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Sigri, Lesvos
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That's the problem for our un-named friend, whose beautiful watercolors are sold in the small tourist shop in the town at the rate of one or two a month because there really are very few tourists in Sigri. But there should be. It's a beautiful town with a nice beach in a long semi sheltered cove that is perfectly suited to families with small children and some good restaurants with plenty of fresh fish, caught locally, and their specialty which is lobster. To make it even more special there is a big old Turkish castle that overlooks the whole village. But the most important unknown fact about Sigri is the wind which keeps this part of Lesvos cool when the rest of the island is hot and makes the locals look at you as if you are crazy when you ask them if the room they are renting has air-conditioning. "Air-conditioning in Sigri? You need a blanket at night" our landlady told us in late July. What baffled me was "Why hadn't the wind-surfers discovered this place yet?" The bay is miles wide and winds come down from the Black Sea even when the sea is flat and still a few kilometers away. If the windsurfers ever discover Sigri you will see the town prosper. For now it is just a comfortable port town at the end of the road in northwest Lesvos.
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 The church
of Agia Triada was originally built as
a mosque. But unlike other mosques
which face Mecca, the men who
constructed it somehow were able to
face it east. Perhaps in 1870 the
Turks knew that the winds of change
were in the air, or maybe the builders
just pulled a fast one. Inside the
church is a water cistern which
supplied the ships of the Sultan or
perhaps the hammam next door. The old
hammam (Turkish bath) sits unused
since the last Turks left the island
in 1923. There are plans to reopen it
again, though there seems to be some
dispute with the current owner who for
some reason is reluctant to see this
happen. If the parties concerned can
come to terms, a Turkish bath would be
a wonderful addition to the
village.
The beaches to the north of Sigri like my favorite, Faneromeni, are also beautiful and uncrowded. The waves can be big here when the wind blows from the north. Big enough for body-surfing at least. There is a small area that is sheltered by rocks that give you the best of both worlds. Waves for you and the teens and a safe harbor for the non-swimmers and youngsters. Faneromeni beach is seperated by a large rock that offers shade, and a place to dive off if you are one of those people who don't like sand. The Tapsas river does not quite make it to the sea, at least not in July, but if you bring bread you can probably coax some kind of creature to the surface, most likely a water turtle. At the end of the beach is the Zoedochos Church which is built into a rock. The whole valley is great for walking when the weather is not too hot. Bring water.
But don't wait
until then. Come now. In terms of a bar-scene and nightlife most of the activity is in the restaurants and cafes but there are a couple in Sigri. But all you need in a town is one good bar to make it fun and if you have one good bar who cares how many others there are? Sigri has at least one good bar with live music and jazz. Be sure to buy Sigri: Where the Road Ends, written and illustrated by Roy Lawrance. It is an excellent guide to the area, wildlife, history and society, that we used for reference during our visit. Take a look at my Sigri Photo Album from the summer of 2005 too. For hotels and more information on spending your holidays in Sigri see Lesvos Hotels . I recommend the Sigrion Villas and the Evangelina Apartments owned by a very nice Greek-American family from Mississippi! Their daughter Cindy runs Hyphenology, a cultural-educational program in English for highschool kids. |
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"Sigri is so
misunderstood," said our Portuguese artist
friend (who will remain un-named) one day at
lunch. This brought forth an argument from
everyone at the table, led by her husband
Waldo, a retired plumber from Akron.
Most people come
to Sigri by car, taxi or bus. It's about an
hour and a half from the port of Mytilini,
through some of the most interesting and
varied landscapes on the island.
The
village is sometimes connected to mainland
Greece by
ferry service.
It was discontinued but in 2005 Saos line began
running a once a week ferry from 
The Turkish Castle is probably the
towns most impressive man-made
feature. Built in 1746 by the Sultan
Mehmet, this fortress protected the
harbor where the Turks kept their
fleet. The stones come from quarries
in Sarmaisakh, Turkey, paid for by
heavy taxes levied upon the Christian
inhabitants of this part of the
island. You can walk through the iron
door and along the walls for an
impressive view of the village and the
surrounding sea. One morning during my stay
I heard a strange noise like heavy breathing coming from the
courtyard of the castle and I crept in quietly to see what it
was. There were two owls doing some kind of courting dance and
I watched them for 20 minutes in amazement. Of course because it is Turkish and not Venetian or Genovese, nobody really cares about it and they don't do much more than pick up the garbage. Probably if some people had their way they would just bulldoze it. But Turkish or otherwise, castles don't grow on trees and if you had a castle in your town you would be proud of it, wouldn't you? 
The
island of Nissiopi which protects the harbor
from the open sea has a large amount of
petrified trees. The suspicious looking line
of telephone poles and wires do not provide
power to a secret submarine or missle base,
but to the lighthouse that keeps ships from
running aground.
The summer of 2005 there was a sailing yacht that
was laying on the rocks off the coast of Nissiopi, apparently
not having headed the warning. Above the village of
Sigri is the brand new
Museum of Natural History which
features many examples of the
different kinds of trees found in the
nearby
In Sigri
you have a town that is everything a
good tourist town should be. Good
food, clean beaches, nice hotels,
great family run restaurants with
fresh fish, stuff to do and even a
tourist shop or two, and yet it is not
over-run with tourists. Sigri is
certainly at the very least worth a
visit for lunch and a swim. The
taverna at the town dock called Cavo
di Oro (photo) is one of the best
restaurants on the island. We had a number
of our meals here and loved their barbouni (or maybe it was
koutsomoures-they are almost the same but barbouni costs more).
Anything we got that was fish was fresh and delicous. But the
restaurant got really high-praise for the pikilea, the mezedes
they served with ouzo which included, marinated octopus, sardeles
pastes, red peppers stuffed with cheese, hot peppers, olives,
tomatoes and looked so good I photographed it for a future ad
for Ouzo-Matis. The
lobster at Remezzo's Fish Taverna
impressed me so much that I wrote an
entire article about it the first time we
came here, several years ago. I have not returned to the restaurant
since and the way some of the restaurants advertise lobster
these days I don't feel like I need to add to the chorus. I
mean how many lobsters can there possible be in Sigri and how
many will remain if everyone eats them. But you can read
my review of
The
town beach is fine, especially for
families with children, looking for
other families with children and is shallow
enough to let you relax if you are a parent.. (If you
have a child you will know what I
mean.) There is a taverna on the beach and
a canteen that sells drinks and snacks. Like many beaches in
Lesvos there is also a shower so you can rinse off and not have
that salty-skin feeling we all know so well. The beaches to the
north and south are simply breathtaking and
depending on the time of day, you can have one all
to yourself, even in August. The snorkling south
of town off the rocks is good with plenty of fish
and even an octopus or two. Just follow the dirt
road to Eressos. The beach
at Tsichlioda is at the end of a long
valley that looks like the Alaskan
Tundra. You can get close to the sea
but it can be rough on your car so
take it slow. Though not an officially
designated nude beach, there is nobody
there to stop you. The beach is about
a half mile long and on the
southeastern end (on the left if you
face the water) is where the
Tsichlioda river meets the sea. There
are bits and pieces of petrified wood
you can find among the sand and gravel
on the river delta. 
The river
itself is facinating and who knows
what kind of creatures live beneath
the surface. The area is a haven for
migrating birds and is featured in
Richard Brook's excellent
Sigri is destined
for popularity. It's proximity to Rafina and
the Cyclades (and to Lavrion which may one day be Greece's main port), combined with its
natural beauty, great restaurants, friendly
people and ample accommodations make it a
dream destination for travelers who want to
experience the Greek islands without all the
bells and whistles of mass tourism. Within
a few years there will in all probability be a daily
boat from Athens, perhaps even one of the new
high-speed ferries that will make the trip
from Rafina in three hours. I imagine that sooner
or later some lucky wind-surfer will discover the place and
spend a few solid weeks racing back and forth on the sea, waiting
for the wind to let up so he can go elsewhere, finally giving
up and going home to tell his friends and eventually Sigri will
be to the North Aegean what 