Mykonos is the most popular and sophisticated holiday resort of the Aegean

Mykonos is the most popular and sophisticated holiday resort of the Aegean, and some travelers consider it the ultimate, cosmopolitan retreat in the entire Mediterranean. Luxury yachts from all over the world dock at its harbors, ferries arrive daily from Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrion, and, with a new airport built just two years ago, more planes than ever before are now landing on the island. Mykonos has more bars, restaurants, and discos than most other Greek islands and the quality of the beaches, food, music, precious jewelry, and nightlife is second to none.

Mykonos is a Cycladic or "White" island and is part of a complex of thirty-three inhabited islands forming an imaginary circle around Delos in the Aegean Sea. In the Cyclades, homes are chalk white and cubical and most were built by anonymous "folk builders" using materials found on the island. In Mykonos, this approach to architecture has produced a town that is itself a work of art, a masterful collection of perfect, white-washed cubes that stand in dazzling contrast to the brilliant, blue sea.



The two-story homes are graced with wooden balconies, and distinctive drains and chimneys, and by ordinance, all homes must be painted white. Windows and perhaps a railing are painted red, blue, or green, but otherwise, everything is white except for garlands of fresh, multi-hued flowers carefully arranged on the wooden stairs.

Mykonos covers an area of twenty-three square miles and has a population of about 15,000 permanent residents. There are more than 500 churches on the island, many attached to private homes. The town itself is an actual maze and was deliberately built in this fashion to confuse pirates who came to rob and pillage. Many homes, shops, and tavernas have no numbers, so it is difficult to give or follow directions. The maze, however, makes the town even more romantic and creates literal surprises around almost every corner.

As you walk through the lanes, peer inside a home if the door is open and you may see a Mykonian woman sitting beside her needlework or loom in a room sparsely furnished with simple yet artistic necessities. On the walls will be icons and the floors will be covered with hand-woven rugs. In the narrow pathways men and women leading donkeys laden with baskets of produce will move slowly in contrast to the motor bikes with carts attached, zipping rapidly through the lanes to deliver supplies. Perhaps you will meet Petros, the pink pelican, who is the good luck symbol for the island and is most often seen in the Alefkandra section.

Much activity in Mykonos happens in "Taxi Square" near the harbor front where the statue of Mando Mavrogenous proudly stands. She is the famous heroine who gave all her fortune to support her country during the 1821 Greek War of Independence. One can purchase the English language "Herald Tribune" at the International News Stand just off Taxi Square, buy a cheese pie and other delicious treats at the bakery, scoop fresh yogurt into a take-away container, have an inexpensive, cafeteria-style lunch in a small cafe, or buy a take-away souvlaki at a stand.

By the way, one can also get a taxi in Taxi Square; it is where drivers wait in line for customers.

The town is made distinctive by its huge, round windmills, which once were working mills used to grind wheat. Now they are the island's most famous symbols and their paddles share the skyline with the churches' domes and crosses, creating dramatic contrasts to the cube-like homes hugging the ground. The windmills are located in the beautiful Alefkandra section of town known as "Little Venice."

Alefkandra is the loveliest corner of Mykonos. It has been painted and photographed by artists from all corners of the world and is why Mykonos is called "The Venice of Greece." In this precious spot, rows of chalk white, square homes have turned their backs toward the sea, hunching their wooden terraces and brightly painted balconies over the creamy sea foam.

Restaurants in Alefkandra become part of this incredibly romantic landscape by placing their tables as near as possible to the sea and covering them with tablecloths matching the brilliant red or blue colors of the balconies and terraces.

At sunset, the rosy fingered sky kisses the wine-dark sea, and the seduction is complete. The mortal savoring his glass of nectar in Alefkandra at sunset is favored by the gods.