Church of Panagia in Folegandros

On the cliff above Chora the eye-catching Church of Panagia watch over the village. The church is the most interesting attraction on Folegandros, even if you normally are not interested in churches and monasteries. The church itself is worth seeing - both the interior and the exterior are beautiful. The sunset from here is amazing! There are very many churches in Greece called Panagia. The name Panagia means Virgin Mary.

In the courtyard outside the church are several ancient statues built into the walls. On the way up to the church you pass a cemetery where there is a stone wall from 5th century BC. On a mausoleum a bust of a Roman youth show off. Strange that no one steals these treasures, they should be stored in museums.

One of the ancient statues that are built into the church walls.

Here you can see the path that zigzags up to the church from Chora.

The path up to the church is not for those with bad knees.

It takes about fifteen minutes to walk up to the church from Pounda Square in Chora.

Above the church of Panagia, a path leads up to Paleokastro. Paleo means "old" and Kastro means castle. In other words Paleokastro is the old castle of Folegandros. Not much is left of Paleokastro, mostly ruins of dwelling houses. Some archaeological excavations have not been made, they do not even know how old Paleokastro is. Instead of fascinating archaeological excavations one may enjoy the views.

View from the church over the barren landscape. The port can be seen on the left.

We usually bring a picnic when we watch the sunset.

The Church of Panagia to the right is beautifully lit in the evening.

The church has a famous icon that was missing for many years. The Turks stole it when they invaded Folegandros 1715, but miraculously the icon later returned to Folegandros. Completely unharmed. Isn't it amazing. :-) A real miracle is the sunset as seen from the church.

Another legend says that Folegandros was attacked by pirates from North Africa in 1790. The islanders took refuge in the Panagia Church where they prayed to the Virgin Mary for their lives. Then a strong northerly wind started blowing which caused all the pirate boats to sink and all the pirates to drown. Ever since then, Panagia (Virgin Mary) is Folegandros patron saint.

We always stay at Ampelos Resort when we visit Folegandros. Then we have this beautiful view.

I like the latter legend the most. A real miracle is the magically beautiful sunset seen from the church, and you must not miss it!

Do not miss the magical sunset, which you can read about here »

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