Culture
The monastery at opening time
Go when the gate opens to see the courtyards, the church and the treasury before the cruise passengers arrive. Cover your shoulders and knees.
Chora
Patmos · Things to do
Things to do in Patmos
Beaches, trails, festivals, food and wine: the experiences that make this island its own.
Experiences
Our favourite things to do
Ideas for every kind of day, from a lazy swim to a full-day hike.
Hike
Walk the pilgrims' path
The old cobbled path climbs from Skala through the pines, past the Cave of the Apocalypse, to Chora, about 45 minutes up. Take it in the cool of the morning.
Skala to Chora
Beach
By boat to Psili Ammos
Caïques leave Skala in the morning for Psili Ammos, the only big sandy beach on Patmos, and come back in the afternoon. There is a taverna behind the beach.
From Skala
Beach
Swim among coloured pebbles at Lampi
A long bay of smooth volcanic pebbles in red, green and purple, with clear water and one taverna. Please leave the stones on the beach.
Far north
Culture
Sunset at the windmills
The three windmills on the ridge look west over the sea to Ikaria and Samos. Come half an hour before sunset.
Edge of Chora
Nature
Climb the rock of Kalikatsou
A huge rock at the end of Petra beach, with steps and the cells of hermits cut into it. Climb carefully for the view over the bay.
Petra beach, Grikos
Beach
Day trip to Lipsi or Arki
Small boats go to the tiny islands of Lipsi, Arki and Marathi, with a few tavernas, a handful of people and very clear water.
From Skala
Culture
Holy Week in Chora
If you come at Orthodox Easter, join the processions by candlelight and the washing of the feet in the main square on Holy Thursday. Book a year ahead.
Chora and the monastery
Only on Patmos
What makes Patmos different
What makes Patmos different from every other island in the Aegean.
The cave of Revelation
By tradition, St John the Evangelist was exiled to Patmos around AD 95 and wrote the last book of the Bible in a cave on the hillside, the Cave of the Apocalypse. Pilgrims still come from all over the world to see it.
A fortress built for monks
The Monastery of St John, founded in 1088, looks like a castle, with battlements on top. Its walls were built to keep out pirates, and monks still live inside.
A library nine centuries old
The monastery's library holds about 1,000 manuscripts and thousands of old books. Its most famous treasure, a few leaves of a 6th-century Gospel of Mark written in silver on purple parchment, is shown in the treasury.
Easter like nowhere else
In Holy Week the island fills with pilgrims. On Holy Thursday the abbot washes the feet of twelve monks in the main square of Chora, re-enacting the Last Supper as it has been done for centuries.