Tinos Island of the Panagia
Overview & Reasons to visit
Tinos is a medium sized island in the northern part of the Cyclades which does not cater for mass tourism or frenetic night life, if this is what you are looking for go south to near neighbours Mykonos or Paros.
Tinos has a busy authentic main town (Chora) which caters for locals, Greek tourists and also for large numbers of pilgrim who come to visit the Church of the Panagia and its miraculous healing icon of Our Lady which is studded with precious stones. The church was built in 1823, during the revolt of the Greeks against the Ottoman rule, on the spot where the miraculous icon was found.
The island is very busy during Easter and packed on 25th March & 15th of August which is the feast day of Our Lady.
At other times Chora has a vibrant nightlife centred around the numerous restaurants and coffee shops which are supported by the locals, Greek tourists as well as the pilgrims. Gastronomy is increasing being promoted as a reason to visit, Tinos even boasting its own microbrewery.
There is shopping, but you will not find many designer labels here. There is a cluster of tourist shops around the Leof. Megalocharis which is the road that leads up to the Church of the Panagia which have a bewildering array of icons & candles for sale
There are plenty of good walks and information is available via Tinos Trails
How to reach
There are daily Golden Star, Fast Ferry & Seajet ferries from Athens (Rafina) to Tilos and Blue Star from Piraeus. There are daily ferries from Mykonos & Naxos with the same companies. Some services do not run all year round
There is no airport on Tinos so best international flights are into Athens or Mykonos
Sights & Beaches
As well as the Church of the Panagia previously mentioned sights include dovecotes at Tarambados, pretty village of Pyrgos and the Marble Museum, Panormos beach & harbour, Boulders of Volax , Rocky outcropAnd ruins at Exobourgo, Ursuline convent
There are a number of beaches scattered around the island accessible by buses e.g Kionia & Agia Fokas others including Kolimbithra would need some form of transport all are low key.Like many of the Cyclades you do get windy days in Tinos so may need to be flexible!
Travelling Around
KTEL run the local bus services which run from the bus station which is near the harbour with regulat buses to Panormos, Kionia, Porto & Steni Monastery. The frequency varies according to the`season. There is an information office on the road near the bus station, ask the pelican! Tickets are bought on the bus. Single ticket to Porto was 1.80 euro in 2020.
There are many car & bike hire companies on Tinos
Taxis are available at the port and in the town, there is a taxi rank by the roundabout on the sea front
History
Tinos was called Ophiousa in ancient times and was inhabited by Mycenaeans and Ionians who established a temple to Poseidon and Amphitrite near present day Kionia. Tinians fought at the battle of Plataea and at sea in battle of Salamina and at the battle of Marathon. Subsequently Tinos was taken by the Romans and eventually came under the control of the Venetians who built the castle at Exbourgo, after several failed attempts the Turks captured the island in 1715.In 1822 in the most significant event of the modern period the Blessed Virgin appeared as a vision to a nun and spoke of an icon which was duly found in 1823. The Church of the Panagia was built to commemorate this event and since then Tinos has been a place of pilgrimage for many Greeks. During World War 2 the Italians infamously sank the Greek cruiser Elli in the harbour of Tinos in 1940 before war was declared.