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The North Sporades Islands group lies off the eastern shore of mainland Greece and consists of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos. These islands are characterized by dense vegetation and mountainous terrain and are world known as some of the bluest and cleanest seas one will ever come across and experience. Each of these has its own beauty and charm and has something unique to offer the visitor. Nature here has created images of incomparable beauty, littered with monasteries and old stone houses with outdoor ovens; breathtaking landscapes, dazzling, flat-roofed whitewashed houses, an idyllic coastline, caves, chapels and churches, labyrinthine streets in lively neighbourhoods, home to the Mediterranean monk seals, dolphins and rare species of flora and fauna. The hospitable islanders are still dressing in traditional costume, fiercely clinging to tradition and proud of their heritage.
Mediaeval museums and monasteries and churches everywhere you look, and countless picturesque wayside chapels. Archaeological and historical treasures, bound up with the living faith of the islanders. Marvellous screens carved in wood, rare icons and frescos, ancient manuscripts, vestments, books and vessels. In these churches, chapels and monasteries, the Orthodox Church shares with the faithful a unique treasure, carefully preserved down the centuries.
Verdant nature, monuments, culture, traditional villages, the sea and the people all combine in a harmonious and persistent co-existence. The efforts of the islanders to preserve and protect their environment are beginning to bear fruit. Alternative forms of tourism are winning new friends with each passing day. Here a walk in the woods is astonishment, a bike ride a delight and the maritime nature park a dream.
The incomparable traditional beauty of the islands is matched by a profound intellect, imprinted in its rich cultural past and expressed in its vivid present. Customs and traditions handed down from time immemorial, with the exquisite handicrafts and embroideries, visible continuations of the islands’ history and past.
The Marine Park of the North Sporades
One of the few biotopes providing shelter to the Mediterranean seal monachus-monachus, invites visitors to magical tours.