Tinos is a Greek island located near the geographical center of the Cyclades island complex. Because of the Panagia Evangelistria church, with its reputedly
miraculous icon of Virgin Mary that it holds, Tinos is the center of a yearly pilgrimage that takes place on the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. This is perhaps the most notable and still
active yearly pilgrimage in the region of the eastern Mediterranean.
Arnados, the location of our summer course, is the highest located village on the island with about 500m altitude and a beautiful view over the aegean sea. Nearby you find the famous monastery
„Kechrovouniou“, founded in the 10th century. Arnados is a quiet and car-free Village - dominated by traditional old stone houses and crisscrossed by a labyrinth of small alleyways and little
tunnels. It has about 40 habitants and enchants every visitor with it’s friendly and hospitable atmosphere.
Tinos is mountainous. The highest mountain is Tsiknias with 726m altitude. At the central part stands out the historical steep rock of Exombourgo with 641m altitude. During the venecian domination of
the island in the 13th and 14th century the castle on mount Exombourgo was the capital of the island. The area around Volax is a surreal and very unusual landscape with giant boulders some the size
of multistory buildings. Since the island's mineral resources include huge deposits of marble artistic objects of marble are visible everywhere in Tinos. The unique marble of Tinos is white and green
and was used for instance in Buckingham Palace and The Louvre. The hills of Tinos are all terraced with stone walls; every little village is connected to its most proximate neighbors by stone
walkways set between a parallel set of stone walls. Tinos is also known for its sandy beaches which are entirely untroubled by mass tourism. Compared to islands like Mykonos or Santorin Tinos
fortunately never attracted an excessive interest of tourism industry and could conserve its nativeness up to now.
The Mediterranean climate of Tinos has warm and dry summers and mild and wet winters. Tinos is known as the island of winds. Part of the main characteristics of its climate are the strong Northern
winds, the so called „Meltemi“, that blow during the day and drop during night. To some extend, this phenomenon does not allow extreme summer temperatures. In ancient greece it was considered that on
mount „Tsiknias“ was the residence of Aeolos, god of winds. From there, he unleashed winds towards all directions.
Transportation to Tinos is very privileged for an island of the Aegean. On a daily basis, wether winter or summer, it is connected within 2 hours (or 4 hours if you chose a ferry) with Rafina, which
is very close to the airport of Athens. Moreover, it is connected with the same frequency directly with Mykonos and its international airport.
Some useful links
Ferry schedules Rafina-Tinos, Mykonos-Tinos or Piraeus-Tinos:
greek travel pages
A map of the Cyclades.
A detailed map of Tinos.
The current weather on the island.
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