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Alonissos
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Pine forests and beautiful seas, the island of Alonissos in the Sporades chain is popular with the types of travelers who do not want to see other travellers. Unlike the other islands of the Sporades group (Skiathos, Skyros and Skopelos) Alonissos is not often featured in travel guides or Greek island conversation. Sailing in the port of Alonissos you immediately feel the singular atmosphere, the unpretentious elegance and the relaxing charm of this island. The colors of the sea, the sky, the pines and olive trees falling into the waters and the architectural style immediately present a special and more individual character. Upon entering the port of Patitiri, every encounter with the gregarious locals only proves that the people here are astonishingly genuine, down-to-earth and laid-back, seemingly unaffected by the tourist-oriented country's main drive to simply make money off you.
In Alonissos you can really experience life in the Greek islands before the mass tourism boom, when you ate fresh fish, sipped ice-cold ouzo at sunset and sirtaki was not yet that popular. Around Alonissos you can hear the classic songs played with the bouzouki and little commercial music.
Alonissos is home to the Mediterranean monk seal and has some wonderful beaches and coves.
How to get there
Ferries connect the island of Alonissos with Volos and Agios Konstantinos (4 hours and 30 minutes). During the summer the island also has connections with Thessaloniki and Kymi. Hydrofoils connect the island with Volos and Agios Konstantinos (2 hours and 30 minutes). These hydrofoils also connect Alonissos to nearby Skopelos, Skiathos, Skyros, Evia and the peninsula of Halkidiki.
History
History claims that Cretans, led by the legendary hero Staphylos, established colonies in Alonissos (then known as Ikos) during the Minoan domination of the Aegean Sea, about the 16th century BC. The Minoan colony, which later became Mycenaean, was located on the site known today as Kokkinokastro. Alonissos was also subject to pirate attacks that terrorized the Aegean. During the classical period Ikos is said to have consisted of two cities, Kokkinokastro, where the ruins of a fortified wall remain today, and the village of Old Alonissos. During this period the island was renowned for its vineyards and exceptional wine. In 190 BC. Ikos was occupied by the Roman navy and, the next historically documented period, fell into the hands of the Venetian Ghisi family in 1207, after which it was occupied by the Turks in 1538 under the control of the savage pirate Khair-ed-Din Barbarossa, who is said to have massacred the entire population of the Old City. Turkish domination continued until 1830 when Alonissos became part of the new and free Hellenic state, together with the rest of the Sporades Islands.
Alonissos Beaches
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