Greece - Korina Miller [425]
We go outside into the courtyard with its intricately laid stone floor. ‘This hohlakia (black-and-white pebble mosaic) floor is from 1911. It takes a lot of work to make. First the masons have to find enough stones of a similar shape and size. They create the pattern and then use a little bit of cement to put down the black stones and then fit the white ones around them. This kind of floor is expensive; I think the very best price you’d get is €200 for a square metre. That would be a very good deal. But all of the houses and courtyards in Lindos have these floors. They look good and they’re long lasting. It’s tradition.’
He has just finished cleaning the floor for the summer season. ‘In the summer we get very busy here; everyone wants to see inside the house. If you do come in July or August, Sundays and Mondays are probably the quietest days. But the best times to visit Lindos are May and October when the weather is good. In the winter I only open if a cruise ship comes in. Otherwise I fix the place up. I do all of the maintenance myself.’
Savvas heads behind the courtyard bar to pour drinks for some locals who have wandered in. I ask him how tourism has changed Lindos over the years. ‘I don’t know what you mean. It hasn’t. We’ve had the same people coming here for the past 25 years.’
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By the donkey terminus is the Commercial Bank of Greece, with an ATM. The National Bank of Greece, located on the street opposite the Church of Agia Panagia, also has an ATM.
Lindianet ( 22440 32142; per hr €3.60; 9.30am-9pm Mon-Sat, 4-9pm Sun) Internet access plus wi-fi. In lower village.
Lindos Library & Laundrette ( 22440 31333; Acropolis; per load €7.50) Laundry service and second-hand English books. Also hires out fans.
Lindos Sun Tours ( 22440 31333; www.lindosuntours.gr; Acropolis) Has room-letting services, hires cars and motorcycles and can assist with airport transfers, babysitting, etc.
Medical Clinic ( 22440 31224) Near the church.
Municipal Tourist Office ( 22440 31900; Plateia Eleftherias; 7.30am-9pm) Helpful, although too few staff, too many tourists. You may have to wait a while.
www.lindos-holiday.com A handy private website with a number of alternative villa accommodation options.
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
Acropolis of Lindos
Spectacularly perched atop a 116m-high rock is the Acropolis ( 22440 31258; admission €6; 8.30am-2.40pm Tue-Sun Sep-May, until 6pm Tue-Sun Jun-Aug). Once inside, a flight of steps leads to a large square. On the left (facing the next flight of steps) is a trireme, hewn out of the rock by the sculptor Pythocretes; a statue of Hagesandros, priest of Poseidon, originally stood on the deck of the ship. The steps ahead lead to the Acropolis via a vaulted corridor. A sharp left leads through an enclosed room to a row of storerooms on the right, while the stairway on the right leads to the remains of a 20-columned Hellenistic stoa (200 BC). The Byzantine Church of Agios Ioannis, with its ancient frescoes, is to the right of this stairway. The wide stairway behind the stoa leads to a 5th-century-BC propylaeum, beyond which is the 4th-century Temple to Athena, the site’s most important ancient ruin. Athena was worshipped on Lindos as early as the 10th century BC and this temple has replaced earlier ones on the site. From its far side there are splendid views of Lindos village and its beach.
Donkey rides