Paros

About Paros

By the ULTIMATE Athens City Guide Editorial Team

The perfect first island: a harbour capital with a Byzantine church of a hundred doors, the fishing port of Naoussa, marble villages in the hills, windsurfing beaches and ferries to almost everywhere.

The back story

Paros was famous in antiquity for its marble. Pure white and translucent, Parian marble was quarried in underground galleries and shipped across the Greek world for some of the most celebrated statues of antiquity; you can still visit the old quarries at Marathi.

In early Christian times Paros gained one of the oldest churches in Greece, the Panagia Ekatontapiliani, the Church of a Hundred Doors. Tradition links its foundation with Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, and it was rebuilt on a grand scale under the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. Later the island was ruled by the Venetians, whose castles still stand in Parikia and Naoussa, before falling to the Ottomans.

In early Christian times Paros gained one of the oldest churches in Greece, the Panagia Ekatontapiliani, the Church of a Hundred Doors.

Parikia and Naoussa

Parikia, the capital and port, is a lively town of white lanes, with the great church a few steps from the quay and the remains of a Venetian kastro built from ancient marble blocks. On the north coast, Naoussa is the island’s most charming village, with fishing boats and seafood tavernas around a tiny harbour guarded by a ruined Venetian fort, and some of the island’s best bars and restaurants.

Villages and beaches

In the hills, Lefkes is a beautiful village of marble lanes, and a Byzantine stone path leads down from it to Prodromos and Marpissa, a lovely walk. Paros has beaches for every taste: the sculpted granite rocks of Kolymbithres near Naoussa, Santa Maria for watersports, and Golden Beach and New Golden Beach on the east coast, one of the best windsurfing and kitesurfing spots in the Aegean.

Just across a narrow strait lies little Antiparos, reached by a short car ferry from Pounta, with a laid-back village and a spectacular cave full of stalactites.

Getting there

Paros has an airport with flights from Athens of about 40 minutes. Ferries from Piraeus take roughly three hours on a high-speed boat and about four to four and a half on a conventional ferry. Thanks to its central position, Paros has ferries to Naxos, Mykonos, Santorini, Ios, Amorgos and many other islands, which makes it an ideal base for island hopping.

Paros at a glance

Ferry times are typical and change with the season, the boat and the number of stops; check current timetables with the ferry companies or Ferryhopper before you travel.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Paros before you go.