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Skopelos beaches

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Skopelos is an unspoiled jewel in the Aegean Sea, with mountain slopes bedecked in dense greenery carpeting down to fine beaches and limpid waters. Despite being small, Skopelos beaches are varied and aplenty: find olive trees and plum orchards and clumps of pines by the sea’s edge, composed of slender pebbled shores or white bays, caves and coves, plus curious rock formations. (tip) Make sure to pack snorkeling goggles for swimming with curious marine life, especially around the cragged rocks. Spot the occasional turtle and fish of all stripes! The most popular of Skopelos beaches lie on the more wind-sheltered west coast, home to stretches of white shingle and pebbles backed by bars and taverns. On the flip side, the eastern shoreline is peppered with smaller and more peaceful beaches, almost always deserted. Likewise, those in the north are wilder with no facilities. Keep in mind that as a Greek island, strong Meltemi (dry and seasonal) winds can affect some of Skopelos’s beaches in...

Neo Klima by Paris Prekas

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Paris Prekas (1926-1999) was a well-known Greek artist, some of his works are exhibited in the National Gallery of Athens. He studied at the School of Fine Arts (1948-1952) under Umvertos Argyros, Dimitrios Biskinis and Andreas Georgiadis while in 1963, on a six month scholarship from the French government, he did post-graduate work in Paris. His artistic activity includes solo presentations and appearances in group and international exhibitions, such as the Youth Biennale of Paris in 1959, and the Sao Paolo and Alexandria Biennales of 1965 and 1968 respectively, at which he repeatedly won distinctions. A multifaceted creator, Prekas has been involved with painting, sculpture, decorative design and architectural ornamentation, making compositions for the interior and exterior spaces of apartment buildings and other public and community buildings. In painting he was originally involved with landscape while later, combining Greek reality with myth and tradition, he created thematic whole...

Holiday Wishes

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We've collected here some of our holiday wishes with pictures on Facebook over the years. Warm wishes from Skopelos to all our friends around the world.  May your dreams come true in 2024! * 24 December 2023 Dear friends, we are sending you these twinkling harbour lights along with our best wishes for a Merry Christmas. * Happy New Year 2019 ! * Happy New Year 2018 everybody...! And here's to many amazing trips to Skopelos Island of Greece! today's photo: First ferry of the year entering harbour. * December 24, 2018 Merry Christmas from the quiescent Skopelos town...!!! * December 24, 2016 Best wishes to everyone for a Wonderful Christmas, from Skopelos Island and the Skopelos.Net Team!!! * January 2, 2016 Best Wishes from Skopelos island and the Skopelos.Net Team ! photo: Sunrise above Skopelos port. * December 31, 2105 IT'S NEW YEAR'S EVE ! It's time to celebrate the memories of the past year and embrace what's to come... * December 24, 2015 The bells of t...

An Island Without the Excesses of Overtourism

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"Le Figaro" columnist Isabelle Cervellin-Chevalier visited Skopelos at the invitation of the Municipality this summer (2023). Titled "Skopelos, when Mamma Mia! imagines reality", the author focuses on the phenomenon of how the dream island of the Sporades has not lost its authenticity, despite the fact that it received great recognition due to the filming of the timeless famous musical. The French "Le Figaro" presents its own perspective on the current international issue of hypertourism in an article about Skopelos. As Isabelle Cervellin-Chevalier states in her article: “Skopelos is above all the 'green and blue island' that it has always been an oasis of freshness, traditions and celebration, without the excesses of overtourism.  There are films that win the bet with time for something other than their screenplay. In bulk: their soundtrack, the energy of their staging or the beauty of the filming location, and sometimes all three.  The refreshing...

The remote islands of the Sporades

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The Sporades, off the coast of Greece, are a line of islands stretching out into North Aegean. Once a refuge for pirates, known variously as Satan's Islands, Demon Islands, Thieves' Dens and the islands of the Magnesians, the Northern Sporades - literally meaning 'scattered' - with their dramatic changes from island to island, strange geological forms and historical remains, are among Greece's most delightful secrets.  The three islands nearest the mainland, Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos, are generally well known to visitors. However the islands further out are not so well known and retain the feel and charm of an older era. This area is well known to flotilla and other yacht sailors for whom it provides a quieter cruising area than the Ionian, the busier counterpart on the Greek west coast.  A constellation of glittering jewels scattered across the Aegean Sea, the Sporades are some of Northern Greece's best-kept secrets.⁠ Beyond Alonnisos there are: Perister...

Traditional Costumes of Skopelos

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These old handmade costumes are preserved in the Folklore Museum of Skopelos, which is located in the center of the town. The costume with the black top and the embroidered flowers was the wedding gown of local women. 

The lighthouse on the island of Psathoura

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A 19th century Monument, first operated in 1895. It is located on the northern side of the uninhabited island of Psathoura, which belongs to the Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades. This impressive circular tower was built from 1893 to 1895 by Skopelian stonemasons who used the island's local dark volcanic stones for its construction and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the Aegean Sea.  Type of construction : Circular Year of construction : 1895 Height : 28.90 metres - Focus : 40 Coordinates : 39°N30, 24°E11 Signal : a white flash of 1 sec / 10 sec Illumination Range : 17 nautical miles In 2001 it was characterized as a monument for historic preservation by the Ministry of Culture.  The Psathoura lighthouse belongs to the Lighthouse Network of Magnesia consisting of five stone lighthouses; the lighthouse on Trikeri, the lighthouse of “Gourouni” on Skopelos, the lighthouse on Psathoura, the lighthouse "Argyronisiou" and the lighthouse of “Repi” on Skiathos.  Psa...

the Skopelitian American chef Cat Cora

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Both of her families - her family in Jackson, Mississippi, and her family on the island of Skopelos in Greece - share a love of good food, a passion for gathering around a table for long conversations with family and friends, and a generosity of spirit that reaches from the Aegean Sea to the American South. Her dad, Spiros, born in the Missisipi Delta two months after his parents left Skopelos, has the warmth and fun-loving appetite of a Greek and the humor and charm of a Southern gentleman. In 2005, Cat Cora made television history on Food Network’s Iron Chef America as the first and only female Iron Chef, and in November 2006 Bon Appetit Magazine bestowed her with their Teacher of the Year Award, an award she calls, “the greatest recognition she could achieve as a chef”.  Cat Cora's Kitchen Favourite Meals for Family and Friends The dinners of her childhood inspired her to write this book, to pass along the idea that good cooking can spring from modest budgets. Greek home cooking...

Around Stafylos bay

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It was a lovely day today however "dead calm" with no wind, making impossible to use the sails. In any case, the environment here is natural and unspoiled with beautiful forested hills above and around the beach, while the sea water is crystal clear to enjoy. click here to see more about Stafylos beach and area

Vintage Crystal Glasses

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These old, hand carved crystal glasses are preserved in the Folklore Museum of Skopelos, which is located in the center of the town. A beautiful and detailed work. 

Spring is here again !

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April signals the real beginning of spring. Winter rains carpet Skopelos with flowers after new year, when almond blossoms can be seen budding.  Throughout April and into May, spring flowers will be in bloom, brightening the whole island. Dwarf cyclamen and orchids, freesias, narcissus, arum lilies, poppies and more fill the fields, and as summer arrives bougainvillea, hibiscus, plumbago, jasmine and others blossom in the streets.

An Island in Greece: On the Shores of Skopelos (book)

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Paperback Get it from Amazon The old and well known book "Gates of the Wind" by Michael Carroll, retitled and with a different cover photo. A great find for Grecophiles  --- review by JB "I enjoyed this book. It's not a page-turner, but it's a lovely quiet read and has some invaluable descriptions of such things as olive-pressing and charcoal-burning; if you love Greece, or boats, you will find this book a great addition to your library. And it makes me want to visit Skopelos and Skiathos and the nearby islands to see how much have changed since this book was published in 1965."

St. Peter's safe bay to anchor

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Agios Petros (St. Peter) is a deep bay on the southwest side of Kyra Panagia - the second island one encounters after Peristera in the National Marine Park of Northern Sporades. St. Peter's bay is a safe, natural haven. 

Herring Gulls - the excellent scavengers

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Gulls are not good fishermen, but they are excellent scavengers and will eat nearly anything. They are important in cleaning up harbours and beaches. They are known to pick up shellfish and drop them from the air into a rock, road, house or car to crack them open. Although they can swim passably well, they cannot dive or swim under water. 

Greek chairs in blue colors

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The emblematic characteristic color of a Greek island is blue.  It is associated with the Greek flag, where blue symbolizes the sky and the seas.

photo art: "Bateaux de Skopelos"

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--- by Pedro Uhart, "Bateaux de Skopelos", technique: polaroid The polaroids of Pedro Uhart, draw lines between symbolism and images of representations, about recovering that which is contiguous; through the long digression of work and its load of memory, they will be the “evidence” in our library of images, an imaginary museum of the instantaneous.  source: Pedro's Uhart website  

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THE SKOPELOS.NET BLOG

snapshots, updates & other small things from Skopelos island in Greece