Some Symi Landmarks

Dressed stone and old steel doors at the bottom of the Kali Strata.


French boutique cruise ship L' Australis visited Symi earlier this week.

We see every style of boat in Yialos every day at this time of the year and there is always something to look at.  Regular visitors will recognise the line up of water taxis in the foreground and Valsami's famous statue of the Michaelaki, the little fisherboy.


The row of windmills on the crest between Yialos and Chorio is very much a Symi landmark. Believed to date back to the 17th century, some of them were still in use up to the 1950s.  They were used to mill grain which was grown elsewhere, primarily on the opposite coast in what is now modern day Turkey.  Most of Symi is far too steep and rocky for the cultivation of grain crops in any quantity although there are a few stone threshing circles up in the highlands, around Kokkimides.  On the skyline on the right one can make out the Neolithic stone circle that is believed by some to be the grave of King Nireus.  The locals call it Pontikokastro - mouse castle.


Villa Papanikola, home of many happy singles holidays in the 1980s and 90s, is changing colour as she undergoes a revamp.  Those are her blue pediments peeping above the rampant bougainvillea of the house in front.  This part of the hillside above the Kali Strata is becoming very overgrown - a good sign as it means there are fewer feral goats around.


The heavily barred windows of an old mansion on the Kali Strata.  The horizontal bars are threaded through holes punched in the vertical ones so these are very old, predating the modern art of welding.

 

Numbers 1 through 6  – (Thursday, August 08, 2013)  

Hello from Aktur, Datca, Turkey. Last night we took a midnight boat ride to Bozburun and the lights of Simi were shining bright. Very picturesque. Are locals curious about life on the closest mainland? Cheers, April

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About this Blog

I sailed into Panormitis Bay, Symi, by chance one windy July day in 1993 and have been here ever since. The locals tell me that this is one of the miracles of St Michael of Panormitis. A BA graduate with majors in English, Philosophy and Classical Civilisation, the idea of living in what is to all intents and purposes an archaeological site appeals to me. Not as small as Kastellorizo, not as touristy as Rhodes, Symi is just the right size. I live on a small holding which my husband and I have reclaimed from a ruin of over-grazing and neglect and turned into a small oasis over the course of the past 22 years. I also work part-time for Symi Visitor Accommodation, helping independent travellers discover and enjoy Symi's simple pleasures for themselves.

This page is kindly sponsored by Wendy Wilcox, Symi Visitor Accommodation.


Adriana Shum

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