The coastline of this predominantly mountainous island with its countless chapels, its olive trees, its vinyards and its limpid air, is adorned with small, attractive covers. Those features combin with the crystal clear sea, the superb sandy beaches and the good range of amenities to make Ios a magnet for tourist.

Locally called Nios, this is an island whose history goes back to prehistoric times. According to Herodutus, the "poet of poets", the "god-like" Homer was buried at Plakotos, in the norht of the island. Pausanias tells us that there was an inscription at Delphi confirming the poet's interment on Ios, which was the homeland of his mother, Clymene. Above the pretty harbour of Ormos, where fhishing-boats and yachts bob at anchor, stands the capital of Ios or Hora. The town stands on the site of the ancient city of the same name and is a typical cycladic settlement, whith white washed houses, narrow alleys and chapels. Among the churches, those of St Catherine, St Joh the Baptist and Sts Cosmas and Damien stand out.

The whole beautiful image is rounded off with the bulk of teh medieval castle and the row of winmills which top the town. The sites of Ios include a Hellenistic tower and the remains of an ancient aqueduct at Agia Theodoti, traces of an ancient temple at Psathi, a ruinous Venetian castle at the spot known as Paleokastro, and the Hellenistic tower at Plakotos which we have already mentioned. The Archaeological and folkloric Museum in Hora and the Museum of Modern Art (DrotGaiti) at Kolitsani are also worth a visit. Lovers of the sea will be entraptured by the superb beaches of Ios, some of them busy (such as Milopotas, near Hora), and others no less atractive but much quieter (Agia Theodoti, Psathi, Kalamas, Plakes, Tzamaria, Kolitsani and Manganari).

The authentic Cycladic beauty of Ios, in combination with the island's rapid development for tourisim, has had the effect of attracting ever-in-creasing numbers of visitors.

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