Greece - Korina Miller [314]
INTERNET RESOURCES
Parosweb (www.parosweb.com)
LAUNDRY
Ostria Laundry ( 22840 21969, 6949079176; per wash & dry per 5kg around €12; 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, 10am-2pm Sun Jun-Sep, 9am-2pm & 5.30-8.30pm Oct-May) The average load is ready in one hour at this efficient place.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Health Centre ( 22840 22500; Prombona; 9am-1.30pm Mon-Fri) Also has a dentist.
MONEY
The following banks all have ATMs.
Alpha Bank (Ekantondapylianis)
Commercial Bank of Greece (Plateia Mavrogenous)
Eurobank (Ekantondapylianis)
National Bank of Greece (Plateia Mavrogenous)
POST
Post office ( 22840 21236) Located 400m east of the ferry quay.
TOURIST INFORMATION
In high season, kiosks on the quay give out information on domatia and hotels (see Rooms Association, right).
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Santorineos Travel Services ( 22840 24245) On the waterfront, just to the southwest of the windmill roundabout. Sells ferry tickets and can advise on accommodation and tours, and has a luggage store (€1 per hour). Other services include bureau de change, FedEx (dispatch only) and MoneyGram (international money transfers).
Sights
The Panagia Ekatondapyliani ( 22840 21243; Plateia Ekatondapyliani; 7.30am-9.30pm Easter-Sep, 8am-1pm & 4-9pm Oct-Easter), which dates from AD 326, is one of the most splendid churches in the Cyclades. The building is three distinct churches: Agios Nikolaos, the largest, with superb columns of Parian marble and a carved iconostasis, is in the east of the compound; the others are the Church of Our Lady and the Baptistery. The name translates as Our Lady of the Hundred Gates, but this is a wishful rounding-up of a still-impressive number of doorways. The Byzantine Museum (admission €1.50; 9.30am-2pm & 6-9pm), within the compound, has a collection of icons and other artefacts.
Next to a school and behind the Panagia Ekatondapyliani, the Archaeological Museum ( 22840 21231; admission €2; 8.30am-2.45pm Tue-Sun) is a cool escape from the heat and hustle of town. It harbours some marvellous pieces, including a 5th-century Nike on the point of alighting and a 6th-century Gorgon also barely in touch with the sullen earth. Earlier examples of splendid pottery include the bosky Fat Lady of Saliagos, while a major exhibit is a fragment slab of the 4th-century Parian Chronicle, which lists the most outstanding artistic achievements of ancient Greece. It was discovered in the 17th century and, rather typically, two other slabs ended up in the Ashmolean Museum, in Oxford, England.
North along the waterfront there is a fenced ancient cemetery dating from the 7th century BC; it was excavated in 1983. Roman graves, burial pots and sarcophagi are floodlit at night.
The Frankish kastro was built by Marco Sanudo, Duke of Naxos, in AD 1260, on the remains of a temple to Athena. Not much of the kastro remains, save for a large wall that is a jigsaw of unpainted column bases and dressed blocks.
Tours
Santorineos Travel Services ( 22840 24245) can book bus tours of Paros (€32), boat trips to Mykonos and Delos (€40), and boats to Santorini (including a bus tour of the island, €55).
Sleeping
In August the Rooms Association ( 22840 22722, after hrs 22840 22220), located on the quay, has information on domatia; otherwise, owners meet ferries. The Hotel Association ( 22840 51207) has information about hotels on Paros and Antiparos. All camping grounds have minibuses that meet ferries.
BUDGET
Koula Camping ( 22840 22801; www.campingkoula.gr; camp sites per adult/child/tent €8/3/4; Apr-Oct; ) Koula is a pleasant, shaded little site behind the beach at the north end of the Parikia waterfront and only minutes from the centre. Two-person bungalow tents are €20; three-person €25.
Krios Camping ( 22840 21705; www.krios-camping.gr; camp sites per adult/child/tent €8/4/3; Jun-Sep; ) This site is on the north shore of Parikia Bay about 4km from the port, but there’s a water taxi across the bay to Parikia every