The magnificent story of the island of Ios

Ios is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in Aegean Sea. The island is hilly with cliffs down to the sea, located halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It has a length of about 18 km and 10 km wide with an area of 109,024 square kilometers. In 2011 population numbered 2,024 people (3,500 in the 19th century). The island was in several movies such as "Ginger and Cinnamon", also and scenes of movie "Big Blue" on the beach Manganari.

Port of Ios is located northwest at the head of the port Ormos. From there you can catch a bus or 15 minutes walking along to the village, known as Chora. The houses of Cycladic village are very picturesque and have white paints. It's full of stairs and narrow paths that make it inaccessible for cars and transport. The main road of the village bustling with tourism, where they huddled establishments such as restaurants, boutiques, bars and discos.

In Ios also has a few small settlements, a group of scattered houses near the beaches Theodoti, Kalamos, Manganari. Since 1990 the mayor of the island Passos worked on the development of Ios to attract tourists. There was build some roads, all of them paved, with the help of European Community funds. There was created and picturesque amphitheater by German architect Peter Houpt, located at the top of the hill to the village. Unfortunately rarely have a cultural events there.

In the excavation of the hill Skarkos was discovered prehistoric settlement proving that Ios has been inhabited since the beginning of the Cyclades period. Skarkos architecture is preserved in places to a height of almost three meters, most of the buildings there are obviously two cobblestone floors and sanitation. There was found numerous well-preserved pottery, tools and utensils made of metal, stones and bones. Unfortunately, many of these things are still unseen.

According to the legends and ancient tradition people believe that the mother of the great poet Homer was from the island of Ios, who was buried there. Local residents, captivated by this story, show visitors ancient city of Plakotos which is located in the northernmost part of the island - the rock entrance of the tomb of the poet. But there is no hard evidence to associate this case with Homer. The historical origin connects the island with signs of Mycenaean settlements. At the north end of Ios you can see ruined Venetian castle from the 15th century. It is believed that the island has 365 churches and chapels, as are the days of the year.

In 2008 Ios was among six European locations (out of 109 applicants) to cultural heritage because of his outstanding efforts to protect the archaeological object of Skarkos.

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