Destination Paros

Paros is a very pretty and typically Cycladic Island. Busy and cosmopolitan, Paros is less expensive than nearby Mykonos, but full of delights to explore. Sugar cube houses, domed churches, windmills and Venetian mansions mingle with discos and bars. Shutterbugs will love the winding and shady alleys that open up to squares where bright flowers overflow from the white balconies above.

• Discover Paros at-a-glance A-Z

» Discover Paros

Shortly before the Persian War Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos. In the first Greco-Persian War (490 BC), Paros sided with the Persians and sent a trireme to Marathon to support them. In retaliation, the capital was besieged by an Athenian fleet under Miltiades. But the town offered a vigorous resistance, and the Athenians were obliged to sail away …

» Alyki

Alyki (also spelled Aliki) is one of the larger villages on the island of Paros, Greece. Located on a small bay at the southwest corner of the island Aliki is home to several active fishermen. Some semi-retired fishermen and taverna owners catch octopus through the winter to supply the increased activity during the tourist season, primarily June through September …

» Antiparos

Antiparos (ancient name: Oliaros) is a small inhabited island at the heart of the Cyclades, less than one nautical mile from Paros, the port to which it is connected with a local ferry. Saliagos island is the most ancient settlement in the Cyclades, and Despotiko, an uninhabited island in the southwest of Antiparos, is a place of great archaeological importance …

» Golden Beach

Golden Beach (Chrissi Akti) is a 700 metre long beach on the south eastern part of the island of Paros. Nowadays, a small village nearby has the same name. It takes its name from the fine sand, which has glass elements in it and provides a sparkling effect during sunshine. Golden Beach has become a popular destination for wind-surfers and kite-surfers …

» Naoussa Bay

Naoussa is a village in the Cyclades. It is located in the north eastern corner of the island of Paros, and has a population of almost 3,000. In the summer, when it is warm and sunny almost every day, Naoussa attracts many tourists from all Europe because of the climate and the nearby beaches like Kolympithres. During the winter it is cold and occasionally snowy …

» Panagia Ekatontapiliani

Panagia Ekatontapyliani (also known as the Church of 100 Doors) is a historic Byzantine church complex in Parikia town, on the island of Paros in Greece. The church complex contains a main chapel surrounded by two more chapels and a baptistery with a cruciform font. The origin of the church's name is obscure, as it does not have one hundred doors …

» Parian Chronicle

The Parian Marble (Marmor Parium) or Parian Chronicle is a Greek chronological table, covering the years from 1581 BC to 264 BC, inscribed on a stele. For the Greeks, the events of their distant past, such as the Trojan War (dated to 1218 in the Parian inscription) and the Voyage of the Argonauts were historic: their myths were understood as legends to the Greeks …

» Parikia

Parikia is the capital and the main port of Paros island. It is one of the most typical Cycladic settlements as it is distinguished by its narrow cobbled paths, the old churches, the small shops and the houses in blue and white. Parikia is today one of the most popular and busiest spot of the island, as its cafeterias and restaurants along the waterfront attract many visitors …

» Scopas

Scopas or Skopas (c. 395 BC-350 BC) was an Ancient Greek sculptor and architect, born on the island of Paros. Scopas worked with Praxiteles, he sculpted parts of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, especially the reliefs. He led the building of the new temple of Athena Alea at Tegea. Pothos, or Desire, was a celebrated and much imitated statue by Scopas …