Places to visit in South Aegean, Greece
32 places to visit in South Aegean, Greece, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Cave of the Apocalypse, Delos, Medieval City of Rhodes and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your South Aegean volume.
5 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 21 Famous places to visit · 6 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in South Aegean (5)
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Cave of the Apocalypse
A small cave on Patmos where, tradition says, St John received the visions recorded in the Revelation. It was turned into a chapel and sits halfway between Skala and Chora, and visitors can see the rock where he is said to have rested.
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Delos
A tiny island near Mykonos that was a major sanctuary of Apollo and a trading centre in antiquity. Houses with mosaics, the Terrace of the Lions and a theatre survive, and no one lives here now.
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Medieval City of Rhodes
The walled old town of Rhodes, built by the Knights of St John in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Palace of the Grand Master and the Street of the Knights are inside, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
A fortified monastery founded in 1088 on a hill above Chora, on Patmos. It keeps a very rich library and treasury of icons and manuscripts, and is part of a UNESCO site.
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Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes
A medieval castle in the old town of Rhodes, also known as the Kastello. It is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Greece, built on the site of an earlier citadel and used by the Knights Hospitaller.
Famous places to visit in South Aegean (21)
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Amorgos
The easternmost Cyclades island, where the Chozoviotissa monastery clings to a cliff 300 metres above the sea. It was founded in 1088, and parts of the film The Big Blue were shot here.
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Folegandros
A small island in the southern Cyclades, with Sikinos, Ios, Anafi and Santorini. Its main village sits on the edge of a high cliff above the sea, and a church overlooks it from the hill above.
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Ios
A hilly island in the Cyclades, about 18 km long and 10 km wide, with steep cliffs and sandy bays. It lies halfway between Naxos and Santorini, and its whitewashed main town stands above the harbour.
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Karpathos
The second largest Dodecanese island, long and mountainous, with windy beaches that attract windsurfers. The mountain village of Olympos in the north keeps old customs, dress and a local dialect, and the main town is Pigadia.
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Kea
The Cyclades island closest to Athens, with oak woods, stone paths and a lion carved from rock near Ioulida. The Bronze Age site of Agia Irini is on the coast near the harbour.
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Kos
A Dodecanese island with long sandy beaches and the birthplace of Hippocrates, the founder of medicine. The town has a Knights castle, a Roman agora and the Asklepieion on a hill above, a healing sanctuary from antiquity.
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Leros
A Dodecanese island with deep natural bays and a hilltop Byzantine and Knights castle above the village of Pandeli. The port of Lakki has a collection of Italian Art Deco buildings from the 1930s, built during the Italian rule.
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Lindos
An archaeological site and fishing village on the east coast of Rhodes. A medieval fortress and the ancient Acropolis of Lindos stand on a rock 116 metres above the sea, with the Doric Temple of Athena Lindia at the top.
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Milos
A volcanic island in the Aegean, the southwestern most of the Cyclades. The Venus de Milo was found here in 1820, and its coast has white rock formations and colourful fishing hamlets.
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Mykonos
A Cyclades island with whitewashed lanes, windmills and the waterfront district of Little Venice. It is known for its beaches and nightlife, and it lies close to the ancient island of Delos, a short boat ride away.
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Naxos Island
The largest island of the Cyclades, with fertile valleys, high mountains and long sandy beaches. The great marble doorway of the unfinished Temple of Apollo stands on the harbour islet of Portara.
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Nea Kameni
A small uninhabited volcanic island in the middle of the Santorini caldera, formed by eruptions since 1573. Visitors can walk up to the crater rim by boat from Fira, and steam still rises from vents.
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Nisyros
A round volcanic island in the Dodecanese with a large crater called Stefanos that visitors can walk into. Steam rises from the floor, and the village of Mandraki has a monastery over the harbour.
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Paros
A central Cyclades island famed for its fine white marble, used by ancient sculptors. It has a pretty harbour town at Parikia, the fishing village of Naoussa and a Byzantine church called Panagia Ekatontapyliani.
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Patmos
A small Dodecanese island where tradition says St John wrote the Revelation, the last part of the New Testament. Its main sights are the Monastery of St John and the Cave of the Apocalypse, both within a UNESCO listing.
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Santorini
A crescent shaped volcanic island in the Cyclades, whose whitewashed villages stand on the cliff edge of a flooded caldera. Oia and Fira are the best known towns, and the island is famed for its sunsets.
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Santorini caldera
A flooded crater formed by a huge volcanic eruption around 1600 BC, which wiped out Minoan settlements nearby. Cliffs up to 300 metres high ring a bay that boats cross to the volcanic islands in the middle.
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Serifos
A rocky Cyclades island with a hilltop Chora, a handful of sandy beaches and old mining tunnels. In myth it is where Perseus grew up and later turned a king to stone.
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Sifnos
A Cyclades island known for its cooking and pottery, with whitewashed villages linked by old footpaths. Kastro, a medieval village on a sea cliff, and the chapel of Chrysopigi are favourite sights.
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Syros
A Cyclades island whose capital Ermoupoli grew rich in the 19th century and has grand neoclassical buildings and a town hall by Ernst Ziller. The medieval hilltop town of Ano Syros is Catholic.
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Tinos
A Cyclades island with a well known pilgrimage church, the Panagia Evangelistria, built after an icon of Mary was found in 1823. It is also known for villages with carved marble work and many dovecotes.
Hidden gems in South Aegean (6)
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Akrotiri
A Bronze Age Minoan town on the south coast of Santorini, buried by the volcanic eruption of around 1600 BC. The ash preserved multi storey buildings and wall paintings, and the site is now under a large protective roof.
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Anafi
A small, quiet Cyclades island east of Santorini, with a hillside Chora and unspoiled beaches. The monastery of Kalamiotissa stands on a high rock at its southeastern end, and walkers cross the island on old paths.
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Antiparos
A small island just west of Paros, reached by a short ferry. Its cave with huge stalactites has been visited since antiquity, and the village has a quiet kastro and pleasant beaches.
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Asclepeion of Kos
A sanctuary on the island of Kos dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing, and one of the most famous in the ancient world. It was a healing centre linked to Hippocrates, who was born on the island, and it has terraces rising up a hillside.
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Astypalaia
A butterfly shaped island in the Dodecanese with a white Chora crowned by a Venetian castle and a row of windmills. Its coast is cut by small bays and beaches, and the castle was built by the Quirini family in 1413.
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Portara of Naxos
A huge marble doorway standing on the islet of Palatia beside the harbour of Naxos town. It is all that remains of an unfinished Temple of Apollo begun in the sixth century BC by the tyrant Lygdamis.
Collecting in South Aegean
What are the best places to visit in South Aegean?
LOQAH lists 32 places in South Aegean. The best known include Cave of the Apocalypse, Delos, Medieval City of Rhodes, Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in South Aegean?
32, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in South Aegean?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in South Aegean before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose South Aegean and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
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