LOCAL SIGHTS
Museums
The island’s museums are the important cradles of local culture and encourage us to appreciate the history and heritage of the island. Museums, mansions, and traditional homes “unlock” different aspects and eras of the rich history of Skopelos. Are you going to miss a chance to visit them and allow yourself to travel through time?
The Folklore Museum
The Folklore Museum of Skopelos is an exhibition of popular culture. It mentally takes you to a typical Skopelitian house decorated with needlework, carved wood furniture, and other daily household goods.
The House of Pavlos Nirvanas
The house of the Greek author Pavlos Nirvanas, a typical example of Skopelitian architecture, is situated next to the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs and serves as the History Museum of Skopelos. Its collections capture the rich history of the island, from ancient times to the present day.
St. John at Kastri
Saint John (Agios Giannis) at Kastri is a beautiful, picturesque chapel built at a height of 100m above a steep cliff. The white color of the chapel overlooking the beach is a gorgeous contrast to the blue of the sea. You will need to ascend some 106 hillside steps carved into the rock to visit this special and much-photographed chapel. Therefore, the breath-taking view of the Aegean Sea and the crystal-clearteal waters of the tiny, secluded beaches, “nestled” between the rock formations surrounded by the green pine forest is worth the visit. Rumor has it that not even the Mamma Mia! Crew could resist the charms of the idyllic scenery and fell in love with it at first sight!
According to legend, one night a fisherman saw a light on the top of the hill when he was on his voyage. He continued to see the light every night until a woman came to him in his dream and revealed to him that there was a religious iconon the top of the hill. Driven by his vivid dream, the fisherman climbed the rock, found the icon of St. John the Baptist, and took it with him. Nevertheless, according to tradition, the icon kept going back to the hill! That occurred several times before the chapel of St. John was eventually erected. The feast of the chapel is celebrated on August 29th.
Underwater Museum of Peristera
The Undewater Museum is the first of its kind in Greece that is open to the public. It was launched in August 2020 by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, along with the Mayor of Alonissos Petros Vafinis and the Thessaly Regional Governor Kostas Agorastos, who both participated in the 30-meter inaugural dive.
The shipwreck is now open to recreational divers who will have the opportunity to explore it under the guidance of experienced divers. The Museum operated in pilot mode until October 2020 and is now open to everyone during the summer season.
The Alonissos Underwater Museum features one of the biggest Classical-era shipwrecks. It is dated around 425 to 420 B.C and was discovered in 1985 by Dimitris Mavrikis at a 25-meter depth off the coast of the islet Peristera.
Due to its unique size, the ship ranks among the biggest commercial ships of its time. It was 30 meters long and 10 meters wide. It was carrying around 3,000 amphorae full with the renowned wines of Mendi (a city in modern day Chalkidiki) and Peparithos, which is modern day Skopelos. The big commercial vessel probably belonged to an Athenian merchant and seems to have run into stormy weather while sailing near the coast, where it sank. Another plausible theory is that a fire broke out on deck, which eventually caused the sinking of the ship.
The amphorae found had the letters ΛΥ inscribed on them, which was probably at that time a way of marking the goods. The course of the ship cannot be determined; some say that, when the fire broke out, it was heading to Alonissos to unload the goods, while others speculate that it had just departed from Alonissos, that’s why it was found not very far from the port.
The vessel is considered to be of uttermost importance to archaeology because of the number of intact findings. It is so important that it is dubbed as “The Parthenon of Shipwrecks“.
