Tori and I received an invitation from the mayor of Skiathos to go on a boat ride to Skopelos and Alonissos, the neighboring islands of Skiathos. So, obviously we accepted! Our first stop was Skopelos and then we headed to Alonissos. On the way there we stopped by a famous tourist attraction, which is on Skopelos, the Mamma Mia white church! This church was originally dedicated to John the Baptist. The story goes that there were fisherman out one day when they caught something really heavy. When the fisherman looked, there was an icon of John the Baptist. They hid it on the beach, but the next morning the icon was gone. The fishermen did find it, but it was all the way on top of a rock so they thought that it was a message from the saint that he wanted a church to be built there. It is one of the most visited places on the island of Skopelos. Many couples do get married at this church, but they have to climb 200 steps to get to the top. Let's just say that’s not my cup of tea.
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| The brochure of the boat Tori and I went on. |
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| Typical Greek boat with a ton of icons hanging. |
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| Tori and I enjoying the great view of the water from our seats. The mayor especially put us on our own little deck! |
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| The Mamma Mia white church! |
Skopelos
Of the two islands, I personally loved Skopelos. It was definitely not as touristy as Skiathos and it had more of a quiet feel to it. Skopelos is exactly twice the size of Skiathos, but has less of a population. Skiathos has about 6,000 people and Skopelos has about 5,500 people. The landscapes and anything and everything that surrounded you was gorgeous. The tour guide that was on the boat with us offered an optional walk to whoever wanted to see the old part of town in Skopelos. Tori and I took the opportunity. Besides being extremely hot and humid out, the tour was so cool. No cars or mopeds were able to access this part of town because it is all stairs and walking for whoever lives up there. Our tour guide had said that mostly elderly people live up there, which is horrible because they have to walk and climb stairs everywhere...to get their groceries, water and even to go out for coffee! However it was very quiet and relaxing and it had the “typical” village in Greece feel. Anywhere you turned, there was a church. There are 360 churches on the whole island and one third of them are in the old town. There are several explanations as to why there are so many churches, but no one really knows the correct one. Since there are so many, the town decided to keep the churches running, but each one is only opened for their specific name day. The main church is open year round and all of the priests take turns in performing the services.
Back in the day, pirates would try and attack Skopelos. They usually didn’t want to do any harm to the people and they only wanted to steal the live stock or jewelry. Skopelos would defend themselves by having the villagers boil oil and if the pirates broke through the front gate, they would throw it on the ground to give them some more time to escape. Although, one pirate (Red Beard) who was working for the sultan of Istanbul, attacked Skopelos in 1538 to capture people and conquer the island. His fleet was 150 ships and the lucky people who could escape ran to Evia, another island, for about a year. When they returned to Skopelos, the island was completely empty. Everyone was either killed or sold as slaves.
Of the two islands, I personally loved Skopelos. It was definitely not as touristy as Skiathos and it had more of a quiet feel to it. Skopelos is exactly twice the size of Skiathos, but has less of a population. Skiathos has about 6,000 people and Skopelos has about 5,500 people. The landscapes and anything and everything that surrounded you was gorgeous. The tour guide that was on the boat with us offered an optional walk to whoever wanted to see the old part of town in Skopelos. Tori and I took the opportunity. Besides being extremely hot and humid out, the tour was so cool. No cars or mopeds were able to access this part of town because it is all stairs and walking for whoever lives up there. Our tour guide had said that mostly elderly people live up there, which is horrible because they have to walk and climb stairs everywhere...to get their groceries, water and even to go out for coffee! However it was very quiet and relaxing and it had the “typical” village in Greece feel. Anywhere you turned, there was a church. There are 360 churches on the whole island and one third of them are in the old town. There are several explanations as to why there are so many churches, but no one really knows the correct one. Since there are so many, the town decided to keep the churches running, but each one is only opened for their specific name day. The main church is open year round and all of the priests take turns in performing the services.
Back in the day, pirates would try and attack Skopelos. They usually didn’t want to do any harm to the people and they only wanted to steal the live stock or jewelry. Skopelos would defend themselves by having the villagers boil oil and if the pirates broke through the front gate, they would throw it on the ground to give them some more time to escape. Although, one pirate (Red Beard) who was working for the sultan of Istanbul, attacked Skopelos in 1538 to capture people and conquer the island. His fleet was 150 ships and the lucky people who could escape ran to Evia, another island, for about a year. When they returned to Skopelos, the island was completely empty. Everyone was either killed or sold as slaves.
Skopelos makes their own wine called Ambrosia. It was thought that if you drank a shot of it, it would protect you in battle. Lets just say Skopelos became very rich from that wine. They also grow their own olives to make olive oil and they grow their own nuts (such as walnuts and almonds) to make pastries with them. They are also known for producing prunes, which are supposed to help with your digestion.
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| The town of Skopelos! |
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| The main church of Skopelos. |
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| Me standing in front of an amazing view at the end of our tour. |
Alonissos
Alonissos was gorgeous as well, but it didn’t seem to have as many people as Skiathos and Skopelos. Alonnissos is bigger than Skiathos and their population is only 2,500 people. A funny story that our tour guide told us was that the island had their first two cars in 1973 and 6 months later these two cars crashed into each other!
Alonissos was gorgeous as well, but it didn’t seem to have as many people as Skiathos and Skopelos. Alonnissos is bigger than Skiathos and their population is only 2,500 people. A funny story that our tour guide told us was that the island had their first two cars in 1973 and 6 months later these two cars crashed into each other!
We actually took a bus up to the old town, which is on the tippy top of a mountain. It had more people around, some restaurants, little boutiques, bakeries and churches. Talk about amazing views.
This island was one of the biggest pirate havens from ancient times up until the 1830s. It’s known as the demon island and Skopelos was their closest target.
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| Tori and I at the old town in Alonissos. |
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| Tori in a store that we found in the old town with homemade goodies. |
I highly recommend taking the time while you are in Skiathos to take this boat to the neighboring islands. It was very informative and fun!
Talk soon!
Stephanie
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