Saint Georgios
Norsk utgave (Norwegian edition)
Saint Georgios (also written St. Giorgios or Agios Georgios) is a small place on the south-west side of Antiparos. The place is mostly known for it’s small, good beaches and those on the neighbouring Despotiko. Up until summer of 1997 it was difficult to get to St. Georgios, but then the new EU road reached all the way there. It is therefore now very easy and comfortable to travel the 14 km from Antiparos village.
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| A good view of the island Despotiko, with St. Georgios in the bottom right hand corner. |
When you come driving along this great new road, over the last hill, you get a great view of the whole of St. Georgios and the island Despotiko. This island is uninhabited, with great beaches. The biggest lies on the side facing Antiparos. This is a great beach, more than 1 km long. To get over there, you just make contact with Captain Pipinos at the tavern with the same name on St. Georgios. He has a small boat and he takes tourists across whenever they want. He can also be hired if you want to take a trip down to and through (weather permitting) the great grotto/gave just south of St. Georgios.
The strait between Antiparos and Despotiko is quite narrow and not very deep. The sea here warms up quickly, especially towards the north where the distance between Antiparos and Despotiko is shortest. Here there are sand banks sticking out, almost forming a lagoon, although the opening is probably as much as 100m. The port of St. Georgios is considered one of the best and safest in Greece for small yachts.
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| At the north end of St. Georgios there is a lovely little church close to the sea. |
There are several beaches here. Most people lie on the 2 closest to the houses, just where you arrive, but personally I think the beach north of Capt. Pipinos is the best. But the best off all is the one opposite on Despotiko.
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| This is the beach north of Capt. Pipinos. You can actually just see his boats in the picture. The grotto which he takes you to is all the way to the right, at the bottom of the mountain you can see in the background. |
There are also a few taverns in this area, at least 3. Capt. Pipinos is already mentioned, but the one which really surprised us is the oldest tavern in the place. It is called tavern Anna, after the owner, and lies just up the road from Capt. Pipinos, about half way to the main road. Outside, there is a wonderful garden. The place is owned and run by the in-laws of Georgios an Tavern 5F. this tavern is so small/has so few guests that there is no menu. What you get served is what Anna has prepared that day. And there was not just one dish, we were served one after the other, and this was also real Greek food. Most of it was also very good, although we have to admit that there were a couple of dishes we did not dare taste, but this was due to our cowardice, and not the food. The food we got served here was actually some of the best we got during the whole of the 1997 summer holiday. Highly recommended!
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| This is us eating, and this is Anna, our smiling hostess. |
What probably amazes us tourists most when we come to St. Georgios is all the roads which spread out and cover a huge area. There are many km of roads, both across cultivated fields and up the steepest hillsides, seemingly without logic. It looks like someone must have invested a lot of money and started a huge building site of more than 1 million m² and since gone bankrupt, because there are hardly any houses here, only a few spread all over the place, in various stages of completion. The whole thing looks as if those who started it all have run out of money.
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| Just a few of the roads which have been built. |
The reality is almost like that, even though the investors have not run out of money. It is actually the Athens guild of Goldsmiths which has built all this roads. This was done more than 10 years ago, but the sale of building plots has probably not been as brisk as they once hoped. This trend, however, seems to be turning. I was told that in 1996 4 - 5 plots had been sold. And increased sales are probable.
This because if you want to buy a plot of land on the islands today you have to buy a minimum of 8000m² cultivated land. This is to restrict the development on the islands. But those who are behind the development of St. Georgios has managed to get the place designated village, which means building plots can be as small as 500m² . there has also been talk of expanding the airport on Paros to take charter planes. If this becomes a reality, development her will increase rapidly.
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| © Jan Bergtun, 20. April 1998 | Updated, 02.07.2007 |
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