A monastery outside the village of Kastro on the Greek island of Sifnos in the Cyclades
Kastro is one of the most facinating and mysterious places on Sifnos. The town has been inhabited for over 3000 years and was at one time the capital of the island. To get to Kastro you can take a bus from Kamares or Apollonia or by car or motorbike. There is also an old footpath from below Artemona which is a beautiful walking trip due to the abundance of wildflowers and interesting plants and the fact that it is entirely downhill. When you drive to Kastro you park in the small parking area outside the village and follow the signs to the entrance. There are no cars within the village or motorbikes for that matter. If you arrive between the hours of 2 and 6pm you may not even see a single person on the street unless it is another tourist. At the entrance of Kastro there is the old Elementary School of Kastro, which no longer operates as a school though during the summer it host various exhibitions. The town is rich in antiquities and besides having an archaeological museum, there are artifacts scattered throughout the village. This is an ancient sarcaphagus, one of several in Kastro. The white-washed village sits upon a domed rock that towers above the sea. To protect the town from pirates there were only five entrances in the massive walls which enclosed it. These could be locked by iron gates. When you enter the town you go through tunnels and passageways into a labrynth of tiny streets wide enough for only two or three people to walk abreast. There are cafes, restaurants and several interesting old churches. If you follow the main street to the left you will eventually come out at the sea with a stunning view of the coast. As you continue to walk around the village with the Aegean below you, the ancient walls and the ruins of the Venetian fortress are above you.
Size: 3265px × 4570px
Location: Kastro, Greece
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: aegean, christian, christianity, cyclades, greece, greek, island, kastro, monastery, orthodox, religion, sifnos, siphnos
