Limenaria harbour (Photo: Balate Dorin/Getty Images)
Famed for its gold mines and marble quarries, Thassos was a member of the 5th century BC confederacy of Greek city-states known as the Delian League.
“They called it ‘Athens of the North’. The entire island is an archaeological site,” Lampadarios said, as he led me past a field full of sculpted sarcophagi.
Over dinner – feather-tender calamari stuffed with rice and aromatic herbs at Mylos taverna on Limenas’ paved main street – he taught me some thasitika, the ancient dialect of Thassos that is still spoken by older islanders.
Back on the coast, we discovered: Marble beach, in the north east, named for its white sands wedged between a “V” of forest-furred cliffs, Skala Maries, an idyllic, horseshoe-shaped bay that was almost deserted, and Aliki, a stretch of sun-dazzled sand framed by the remains of a temple dedicated to Apollo.
Stopping off at Limenaria, Thassos’s second largest settlement, we peered at the abandoned Palataki, or Little Palace, a neoclassical building that once housed the offices of German mining company Speidel.
“A century ago the business was so prosperous that this area was known as the ‘California of Greece’,” said Lampadarios.
The country’s 12th-largest island also has a handful of mountain villages. Turning inland along a switchback road framed by jagged blue and grey cliffs, we climbed to Kastro. This cluster of stone houses is the island’s oldest hamlet. “Only one family lives here permanently,” Lampadarios told me as we stood on a hilltop battered by whistling winds.
Other villages were livelier: Theologos in the island’s interior has more than 1,500 inhabitants. With its high stone houses, carved wooden balconies and central square where tavernas served meat grilled over an open fire, Theologos reminded me of a village in the French Alps.
Or, just 10km from the capital is Panagia, with natural springs and cobbled streets. Back on the coast, we had dinner at Faros, a taverna above mirror-clear seas where endangered Mediterranean monk seals often frolic. Most of the other diners were Greek and mains started at €8.
After tsipoura (gilt-head sea bream) washed down with a glass of seabed-aged aquanautic wine from local vintner Ktima Kazaviti, we got back into the car.
“I’ve saved the best for last,” Lampadarios said as we rounded a bend a few miles from Kinira.
Spread out far beneath us, the dusky golden sands of the north-eastern Chryssi beach washed by waters the colour of peacock feathers stretched in a perfect two-kilometre-long curve. Lampadarios grinned at my awed expression.
“You see, Thassos really does have the most beautiful beaches in Greece,” he said.
Getting there
Tui offers seasonal flights from Gatwick to Kavala, May to end of September.
Out of season, fly to Athens then onto Kavala with airlines such as Aegean Airlines.
Mermaid Travel Services offers tours and transport.
Staying there
Louloudis Boutique Hotel in Thassos has B&B doubles from €95.
Lucy Hotel in Kavala has B&B doubles from €102.
Where to eat
Psaraki, Kavala port, psaraki.gr
Mylos, Oktovriou 4, Limenas.
Faros, Kinira, faros-thassos.gr
What to see
Museum of Greek Refugees, Kavala, visitkavala.gr
Ktima Kazaviti, Kazaviti, alexanderheer.com
Archaeology museum, Limenas, archaeologicalmuseums.gr
Mantility, Kavala, mantility.com
Chrisanthides, Kavala, chrisanthidis.gr
More information
discovergreece.com
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 23:00:00
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