Tinos , the Holy island of the Virgin, 85 nautical miles from Piraeus, lies between Andros, Myconos and Siros. Its population is 7.800 .Tinos is a convenient center for visiting the other villages on the island, large and small. Tinos is essentially mountainous with a few small, fertile valleysTinos is a spot for quiet holidays.
In antiquity the island was called Ophiousa. We have very little information about Tinos in prehistory times though excavations have shown that it was inhabited in the Bronze Age, during the period of the Cycladic civilization. During the Persian Wars it was captured by the Medes, liberated after the battle of Marathon and took part in the naval battle of Salamis. In 1538 it was pillaged by Barbarossa but did not fall to the Turkish until 1715. Between 1770 and 1774 its was under Orloff. In 1822 the miraculous icon of the Virgin was discovered. It was in the harbor of Tinos that the Greek warship Elli was torpedoed by the Italians in 1940.Among the special characteristics of Tinos are its dove-cotes.These sculptures developed from simple roots for pigeons into works of art-and the stone-built fountains to be seen in the villages evolved in a similar manner.
Must see: The most t important monument there, and indeed on the entire island is the church of the Virgin, built in marble from Paros and Tinos itself, the church stands overlooking the town on the site where the miraculous icon of Our Lady was discovered..The Museum of the Tenian Artists and modern Greek Painters.There is a rich library in the monastery and sacristy with vestments and ecclesiastical plate.Close by is the Archaeological Museum of Tinos.It houses finds from the Temple of Poseidon and Amphitrite (at Kionia beach) and from the Geometric burials of Exo Meria.
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