Greece

Whitewashed house with blue windows on a sea-captain's mansion in Spetses

Elegant Sea-captains’ Mansions Evoke Memories of Maritime Power

It seems odd to us now, when most people visit Greek islands precisely because of the sea – to swim in, sail on or just gaze at – but centuries ago many Greek islanders turned their backs on the sea. They were escaping bloodthirsty pirates, power-hungry invaders and draconian rulers. The island of Spetses, however, …

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Sgraffito featuring local motifs in Pyrgi village, Chios island, Greece

Chios Mastic Villages: medieval, mysterious and designed to confuse!

If the common impression of a Greek village is a whitewashed tumble of cubic houses clustered beneath the protective shadow of a hilltop castle, then the Chios mastic villages present a different picture altogether. The three settlements of Pyrgi, Mesta and Olympi, in the southwestern corner of Chios island in the northeast Aegean, are collectively known …

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Panoramic view of the stately neoclassical mansions of Ermoupoli

The Stately Neoclassical Mansions of Ermoupoli

Monumental façades, marble pediments, balustraded balconies, mythical scenes painted on ceilings… The neoclassical mansions of Ermoupoli on the Greek island of Syros, are about as far from the tiny, sugar-cube houses so redolent of Greece as you can get. Along with its marble-paved streets, its imposing town hall and Italianate theatre, Ermoupoli exudes an air very …

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