Skiros - Sporades

Skyros is the largest island in the Sporades and the southernmost of the group, lying opposite Evia, to which it belongs administratively. Situated 22 sea miles from Kymi, it has won fame for its handicrafts, especially embroideries and furniture. It is also a place whose manners and customs have come down through the centuries virtually unchanged to our own day. This island in the middle of the Aegean, with its bright sunshine and pleasant climate, offers much more than just sand and sea.

The capital is more like a Cycladic village than the villages on Skiathos or Skopelos. The white cubist houses with flat roofs are built on a steep slope with a Venetian castle on the summit. In the chairs and stools. Skiros embroidery is also much in evidence.

Skyros's chief settlement, simply named Horio or "Village", lies above the coast in the north part of the island. It spills down the slopes of an enormous rock, whose peak once housed the castle of a Homeric king, Lycomedes.

Sections of wall from the ancient (5th c. B.C.) acropolis can still be seen, while traces of much older ruins have been found, dating to the Bronze Age.

Well-worth the climb up through town are the Dormition of the Virgin, erected according to its inscription in 895, and once the island's principal church, and the superb monastery of St. George of Skyros, which tradition maintains was founded in 960 either by St, Athanasios or Nikephoros Phocas. The view of the village from the monastery is stunning - a Cubist's composition of square houses and flat grey roofs without an inch to spare between them.

The island also boasts a rare species of pony no more than a metre high. Some years ago, there were as many as 2,000 of these ponies on Skyros but, gradually, as machinery replaced them in carrying out agricultural tasks, their numbers dwindled and only about 150 are left now. The municipality of Skyros and the state are currently involved in a breeding drive to prevent the species from dying out altogether.

History of the island

From the mythological point of view, Skyros is one of the most interesting islands. Mythology tells us that two major events concerning ancient heroes took place there Achilles, disguised as a girl was sent by his mother, the goddess Thetis, to the court of Lykomedes, However, Odysseus who had been charged with finding the warrior, brought gifts of swords and dolls. When Achilles impulsively picked a sword he was discovered and went on to become one of the great protagonists of the Trojan war.

Theseus also sought sanctuary in the court of Lykomedes, who treacherously pushed the Athenian king off a cliff while they were on a walk. The Athenian general Kimon conquered the island in 476 B.C. and discovered the remains of the hero which he brought back to Athens to be enshrined in the Theseion.

King Lykomedes ruled ancient Skiros. It was he who treacherously killed Theseus, King of Athens, by hurling him over a cliff into the sea.

Some of the best island folk art is contained in the Fastaitz Museum near the castle - one of the best if it's kind in Greece. A herd of wild ponies, descendants of the ancient breed called Pikermic and akin to Shetland ponies roam the island.