Chariots of Fire

This edition we will be visiting the birthplace of the Greek composer Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, otherwise known as Vangellis. He is probably best known in the UK as the composer of the soundtrack for the film “Chariots of Fire”. The 1981 film is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics. The soundtrack won the academy award for the best soundtrack.

All that running along the beach reminds us that the main attractions of Vangellis’ birthplace Agrai, are the beaches and water based activities. Away from the more popular Greek tourist destinations you will not find the beaches along this stretch of coastline so crowded in the summer months.

Many of the towns and villages along the coastline here, have mooring facilities and many people will hire boats and yachts for the day or longer. The sea area is called the Pagasetic Gulf and provides good sailing conditions. In fact it gets its name from the town of Pagasae, which according to Greek mythology is where Jason built his ship the “Argo” and sailed on his adventures. Within the gulf itself sail off to the tiny island of Trickeri. You will find no cars of this lush green island. However you will find numerous hiking trails and you can walk from one side of the island to the other in less than an hour.

There are no cars on the lush green island. There are some narrow lanes, but no actual roads, and most of the island’s infrastructure consists of hiking trails. On the way you will getting some stunning views across the island and the gulf. On the highest point of the island you will find the Monastery of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. There are a number of reasons why the island is so undeveloped by modern standards. One of them is that for hundreds of years the island had been abandoned after the island was used as a base for pirates.

In the 18th century a monk decided to go and live there and legend says that he found an icon to the Virgin Mary and built a church next to the ruins of an old one.

Another is that during and after the Greek Civil War, the island was used to house political prisoners. From 1946 to 1953 the camp housed up to 4,700 mainly female prisoners who held left wing views.

You could use this as a base to explore the Thessalian Sporades to the east by boat. This area consists of 24 islands in the Aegean Sea, four of which are permanently inhabited. picturesque Alonnisos, cosmopolitan Skiathos, idealic Skopelos and quiet Skyros. Give yourself 3 days or more to explore this area. Like the gulf itself, sailing conditions are pretty ideal most of the time. Distances between the islands are small and you can shelter from the wind in the many bays along the coastlines of the islands.

Sail in the footsteps of Jason and the Argonauts, contact Maggie today.

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