Things To Do in Skyros

Exploring the Island

All boats dock at Linaria, a plain, mostly modern fishing village on the west coast, pleasant enough but not recommended for a stay. Catch the bus waiting on the quay to take you across the narrow middle of the island to the west-coast capital, Skyros town, which is built on a rocky bluff overlooking the sea. (The airport is near the northern tip of the island.) Skyros town, which is known on the island as Horio or Hora, looks much like a typical Cycladic hill town, with whitewashed houses built on top of one another. The winding streets and paths are too narrow for cars and mopeds, so most of the traffic is by foot and hoof. After you alight at the bus stop square, continue on up toward the center of town and the main tourist services.

Near the market, signs point to the town's kastro. The climb takes 15 minutes, but the view is worth it. On the way you'll pass the church of Ayia Triada, which contains interesting frescoes, and the monastery of Ayios Yioryios Skyrianos. The monastery was founded in 962 and contains a famous black-faced icon of St. George brought from Constantinople during the Iconoclastic controversy. From one side of the citadel, the view is over the rooftops of the town, and from the other the cliff drops precipitously to the sea. According to one myth, King Lykomides pushed Theseus to his death from here. (Skyros also happens to be where Neoptolemis, the son of Achilles, was living when he was sent to revenge his father' death at Troy.)

The terrace at the far (northern) end of the town is Plateia Rupert Brooke, where the English poet, who is buried on the southern tip of the island, is honored by a nude statue, Immortal Poetry. (Brooke died on a hospital ship off Skyros in 1915 while en route to the Dardanelles as an army officer.) The statue is said to have offended the local people when it was installed, but you're more likely to be amused (or annoyed) when you see how pranksters have chosen to deface the hapless bronze figure. (The Faltaits Historical and Folklore Museum, described above, is near this site, as is the not especially distinguished -- and thus not recommended -- archaeological museum.)

Local customs and dress are currently better preserved on Skyros than in all but a few locales in Greece. Older men can still be seen in baggy blue pants, black caps, and leather sandals with numerous straps, and older women still wear long head scarves. The embroidery you will often see women busily working at is famous for its vibrant colors and interesting motifs -- such as people dancing hand in hand with flowers twining around their limbs and hoopoes with fanciful crests.

Peek into the doorway of many a Skyrian home and you're likely to see what looks like a room from a dollhouse with a miniature table and chairs, as well as colorful plates -- loads of them -- hanging on the wall. These displays are said to date from the Byzantine era, when the head clerics from Epirus sent 10 families to Skyros to serve as governors. They were given control of all the land not owned by Mount Athos and the Monastery of St. George. For hundreds of years, these 10 families dominated the affairs of Skyros. With Kalamitsa as a safe harbor, the island prospered, and consulates opened from countries near and far. The merchant ships were soon followed by pirates, with whom the ruling families went into business. The families knew what boats were expected and what they were carrying, and the pirates had the ships and bravado to steal the cargo -- and then share with their informants. The pirates, of course, soon took to plundering the islanders as well, but the aristocrats managed to hold onto much of their wealth.

Greek independence reduced the influence of these ruling families, and during the hard times brought by World War I, they were reduced to trading their possessions to the peasant farmers for food. Chief among these bartered items were sets of dinnerware. Plates from China, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and other exotic places became a sign of wealth, and Skyrian families made elaborate displays of their newly acquired trophies. Whole walls were covered, and by the 1920s local Skyrian craftsmen began making their own plates for the poorer families who couldn't afford the originals. This, at least, is the story they tell.

Skyros is also the home of a unique breed of wild pygmy ponies, often compared to the horses depicted on the frieze of the Parthenon and thought to be similar to Shetland ponies. Most of these rare animals have been moved to the nearby island of Skyropoula, though tame ones can still be seen grazing outside the town. Ask around and you might be able to find a local who will let you ride one.

Every July 15, the ponies of Skyros are assembled and rated as to their characteristics, and then young boys race some of the ponies around a small track.