Tzia – Ancient Sites, Culture and Coastal Coves

Ancient sites, an extensive network of trails and a coastline dotted with small coves define Tzia. On Kea, you can choose between archaeological discoveries, hikes and activities on the water. When planning your trip, it helps to ask whether you mainly want to explore historic places, discover several trails or set aside time for watersports and coastal scenery.

Archaeological Sites and the Island’s History

In ancient Karthaia, there is a Doric temple of Pythian Apollo, built around 530 BC, and a stone theatre dating from the mid-4th century BC. The theatre held approximately 900 people. Their scale brings the difference between the two buildings into focus: a temple and a theatre with a considerable capacity stand side by side as distinct testimonies to the ancient site.

The site can be reached via four traditional paved paths, by a short path from Kaliskia Bay or by sea. The beaches of Karthaia-Poles lie beside the archaeological site and can be reached on foot. If you want to include both the beach and archaeology in your travel plans, you can find both interests in the same location, without treating them as a circular route.

The prehistoric settlement of Agia Irini also offers a glimpse into an earlier era: it belongs to Cycladic culture and is dated primarily to the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Excavations uncovered clay figurines known as Korai. They depict women in Minoan clothing, possibly dancing. Finds from Agia Irini and the Neolithic settlement of Kefala are on display at the Archaeological Museum of Kea in Ioulida, the island’s capital.

Ioulis is the only one of Kea’s four ancient cities to have been continuously inhabited from antiquity to the present day. Another striking sculpture is the Lion of Kea: it was carved in the 6th or 7th century BC into a solid schist rock about 8 m high. In Mylopotamos, the Folklore Museum displays old farming tools, household objects, traditional costumes from the 19th century and photographs. This lets you include archaeological finds and evidence of everyday life from different periods in your explorations.

Trails Through Kea’s Landscape

The well-preserved trail network comprises 12 routes and is 81 km long in total; many paths are paved with stone. The footpaths already served as connections in the 7th and 6th centuries BC: they formed part of an ancient road network between the island’s city-states. Today, the trails are classified as a “network of routes of cultural interest”. If you want to explore on foot, you can plan a trip that puts the trails themselves just as much at the centre as the historic sites.

One specific option is the 5.1 km “Leon” route. It runs from Ioulis via Leon, Dosonari and Diaselli to Otzias. The stated distance helps you fit this route into your day’s plans; on its own, it does not indicate the walking time or difficulty. On Kea, electric bikes can also be rented from a local company for tours along the old trails.

Small, fertile valleys lie between the mountain ranges. Springs and streams carry plenty of water, especially during the winter months. The highly indented coastline has numerous small coves; the large bay of Agios Nikolaos lies near Korisia. The Agios Nikolaos Lighthouse was built in 1831 on the ruins of a sanctuary of Poseidon. It was the first lighthouse in the Cyclades and is classified as a monument.

Water, Local Specialities and Choosing the Focus of Your Holiday

Kea offers waterskiing, wakeboarding, surfing, wakesurfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, jet skiing and diving. A dive centre provides information about dive tourism and enables visitors to arrange a personal diving experience. Koundouros Reef is also described as a dive site: according to the official tourism presentation, a large rock ledge in Koundouros Bay offers one of Greece’s most impressive diving experiences. Kea is also presented as a destination for dive tourism; historically significant wrecks on the seabed around the island include the Britannic, the Burdigala, the paddle steamer Patris and a German Junkers-52 aircraft from the Second World War, as well as the ship described as the Titanic’s sister ship. The Cyclades Regatta starts in Kea.

Local cuisine includes Loza, a traditional pork speciality and the island’s version of prosciutto, as well as honey made from thyme flowers. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Tzia, you can first decide what you want to focus on during your holiday: archaeological sites and museums, routes on foot or by electric bike, watersports, or exploring the coastline and island cuisine. This way, your choice of destination can reflect the experiences that interest you most on your trip.

More location pages: Merichas, Otzias, Kastriani, Melissaki, Kea Koundouros, Vourkari, Ioulida and Pisses.

For the broader travel overview: Kea Kithnos.