Village Hopping on Tinos

Architecture, crafts, local traditions and unique features, make a visit to each one of these 8 villages an unforgettable experience 1. Tripotamos Village of Customs Set between three rivers, which gave this settlement its name, Tripotamos is one of Tinos’s oldest villages. It features traditional architecture, stone arches, narrow alleys and an abundance of surrounding greenery. The world-renowned modern philosopher and psychoanalyst Cornelius Castoriadis (1922-1997) maintained a holiday house here. If asked, villagers will gladly show the way to it. To them, he was more a down-to-earth neighbor than a prominent philosopher. Tripotamos is also well-known for a Christmas custom requiring estranged locals to sit at the same table and settle differences over a meal that may include dishes such as dolmades with rice, a dish symbolizing brotherhood, and beef tongue, to beat the habit of gossiping.

2. Pyrgos Marble art village The largest island of Tinos, is renowned for its marble art traditions. Take a stroll around the alleys to marvel at works of marble art, including fountains and clerestories, and also visit the exceptional Museum of Marble Crafts. Once done, settle at one of the village square cafes, under the large plane tree, for a Greek coffee and galaktoboureko (semolina custard in filo). The scenery is unlike any other in the Aegean.

3. Loutra In the Footsteps of the Uruline Nuns Though once full of life, Loutra, a village in the heart of Tinos, close to the imposing Xobourgo hill, nowadays maintains just a small population. Loutra holds a special place in the island’s history as an Ursuline monastery was built here in the 19th century. It operated an all-girls boarding school for students from all over Greece who studied literature and the arts. The facility is still there and nowadays houses a very interesting folklore museum, highlighting how productive the Ursuline nuns, representing a religious institute of the Catholic Church, really were.