The most famous island group in the Aegean Sea comprises some of the most beautiful islands in the world! Gorgeous sandy beaches, architecture in white and blue, traditional lifestyle, folk music, warm, hospitable people and barren landscapes with isolated chapels turn a trip to the Cyclades into a lifetime experience.
The name “Spoarades” refers to the islands forming a circle (the name in English means: “Spoarades Islands”) around the sacred island of Delos. According to the Greek mythology, Poseidon, God of the sea, furious at the Cyclades nymphs turned them into islands.
They consist of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited:
Skyros is the southernest island of Sporades. The main port, on the west coast, is Linaria. Some of the most interesting and important monuments of the island are the ancient castle (the kastro), which dates from the Venetian occupation, the Byzantine monastery of Saint George and the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke in an olive grove. Skyros has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and pleasant summers.
According to Greek mythology, Theseus died on Skyros when the local king, Lycomedes, threw him from a cliff. The island is also famous in the myths as the place from where Achilles set sail for Troy.
Skiathos, a gently rolling wooded island, lies 2.5 nm east of the Peninsula of Magnesia and is the most westerly island of the Northern Sporades. It is also the most important island boasting the best ferries connections, a smallish airport and serves as the prime starting point for sailing holidays in the north Aegean. With its equable climate and beautiful sandy bays it is a popular holiday destination, particularly favoured by Greeks. Skiathos’ main source of income apart from the tourist trade is its 600,000 olive trees.
The capital, and indeed the only town on the island, is Skiathos, on the south-east coast. Founded in 1830, it occupies the site of the ancient city, on two low hill ridges flanking a small sheltered bay.
The ruins of the islands’ medieval capital, Kastro, are located along the west coast on an impregnable cliff. The remaining stretches of town walls and the drawbridge can be visited by boat or over land by beautiful winding dirt roads. The lush and fertile inlands as well the monasteries are indeed the most appealing part of Skiathos.
Skiathos was never a place of any importance in ancient times. Herodotus mentions the island in connection with the naval battle off cape Artemision (480 BC), reporting that the men of Skiathos conveyed information about Persian naval movements by means of fire signals.
Skopelos, one of the greenest islands in the Aegean Sea, lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. "Skopelos" is also the name of the main port and the municipal center of the island.
According to the legend, Skopelos was founded by Staphylos, one of the sons of the god Dionysos and the princess Ariadne of Crete. Historically, in the Late Bronze Age the island, then known as Peparethos or Peparethus, was colonised by Cretans, who introduced viticulture to the island.
It is claimed that because of the legend of its founding by Dionysos (god of wine) the island was known throughout the ancient Greek cities of the Mediterranean Sea for its wine.
Alonnisos is locally known as Chora and signposted as The Old Village. The main port of the island is located in the south-east and it is called Patiri.
In the Middle Ages and until 19th century, it was known as Liadromia and it was renamed in 1838.
