Something about our stay on Mykonos Island

Mykonos lies in the Aegean Sea and is a part of the collection of islands called Cyclades. The island has an area of 85 square miles. Mykonos is famos throughout the world and the most cosmopolitian of all Greek islands. The rocky hills which combine with superb beaches make up the island's landscape. Mykonos is an island with very little vegetation.

HISTORY:

In ancient Greek mythology there are two references to Mykonos. The first tells of how the island got its name from the hero Mykonos. The other is that Hercules slew the Giants here and the large rocks which lie scattered about the island are their petrified corpses.
In ancient times there were two cities on Mykonos, one of which was near the site of the present town. The Ionians came from Athens to the island in the 9th century BC. From this point on, the history of Mykonos has been, broadly speaking, the same as that of the other islands of the Cyclades. Initially it was under the rule of Athenians, but at that time it took second place to Delos, which was a major religious centre for many centuries.
Mykonos was conquered by the Venetians in 1207 and by the Turks in 1537. It played an important part in the 1821 uprising. In October 1822, the Turks undertook a landing on the island, but the Mykonians under their heroic female leader, Manto Mavroyenous, successfully repulsed it. After liberation (1830) Mykonos managed to re-establish its commercial fleet but the the dominance of the steamship resulted in the gradual constriction of their shipping activities by the end of the 19th century.
During the period between the World Wars, tourism started on the island. From the mid-50s on the island has been gradually transformed into an important tourist, cosmopolitan and artistic centre.

What did we do on Mykonos?

• Serveral times we visited the capital, Hora, with its colorful harbour and the famous windmills. Along the whitewashed streets are brilliant white box-shaped houses with stepped walls for sitting on, wooden doors and windows and brightly-colored balconies.

• We hired a motor bike and toured the island. During the day we saw many superb beaches such as Paradise and Super Paradise Beach, the bays of Ornos, Platys Gialos, Psarou, Elia, Agia Anna and Kalafatis in the south. We visited Ano Mera, a small village in the centre of the island, with an interesting monastery, ornamented with fine wood carvings. In the north we visited Panormos bay (for surfer) and the lighthouse at Cape Armenistis.

Our hotel, Artemis, was located on the west coast, 2.5 km from the capital, on St. Stefanos Beach and close to the sea. This family hotel is of pure island character. We would like to thank the owner of the hotel for his hospitality.
address: Hotel Artemis, St. Stefanos Beach, 84600 Mykonos,Greece.
Tel. (0289) 22345 or 26169
Fax: (0289) 23865
Our favourite taverna was Haroula's situated directly on the beach.

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