With this guide, we suggest you visit the best places of cultural interest.
Whether it’s museums or natural beauty, sculpture, ancient monuments
and much more…
Culture, Art and Natural beauty in Tinos
Pyrgos – Panormos
Pyrgos is the largest village in Tinos after the city and one of the most picturesque parts of the Cyclades. Its name comes from a Venetian tower built in the 16th century for the defense of the place. The village is full of wonderful creations based on marble. Crossing the picturesque streets of the village one can admire the marble lintels of the houses with a variety of decorative motifs, the marble decorations, the fountains, etc.
The dedication of the inhabitants of Pyrgos to the marble craft created a great artistic tradition and highlighted some of the greatest Greek artists. To maintain this tradition, a preparatory art school is currently in operation. The first graduates of the school continue straight to the Higher School of Fine Arts without examinations. You should not forget to visit the House – Museum of Giannoulis Halepas, the cemetery with the marble masterpieces and the Museum of Tinian Artists, where works of Giannoulis Halepas, Philippotis, Sochos, Vitalis and others are exhibited.
At the end of your walk, do not forget to rest in the village square, enjoy a Greek coffee in the cobble and eat the famous galaktoboureko under the plane tree and to quench in the marble arcade with the taps.
Volax
The area is full of natural granite boulders, which are still looking for a satisfactory explanation, many of which form different forms. Its name is due to the large granite rocks, from the place with the rocks to the Vulacus. The “heavy pronunciation” Vulak was first attributed to the Latin as Vulacus and later to Greek as Volakas, Volax.
It is a wild place, a lunar landscape, enchanting with its peculiarity.
Here you will find a folklore museum and taverns, you will see basketmakers on the work, as well as performances of the summer festival at the stone theater.
Exomvourgo
It is called Exomvourgo or Xomburgo, from the Venetian word Sobborgo which means neighborhood. On this hill was built the ancient city of Tinos, but also the Medieval Venetian city. A very large percentage of the inhabitants of the municipality of Exomvourgo are Catholics, making it the second municipality in a percentage of Greek Catholics after the upper Syros municipality.
Thanks to the fortified castle, the island has endured many attacks throughout the centuries. Today, there is the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the orthodox church of Zoodohos Pigi.
The enlightened cross on the top of the mountain dominates the night.
Loutra
Loutra is a village with a long history since the Jesuits and Ursuline nuns had built their monasteries there. The small town of Ursulines was an important religious and cultural center of the island. The Ursuline School is a unique school in the Balkans, offering French education to daughters of wealthy families from Greece and abroad.
A part of the old school today is a museum with plenty of educational, ecclesiastical and cultural material, while another part hosts a public school and, in the summer, the municipal festival.
The temple of Poseidon
In antiquity, Tinos was one of the most important religious centers, contemporary with Delos. The temple is devoted to the worship of Poseidon and Amphitrite. It’s founding and expansion date back to the period of Macedonian domination in the Cyclades in the 4th century BC.
The temple of Poseidon and Amphitrite was a pilgrimage attraction because it acquired a Panhellenic reputation with apogee in the 3rd century BC.
Tarabados
Tarabados is a picturesque village, built in the early 18th century with traditional houses. There are restored dovecotes externally decorated, built in wind-protected places and with open space in front, for the pigeons can go to the ravines, on the slopes, but always be close to running waters and springs.
The dovecotes are crafted by local craftsmen but also carved out of the weather and are examples of local architecture, and in the past, it has been an income for the locals.
The stone-paved paths will lead you to a lush landscape with the ravine and the dovecotes and the chapel of Agios Nikolaos…
Kambos
In Kambos, you will find the new Tsokli Museum and the church of Saint Catherine, built by Orlov to honor the emperor of Russia, Catherine I, in 1771.
In the area, you will find the well-preserved windmill, few dovecotes and the well with the traditional laundry room of the village that is maintained unchanged until today.
A honey festival is taking place in early September.
Τhere are other places of interest like the Agricultural Museum of the Jesuit Monastery, Archaeological Museum, Gallery, Folklore Museum of Arnados and much more…
You can also see our choices to visit the places about Religion, Beaches and Hiking by clicking the links.
Also, visit our new website rentacaranoi.gr and see the routes we have prepared with the interactive maps (1st, 2nd, and 3rd route) that make up the one-day tour and visit them with our rental vehicles.
See also our travel guides for the Museums, Beaches, Villages, Food, and the Town of Tinos…