Pyrgos Village
Πύργος Καλλίστης (Kasteli)
A maze village with the whole island below its castle
- Hours
- Village always open
- Tickets
- Free
- Address
- Climb the lane-stairs to the old castle (Kasteli) at the top of the village
Pyrgos is an old village wound tightly around a castle on a hill in the middle of the island. The houses were packed together against pirates, so the lanes are narrow and twist like a maze. Pass under arches and up stairways and you reach the castle ruins at the top, where the caldera, the east coast and most of the island are laid out at once. It's much quieter than Oia or Fira, and everyday village life carries on around you. Higher still, on the island's top peak, sits the Profitis Ilias monastery.