Tinos Adventure Tours

Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In ancient times, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa (from ophis, Greek for snake) and Hydroessa (from hydor, Greek for water). The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of ca. 194 km² and a population of ca. 5,200 inhabitants. Between 1207 and 1715, Tinos was in Venetian hands. From 1715 to 1821, Tinos was ruled by the Ottoman Empire before joining with Greece. Tinos is famous amongst Greeks for: the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, its 20 or so windmills, about 1000 artistic dovecotes, 50 active villages, and its Venetian fortifications at the mountain, Exobourgo. On Tinos, both Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic populations co-exist, and the island is also well known for its famous sculptors and painters, such as Gyzis, Chalepas, and Tsokles. The island is located near the geographical center of the Cyclades island complex, and because of the Panagia Evangelistria Church, with its reputedly miraculous icon of Virgin Mary that it holds, Tinos is also the center of a yearly pilgrimage that takes place on the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (August 15th, “Dekapentavgoustos” in Greek). This is perhaps the most notable and still active yearly pilgrimage in the region of the eastern Mediterranean. Many pilgrims make their way the 800 meters from the ferry wharf to the church on their hands and knees as a sign of devotion. The day also commemorates the 1940 sinking of the Greek cruiser Elli by an Italian submarine on August 15th, 1940 at Tinos’s harbor.