When you find yourself in Paros, don't miss visiting its beautiful lowland villages. The most important of these is Lefkes, which used to be its capital. They are built between the foothills of Stroumboulas mountain and offer an amazing view of the Sea. Particularly noteworthy villages are Prodromos, Marmara and Marpissa.
Parikia is the capital of the island of Paros. There is also the famous Venetian Castle of the 13th century, placed on the site of the Ancient Acropolis of the island. Around the castle developed a medieval settlement, the “xopyrgo".
Naoussa of Paros is the second most populated town on the island. To the west of its gulf, just above the famous Kolymbithres, the most important settlement of Paros developed during the Mycenaean years. Today, its walls are preserved in the archaeological site.
A World Heritage Site with a history of 3200 years, it is the timeless imprint of Paros on the whole world. Lychnite, the famous Parian marble, was the material for many works of sculpture and ancient temples.
Built in 1960, it is one of the most important museums of its kind in the entire country. It contains ancient exhibits from the Neolithic to the Roman era, from Paros and Antiparos. Among them, the Victory of Paros, Cycladic benches and mosaics, the archaic marble Gorgo.
Outside of Parikia is a unique habitat that hosts butterflies of the Jersey Tiger Moth species. The valley is green, with dense vegetation of cypresses, plane trees, wild olives and a spring with water.
It is a theme park that stretches across an 800-acre peninsula. A pioneer of its kind, it is an important attraction for visitors and nature lovers. It works for the protection and promotion of the peninsula of Ai Giannis-Deti.
It was created by the artist Nikos Perantinos, when he returned back to Paros from Paris. Today it hosts workshops of sculpture - plastic - metalwork - coppersmithing - marble cutting and marble sculpture.
An important monument of the island located on top of a hill on the north side of Parikia, overlooking the sacred island of Delos! Here, very important figurines and sculptures have been identified, such as a marble statue of Artemis, which is exhibited in the archaeological museum of Paros.
In close proximity to the central port of Parikia, one of the most important monuments of its kind is preserved. It dates from the end of the 8th BC. until the 3rd AD century. Visitors to the archaeological site have the opportunity to see findings up close and rich photographic material in a specially designed area.
It is a beautiful nunnery located on a hill with a unique view. There are the tomb and relics of Saint Arsenios. The temple celebrates with 2 festivals, the first on January 31 and the second on August 18.
In 1207, Paros came under the control of the Venetians and became a member of the Aegean duchy, founded by Markos Sanoudos.The inhabitants of the island work in the fields like serfs while still suffering from pirate raids and looting. Naoussa becomes a base for pirates. During the Venetian period, the castles of Parikia, Naoussa and Kefalos (Marpissa) were built. From 1389 until 1537 it came under the possession of the Frankish dynasty of Somaripi, who turned Paros into a commercial center.
Paros has been inhabited since the 4th millennium BC. and experienced periods of great economic and artistic prosperity, but also periods of plunder, intense violence, decline and obscurity.
The historical landscape of Paros becomes clearer since the Bronze Age, after the discovery of the three great civilizations, Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean. In the areas of Glyfa, Dryos, Kampos, Koukounaries, Plastiras, Farangas, traces of Cycladic settlements are preserved.
With the Asia Minor disaster in 1922, the island received refugees, who integrated and enriched the local society. The island's development trajectory was interrupted by World War II and the German occupation. On January 14, 1944, the port of Parikia was bombed by allied planes as part of the planned destruction by the British of all the ships that the Germans had ordered to transport their supplies, where civilian casualties were not avoided.
