Greece
September 23, 2025
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Day 10 in Paros. An over 25,000 step day, walking all over the island. Started the day early with a bus ride to Lefkes, a picturesque village in central Paros. Besides the Church
of Agia Triada in the village centre, there is the Byzantine Road (Venetsanos Road), a 3.5 km ancient pathway paved with marble slabs that dates back to approximately 1,000 AD.
It connects the mountain village of Lefkes to the village of Prodromos. I went 2/3 of the way, and then walked back to Lefkes.
After busing back to Parikia, walked through town, first walking past the The Frankish Castle. It was built in the 1200s by the Venetians on the site of an ancient acropolis.
The castle was built from an assortment of ancient sanctuaries that were scattered in and around Paros. The second major location was Panagia Ekatontapiliani, the Holy Shrine of
the Virgin Mary Ekatontapyliani. The church dates back to 326 AD, and was founded by Constantine the Great's mother. Ekatontapiliani means the Church with the Hundred Doors, it
only has 99 at the moment. Legend has it there is a secret door that is hidden. It is believed that the hundredth door will open once the church of Hagia Sofia in Constantinople
becomes an Orthodox Church again. Thirdly, like on Mykonos and Santorini, there are multiple older windmills on the island.
After dinner with more octopus, enjoyed the sunset, as beautiful as any anywere. Unlike Santorini, where sunset watching draws many thousands, there were a few dozen at best
along the main road by the ocean.
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Above: The Church of Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) in Lefkes, Paros, is a stunning 19th-century Byzantine-style basilica crafted from
white Parian marble. It was started in 1830 and completed in 1835. The bottom picture is the fresco above the church entrance.
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