^{The Nisyros home page}

Introduction	Fabrica	History & Sights	How to get there
phone numbers	Greek links	Other links	NEWS!

Introduction

This page is dedicated to the greek island of Nisyros. Our purpose is to attract new visitors to this fantastic place in the Eaagean sea and to correspond with other friends of Nisyros. Nisyros is located in the Dodecanese islands, close to the Turkish coast. The Islands nearest neighbour is the prepack-island of Kos, from where you on silent nights can hear the beat from the disocs in Kardamena. As you can see in the picture above, Nisyros is a vulcano.

Fabrica - our favorite place!

The best place in Nisyros is the bar and ouzeria Fabrica. It is situated only two blocks from the sea in te town of Mandraki. The owners Patti and Manolis have created a genuine greek ouzeria (a place where you drink ouzo and eat meze - small dishes equivalent to the tapas you eat in Spain)

Fabrica is an old raki destillery, situated in the basement of a very old stone house. In the back of the bar is a lovley garden, perfect to sit in, sip an Amstel beer and speak to the regulars. Some of them are:

Lefteris, the nicest and most generous man i the Island. He runs the coffe-shop in the volcano-crater. Lefteris is also the godfather of our son Jonatan.

Nikos, Lefteris best friend. He is a plummer and has a great sense of humor.

John, Mary and Brian, the irish family. Lives in Dublin most of the year, but have bought a house in Mandraki. They can tell you all sorts of stories about greek carpenters, bank officials and - last but not least - the electric company. Brian is twelve yeras old, speaks fluent greek (especialy all the dirty words) and is mad about fishing.

News!

This summer you have the chance to participate in a great event on Nisyros. Our son Jonatan will be babtised in Nisyros, in a monastery in the mountans. Afterwards there will be a reception at Lefteris place in the crater and later in the evening the party will continue at Fabrica.The date is not definite yet, but it will happen sometime between June 20 and June 26.

If you are interested, send me an E-mail and we'll send you additional information. jgoransson@jbab.se

History and sights

Nisyros, was known in antiquity as Porphyris. Mythology holds that once it was united with Kos and that when Poseidon was chasing the giant Polyvotis, he split the two islands asunder.

Mandraki, the capital of Nisyros, is built at the foot of a steep hill which used to be fortified in the Middle Ages. To the northwest of the capital, clinging to the tip af a tall rock, lies the monastery of the Madona of the Caves (Panagia Spiliani), the patroness of the island. Built in 1600, it is linked with many traditions and has a lovely 18th century iconostasis. Every year a huge feast takes place here, with lots of food and drink. Yet another castle erected by the Knights of St. John looms above the small town.

Approximately 800 metres southwest from Mandraki we shall meet the ancient Acropolis with its remnants of Pelasgic walls. In the town-hall and the primary school there is an archaelogical collection with sculptures, ceramics, Hellenistic and Roman inscriptions and 18th/19th -century icons.

It is interesting to visit Emporio, to the northeast of the island's capital; here lies the monastery of Panagia Kyra offering a panoramic view towards Nikia with their monastery of St John.

To the northeast of Mandraki lies Pali, a fishing village with an excellent beach for swimming. Another village, Emborios, lies to the southeast of Mandrake in the interior of the island, in a lush area with mineral springs and planted with olive trees, fruit trees, fig trees and grapevines.

The island's hot springs, fabled since antiquity and still in use today, are to be found at Loutra just 1,5 kilometres from Mandraki.

You have to go almost to the middle of Nisyros to the Lakki plateau, to see the crater of the extinct volcano, Polybates. It is 260 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep with steps leading down to its centre. The reek of sulphur fills the surrounding air, while the scenery could belong to the moon.

In the south of the island, the charming village of Nikia perches on the crest of a hill 400 metres above sea level. Its white houses with their brightly coloured doors and windows and tile roofs are an attractive complement to the greenery that abounds in the district. Nisyros is blessed with many lovely beaches: at Mandraki, Hochlaki, Agia Irini, Avlaki and on Giali the islet directly opposite. Because of its volcanic soil, Nisyros is very fertile. Its inhabitants take great care to preserve their traditions. One of them is their mariage festivities. The matrimonial dande "Perioli" is known to all.

How to get there (and away)

Nissiros is connected by boat with Piraeus, Crete and the other islands of Dodecanese.

Twice a week the vessel "Nissos Kalymnos"runs from Rhodes to Kalymnos via Nisyros. Departure time is 09:00 a.m and the trip takes about four hours. The "Nissos Kalymnos runs in the other direction twice a week in the afternoon. The trip from Kos takes only about 1:30 hours.

In the peak season there are also hydrofoils "flying dolphins" between Kos and Rhodes that have Nisyros as a port of call. They are expensive and uncomfortable and they don´t run at all in rough weather. But in you can save yourself a hotel night in Kos or Rhodes, it could be a good alernative.

From Pireus you can take the big ferryboat "Dimitra" It leaves Pireus on mondays and saturdays (in the afternoon) and reaches Nisyros early in the morning after.

There are three flights a day between Athens and Kos. From Kos you can take one of the daily excursion boats to Nisyros. Be sure to have plenty of time between flights in Athens, as the planes are delayed most of the time.

Useful telephone numbers