabitants, who ran and got lost here to escape the pirates.
14:45 Encounter with history
Visit to the folkloric museum, where the historical archives of the island are located. This archive has been collected over many decades and has been digitized in recent years. The archive has documents from 300 years ago.
The documents reflect the lifestyle of the island’s inhabitants and the changes that have taken place over the centuries. In these archive pages you will also find important historical facts and figures about the oldest image of Amorgós. You can even find registered natural phenomena and disasters that affect the landscape but also the economy – society of the island.
15:45, Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary of Hozoviotissa
Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary and the Virgin Mary symbolically gathers here on the east side of the island.
We are talking about the famous little chapel of Santa Ana and the famous beach, with fantastic aquamarine colors of the water that formed the natural backdrop for Luc Mpesson’s film “Big Blue”. Aug. Anna seems to be here in an ongoing conversation with the monastery of the Virgin Mary of Hozoviotissa, which has stood for nine centuries perched there on the steep slope.
Amorgos is famous for its hiking trails. The most famous route is the climb to the Hozoviotissa monastery, 300 steps and many stops to enjoy this sensational view that takes your breath away. Stand here and admire the vastness of the world on one of the biggest and best balconies.
4:20 p.m. Facing the Aegean Sea, in search of God
Built defying the landscape, and at the same time extolling the greatness of the world, hooked on steep rocks, the Hozoviotissa monastery seems poised like a miracle.
It seems to be balanced on a thin rope that separates the material world from the spiritual hymn to human will and faith. Almost against natural laws, a meteor in the Aegean. Meteor like the thousands of unanswered questions of humanity. The monastery was built in 1088 and the occasion of its inauguration was to find the icon of the Virgin Mary that came here from Hozhova in Palestine, a place close to the Holy Land and Jericho.
An island, a huge blue hug and a miraculous place that reaches the soul of people
18:30 Vespers and Castle
We return to the “chora” and it is time for Vespers.
Then visit the numerous churches in the “chora” and we head towards the Castle that dominates on the rock in the middle of the town.
It has been there since the 13th century. It is a Venetian building. At the top of the cliff will take you a steep staircase built on the north side, while to exit the Castle you first pass the chapel of Ag. George. From the Castle now the view is panoramic and reaches as far as Naxos, the small Cyclades and IOS. From this point, the inhabitants could control the sea of Naxos and Astypalaia.
9:45 p.m., “Amorgian smooth perasm»
Stop at the café with traditional music performed by young musicians. Amorgos is famous for the parties organized at every opportunity…
Amorgos of N. Gatsos
to a green star
Bad witnesses for men are eyes and ears if they have barbaric souls. HERAKLITUS
With his country tied to the sails, his oars suspended in the wind
the castaways slept meekly like dead beasts on sponge sheets
but the eyes of the algae turn to the sea
ballast the south wind take them back with freshly tinted sails
and a lost elephant is always worth a little more than the two breasts of a
trembling girl.
May the roofs of the chapels of the ruined mountains light up with the desire of the
evening star
let the birds come in waves to the lemon masts
with the loud white gasps of new footsteps
and then the winds will come the bodies of the swans that remain tender without staining
yet
in the steamrollers of the stores in the cyclones of the cabbage patches
when women’s eyes darkened and chestnut hearts
sellers broke
when the harvest stopped and the hopes of the crickets began.