Mikonos is world-famous. It is no coincidence that this, the most cosmopolitan of all Greek Islands, attracts so many visitors from all over the globe, including large numbers of artists and intellevtuals.
Here, the steep mountains to be encountered in most of the Cyclades give way to low, rocky hills which combine with superb beaches to make up the landscape of the island.

The capital, Hora, with its colourful harbour in which little fishingboats nestle happily side by side with luxury yachts, presents quite a different picture from the majority of Aegean island tonws. While it is usual for island villages to be built on naturally amphitheatrical sites, Mikonos is spread out over a flat area and conveys an impression of solid aesthetic cohesion.

Along the whitewashed streets stand brilliant white box-shaped houses with stepped walls for sitting on, wooden doors and windows and brightly-coloured balconies. These are interspersed with small but impressive churces, pretty little tavernas and shops selling souvenirs and othe rgoods, and the overall sense is of being inside a film set.

On the low Kastro hill is the complex of churches know collectively as Our Lady 'Paraportiani', a superb arrangement of whitewashed masses created over the centuries and now recognised as a national cultural monument.

Of particular historical and aesthetic interest are the medieval houses in this district of the town, which stand like a wall above the sea protecting the west side of Hora.

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