Astypalaia is the most western island of the Dodecanese, and it sits between two island groups. It looks Cycladic — white houses, windmills, a castle on a hill — but it belongs to the Dodecanese.
The island is shaped like a butterfly. Two blocks of land are joined in the middle by a strip only about a hundred metres wide. Around thirteen hundred people live here.
Above the old harbour, Chora climbs to a castle whose outer wall is made of the houses themselves. Just below the town, at a place called Kylindra, archaeologists have uncovered the largest burial ground of infants known from the ancient world.
History & Culture
The castle
In 1207 the island was granted to Giovanni Querini, and the Venetian family held it for close to three hundred years. They built on top of the ancient acropolis, and each generation enlarged what the last one had made. The castle took its final form in the fifteenth century.
It is unlike other castles in the southern Aegean. There is no separate fortress wall. The houses themselves form it: their outer walls, built of dark local stone with small openings, are the defence. You pass under a single arched gateway to get inside.
Two churches stand within the walls — Panagia tou Kastrou, with a carved screen, and Agios Georgios. Just outside, on the edge of the rock, is Panagia Portaitissa, built around 1762 by a blind monk from Kefalonia who brought a copy of the icon from Mount Athos. Its gilded wooden screen is the finest on the island.
The infant cemetery
At Kylindra, on the slope below the town, excavation has uncovered around three thousand burials of babies.
They were buried in clay pots — cooking pots, water jars, amphorae — placed in shallow pits cut into the rock, in two or three layers, one above the other. The pottery dates them from the end of the Geometric period to at least the first century BC. Some pots held two infants.
Bone analysis carried out at a London university found that about 77% of the babies died between 37 and 42 weeks, that is at or around birth.
Nothing on this scale is known anywhere else in the Greek world. Why so many infants were brought to this one place is still not understood. Inscriptions found nearby mention Eileithyia, the goddess who protected women in childbirth, which may be part of the answer.
The finds are in the Archaeological Museum in Chora.
Nature & Outdoors
The island is dry, rocky and open, with terraced slopes, low stone walls and a great many small white chapels.
Two caves are worth the trip. The Cave of Negros, above Vatses on the south coast, has stalactites and a large chamber, and you reach it by dirt road and then on foot. The Drakos cave, near Vathy at the eastern end, is reached only by boat.
At Ftera there is a climbing area with bolted routes on limestone.
Footpaths cross both halves of the island, linking Chora with the chapels, the old threshing floors and beaches that have no road. The walking is best in spring and autumn; there is very little shade.
Small boats leave the old harbour for the islets of Koutsomiti and Kounoupa, which have shallow turquoise water and no facilities at all.
Beaches
The coast is a mix of sand, small pebbles and rock, and most of the good beaches take some effort.
Steno, on the narrow strip in the middle of the island, is sandy and very shallow, which makes it the easiest choice with children.
Livadi, one kilometre from Chora, is the most organised: sand and small pebbles, tavernas behind it, and a view up to the castle.
Pera Gialos, at the old harbour, is the one you can walk to.
The two that people talk about are on the south coast and both are reached by dirt road. Kaminakia, twelve kilometres out, is a wide sandy cove with a taverna and trees. Vatses is grey sand mixed with pebbles, approached through a small gorge, with a beach bar.
Agios Ioannis has no road at all — you go by boat, or walk down and back up.
Food & Drink
Wild saffron grows on the northern slopes of the island and is collected every autumn. Almost nowhere else in Greece is it gathered wild, and it turns up throughout the local cooking.
The other constant is thyme honey, which the island produces in quantity — and which goes into savoury dishes as well as sweet ones. This is the thing to know about Astypalian food: it mixes sweet and salty on purpose.
The clearest example is pougia, small fried cheese pies filled with soft mizithra and served with honey. Kitrinokouloura are yellow biscuits, coloured and scented with saffron and kneaded with fresh cheese. Lambriano is the Easter dish, randista is lentils cooked with pieces of dough, and makarounes is hand-made pasta.
The cheeses are unusual even by Greek standards: chloro and chlori are fresh and soft, ladotyri is kept in oil, and there is a sharp kopanisti.
Where to Stay
Prices shown per night for a sample 3-night stay. Rates and availability vary by season — select your dates for live pricing.
Practical information
Getting there
Astypalaia has a small airport, with flights from Athens all year and connections to some other Dodecanese islands. Ferries from Piraeus take seven to ten hours depending on the route. The island also connects to Amorgos, Naxos, Paros, Kalymnos, Kos and Rhodes, but not every day — sailings are fewer than on larger islands, so check before you fix your dates.
Getting around
The two halves of the island are joined by a strip of land about a hundred metres wide, so distances are longer than the map suggests. Since 2020 Astypalaia has been a test island for electric transport, in a project between the Greek state and a car manufacturer: there are charging points across the island and an electric ride-sharing service that runs all year, which is a real alternative to renting. If you do rent, note that several beaches are reached by dirt road.
When to go
The season is May to October. June and September are the best months — warm sea, everything open, and space on the beaches. 15 August, the feast of Panagia Portaitissa, is the largest event of the year and fills the island completely. In winter most things close, though the airport and the ride-sharing service keep running.
Good to know
Chora is steep and paved with stone, so wear shoes with grip. The castle and the churches inside it have limited opening hours — check locally. The infant cemetery at Kylindra is an excavation site, not a presented monument; the finds are in the museum in Chora, which is where to go. Several beaches have no facilities and no shade, so carry water. Book accommodation well ahead for August.
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