Folegandros Sights: The Kastro, the Panagia Church and the Chora

The main sight of Folegandros is the Kastro, the best-preserved medieval castle quarter of the Cyclades, built into the Chora as a fortress against pirates. Above the town stands the white Panagia church, raised on the ruins of an ancient temple of Artemis, and the Chora itself is a sight of white cubic houses and small churches. The Folk Museum at Ano Meria records the island's farming past. All of these sit within a short walk of one another in and around the Chora. Hire a car to explore Folegandros at your own pace, covered in our Folegandros car hire guide.

Main sight

The Kastro

Kastro built

1212 AD

Church

Panagia, 19th century

Museum

Folk Museum, Ano Meria

The Kastro of Folegandros

The Kastro is the best-preserved medieval castle quarter of the Cyclades, and the prettiest part of the Chora. Marco Sanudo, the Duke of Naxos, built the Kastro in 1212, and you enter it through an arcade. Its houses stand around a square and a few streets in such a way that their outer walls join into a single fortress, which let the inhabitants shut themselves in against pirate raids. Whitewashed houses, brightly coloured balconies and flower-filled lanes make it the most picturesque corner of the town. Only Antiparos keeps a medieval Kastro as well preserved in the Cyclades.

The Panagia church

The Panagia is a white 19th-century church on a cliff hill north-east of the Chora, built on the foundations of ancient city walls and a temple of Artemis. Builders reused old stones from the temple ruins to raise the church, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. According to island tradition the church was built after a local man saved a silver icon of the Virgin from pirates, who then drowned, and that icon is still kept inside. Ancient inscriptions and the bases of statues from the Artemis temple survive in the interior and along the courtyard wall, with a few columns and part of a statue outside. From the hill the church opens wonderful views over the Chora, the island and the sea, though it is often locked, like many Greek churches.

The Chora of Folegandros

The Chora is the cliff-top capital of Folegandros, and it counts as a sight in its own right. The town sits on top of a 200-metre cliff and gathers white cubic houses and small churches around a series of squares, shaded by trees and brightened with pots of flowers. Its narrow lanes and white houses draw comparisons with Mykonos Town, but the Chora stays far calmer. Footpaths lead down from the town to the sea, though the cliffs are steep and dangerous, so keep to the marked routes.