ASTYPALEA

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THE CAPITAL OF ASTYPALEA, Hora, was built so as to be invisible from the sea but visible from almost all of the island; it’s hard to escape its presence. I see it now, at 07:00, from the balcony of the Kallichoron Art Hotel, as I breakfast on freshly made chloro cheese, honey and the small pies known as pougia – award-winning cooking the hotel also offers to non-guests. As I eat, I see the amazing sunrise while windmills turn pink and birdsong wakes the island.

Astypalea was designated a “smart” island in June 2021, with the Greek prime minister, cabinet members and journalists from all around the world descending on this small corner of the southeastern Aegean. They spoke of green energy, inaugurated electric car charging stations and donated gas-free vehicles to the local municipality. According to the plan for its eco-friendly transition, Astypalea will cover all its energy needs with renewable power from a solar park and a wind turbine within the next few years, and all vehicles will be electric-powered. The islanders, for their part, are concerned by the prospect of wind turbines cropping up all over and have been resisting such plans for some time. Some argue that nothing is going to come of the scheme, while others say it may succeed in part, as it did on Tilos. Others simply don’t care. Nonetheless, in just a year there’s been an increase in electric car purchases by locals, and many rental cars and official state vehicles have been replaced by electric-powered ones. Charging stations have sprouted up in all the settlements, and an initiative called Asty MOVE that includes a car-sharing program called Asty Go and an Asty Bus shuttle service has been introduced.

I don’t know whether people will choose Astypalea for their vacation because it’s “smart” or “green,” but other reasons to visit are abundantly obvious. It has one of the loveliest main towns in the Aegean, many different beaches, good food and a great atmosphere. Green energy is probably not foremost on the mind of Kyra Stavroula, who keeps goats in Vathy; of Theodosis, who sails out every dawn looking to land some fish; of Gavriil, who tends to his beehives on the island’s barren hillsides; or of the women who make the local pasta. For the time being at

Summer fun at Livadi Beach.

The whitewash in the alleys of Hora is well maintained.

least, Astypalea has just one asphalted street, lots of bumpy dirt roads, inaccessible hillsides, wild goats, sheep, a few cows, bee farms, cactuses and laurel trees – and an abundance of churches and chapels. In the eastern part of the island, where there are fewer beaches and they tend to be wilder, you rarely even see another person about. People come through this area, known as Mesa Nisi, mainly on the way to the village of Vathy, to the small self-service taverna Galini, where Mama Maria, as the cook likes to call herself, fries up platters of fresh fish and calls you into the kitchen to get them. And that’s about it. Otherwise, it’s a massive, uninviting lagoon-like bay with nothing but pens for livestock and drystone walls.

The more popular beaches are located in Livadi, a lush valley that stretches from the dam and the artificial lake down to the coast. With rooms to let and restaurants, Analipsi (or Maltezena) is also quite cosmopolitan. Other swimming spots include Aghios Konstantinos with its pretty beach bar; the nudist beach Tzanakia; Vatses, also with a nice beach bar but no cellphone coverage; and Kaminakia, with tamarisk trees providing shade and a famous taverna. On the narrowest part of the island, Steno is very popular among families with young children, thanks to its shallow waters, natural shade and snack bar. Ble Limanaki, a tiny beach next to Maltezana, is so small you might not find room to lay down your towel but it’s very pleasant if you do. Plakes has both pebbles and large slabs of stone that make great diving boards and tanning beds, and Psili Ammos is one of the island’s few beaches with a golden mix of fine pebbles and coarse sand.

There are many more beaches on Astypalea to be explored but, if you ask around, everyone will advise a tour to the nearby islets of Koutsomytis and Kounoupes. Depending on crowd size, your swim will either be peaceful or very noisy. Kounoupes also has a small beach bar where you can get cold beer, a few cocktails and even ceviche: “It’s an easy dish as far as I’m concerned, not something fancy,” says its owner. A boat (or your own two feet) can get you to Kokkinos Gremos, where there’s no beach to speak of, but impressive rocks with caves you can explore. If you’re looking for some solitude, try Ai Yiannis Makris or Ai Yiannis Richtis. The former has a lovely church right at the start of the path that takes you down to the beach and is worth visiting in its own right, while the latter has a waterfall and a more challenging path.

There are trails aplenty on the island, and the Pardalo Katsiki team organizes weekly excursions while also spearheading efforts to open and signpost new paths and promote walking tourism.

At times, moving around Hora can be an uphill struggle.

THE MORE POPULAR BEACHES ARE LOCATED IN LIVADI, A LUSH VALLEY THAT STRETCHES FROM THE DAM AND THE ARTIFICIAL LAKE DOWN TO THE COAST.

Special flavors

Linda is an amazing cook; together with her husband Tasos and son Kostadios, she runs a restaurant in Kaminakia (called Linda’s) and one of the island’s two certified cheese-making workshops, where you can get local cheeses such as chloro, anthotyro and ladotyri, the lastwith pepper or saffron.

They raise their own animals and have a garden where they grow herbs and vegetables, not to mention a vineyard where they’re in the process of building a modern winery. It’s a wonder how they find time for it all.

The people of Astypalea are a productive lot. There are thousands of sheep and goats on the island, so it produces some amazing cheeses, while goat also stars in a variety of local dishes (cooked in the oven or on the stove). They make different kinds of pasta with all sorts of sauces and toppings (including chloro and saffron), large dunking cookies called kitrinokouloura, and pougia, small pies stuffed with kopanisti or chloro cheese, honey and cinnamon. The

Above: The manmade lake in Livadi and the dam that formed it. Below left: The lending library inside the windmill. Below right: Sunrise at the windmills.

island’s fleet of fishing boats can be seen bobbing in Pera Gialos, Hora’s port, and in Maltezana.

Almost every household on the island makes rusks, but Dimitris Petridenas made them his business and produces items under the brand name Iliana; these include rusks and breadsticks with oregano, thyme, chloro or saffron, which he packages and exports across the globe. Saffron grows well on the island and is collected by locals and stored in drawers like a valuable commodity. They all have their own secret way of harvesting the delicate spice and won’t share the knowledge, even with their children – “Except on my deathbed,” one tells me, giggling.

Charming Hora

In the capital, small sugar-cube houses with narrow windows and rooftop terraces – so typical of the Cyclades – share streets with elegant and boldly painted townhouses, showcases of Dodecanese architecture made of hewn stone blocks, with large windows, lintels and rosettes. Astypalea’s landmark windmills and most of the town’s businesses are in the lower part of the town, near the main square. Within one of the windmills, Stella Papadopoulou has created a wonderful lending library that specializes in works by Greek authors and poets that have been translated into many different languages; she also runs a library with books in Greek across the street.

The only ancient cemetery for infants in the world was discovered on the hillside below Hora. The site is not open to the public, but you can learn about the custom of burying the dead sealed in clay vessels at the archaeological museum in Pera Gialos. It also contains finds from Mycenaean burial sites found on the islands, as well as information about the Roman baths of Maltezana, which are also not open to the public. A walk around Hora’s streets is usually a quiet affair, as the town has very few permanent residents and most

IN THE CAPITAL, SMALL SUGARCUBE HOUSES WITH NARROW WINDOWS AND ROOFTOP TERRACES – SO TYPICAL OF THE CYCLADES – SHARE STREETS WITH ELEGANT AND BOLDLY PAINTED TOWNHOUSES.

The crystal clear waters of Kounoupes.

of its houses have been bought and restored by foreign visitors. You can spend hours wandering around the different neighborhoods, peeking into churches, enjoying the quaint little streets and small architectural details. The stray cats begging for attention and food will keep you company all the way up to the fortified district built by the Querini family in the 13th century. Among the ruins here are the foundations of old houses and the churches of Aghios Georgios and the Virgin Mary, from the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. Only the houses right on the edge of the fortified area remain, as their walls were also part of the castle walls. Hora is basically a copy of that settlement, which existed until the 1940s. It’s said that the residents took whatever building materials they needed when they resettled outside the old walls. If you climb up to the house rooftops, you’ll be treated to an incredible view of Hora, spread out like a fan beneath your feet, and of the vast blue sea. •

At play in the old part of Hora.

info

• Archaeological Museum, Tel. (+30) 22430.615.00). • Lending Library, Stella Papadopoulou, Tel. (+30) 694.981.9261). • Pardalo Katsiki, Tasos Kontaratos, Tel. (+30) 698.120.0312).

WHERE TO EAT At the other end of the island in Vathy, the small taverna Galini (Tel. (+30) 22430.612.01) makes you feel right at home as you go into the kitchen to pick up your plate of fish, supplied to the kitchen by the family fishing boat. In Steno, Kantina (Tel. (+30) 697.155.0927) on the beach is much more than a snack bar and serves hearty fare such as local lamb, pasta dishes and some cheeses they make themselves. Almyra (Tel. (+30) 22430.614.51) in Maltezana serves very good food, including unusual seafood dishes, in a pretty and relaxing setting. If it’s fish you’re after, Astropelos (Tel. (+30) 22430.614.73) in Livadi is a good option, but you should call ahead to reserve your main dishes as quantities can be limited. In Hora, you should definitely drop in at Apanemia (Tel. (+30) 22430.621.90). It has very nice atmosphere and delicious meze. For handmade pasta and seafood, try Agoni Grammi (Tel. (+30) 22430.621.02). Ageri (Tel. (+30) 22430.617.77) has simple, honest food. In Pera Gialos, try the excellent Cretan raki-meze restaurant Salis (Tel. (+30) 22430.621.83), Turquoise (Tel. (+30) 22430.622.86) for snacks like peinirli and lahmacun, and Antikastro (Tel. (+30) 22430.623.16) for classic taverna fare.