Tilos
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The sights of the island of Tilos
Tilos

The main sightseeing destination on Tilos island is the fortified Monastery of Agios Panteleimon (pretty on the outside but also wit beaustiful paintings and decorations on the inside). This monastery dates from 1470 - 1480 and is built on a hill on the north west side of the island of Tilos. There is a very unfrequent bus service to this monastery (only a couple of times a week during high season). The monastery is set in a green surrounding with large old chesnut trees, cyprusses and oak trees that are hundreds of years old. The monastery has been restored several times and it comes with a tower. Probably parts of the Agios Panteleimon monastery have been build with stones from an old temple that used to stand at this place. Tilos

The castle above the village of Megalo Chorio is another sight that is worth a visit. The path upstairs is steep and sometimes it is not immediately obvious which way you have to walk. The walk up the hill takes about 45 minutes. Some parts of the castle are in ruin but the views from here are spectacular looking over the island of Tilos all the way to the neighbouring vulcanic island of Nysiros (which looks really like a vulcano from this viewpoint). The castle was built by the Knights of Saint John and until the 18th century it housed the entire population of the village of Megalo Chorio within its walls. 2,5 Kilometers west of Megalo Chorio is another touristic attraction of the island of Tilos. Here you can take a look at the Agios Andonios Monastery. Tilos

The town hall at Megalo Chorio houses a small Museum with the fossilized bones of the Dwarf Elephant that used to live on the island from about 50.000 years ago and spend its summers here. These dwarf elephants lived on the island until about 4000 BC and their bones were discovered in the seventies of the last century in the cave of Harkadio. In this cave also neolithic ceramics and tools made of stone have been found, just as deer bones from a much older date than the bones of the elephants (about 140.000 BC). You can visit the Museum in Megalo Chorio every day from 9.00 to 14.00 o'clock. On sundays the museum is closed. Remains of the dwarf elephant have also been found on several other islands like for instance Crete, Cyprus and Malta. Tilos

Tilos is an ideal island for walkers, and if you explore the island on foot you will see the many small castles, including one in Micro Chorio which is worth taking a look at. It is called the fortress of Misaria and it dates from medieval times. It was founded in 1366 by the Knights of Saint John and is situated above the Harkadio cave. Mikro Chorio was once one of the only two villages on the island of Tilos. People didn't build their houses on the coast in fear of pirate attacks. Nowadays the village of Micro Chorio is abandoned and most of the houses you will see are fallen apart and have become ruïns. The only buildings that are still in one piece are of course the churches of Mikro Chorio. The village is situated at three kilometers distance of Livadia.

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© Hans Huisman, https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2014
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