The current capital Chora with its renovated Venetian castle (which dates back to 1503), many churches and individual houses. In Chora town there is a protected medieval district. Many of the houses are made in white Cycladic cubic style with strange chimneys on the roofs. Within the area of the castle there are also three churches you can visit: the catholic Panagia cathedral, the Agios Pandeleimon church (with rare frescos) and the oldest church of the three, the Agia Triada church. Also remaning are a part of the palace of the High Commissioner, a couple of gunpowder storage buildings and two aqueducts. By the way the castle is more impressive from a distance than in close up. The magnificent view is the main reason to go and visit. In the town of Chora you can also find a small museum. The ancient deserted Byzantine capital Paliochora situated just south of Agia Pelagia and east of Potamos, in the northeast of the island. This town was surrounded by canyons. In 1537 it was completely destroyed by the Turkish Admiral Barbarossa and Algerian pirates. Many residents committed suicide by throwing themselves off the cliffs. Today the city is deserted and many of the walls and roofs collapsed, but it is still reasonably intact. In some of the old churches in the village you can still admire old freso's. Dozens of meters below in the bottom of the ravine is a small river that is called Lagadi. The village of Kapsala in the south of Kythira, just under the capital Chora, with its beautiful bay and its pebble beach which is divided into two by a rock. On the rock stands a nice church and there is a lighthouse that dates from the time of the English occupation. Kapsala lies in a bay which has usually a good protection against any wind and it is a popular beach destination. On a cliff above the town lies the monastery of the apostle John that dates back to 1592. On this spot the apostle stayed before he was exiled to Patmos where he wrote the "Revelations". The beautiful village of Mylopotamos, situated in the west of the island, with its impressive Cave of Agia Sofia and its nearby Venetian fortress and town that is called Kato Horio. Above the gate of the town there to a stone relief of the Venetian lion. In the village of Mylopotamos itself there are old water mills. The Neread waterfall just outside the village of Mylopotamos is located. Nature here is at its best. According to an old legend someone was murdered here and the waterfall is also known as the Murderes-waterfall. Between Chora and Milopotamos lies the village Livadi where there is a long bridge that dates from the English time and that looks as if it belongs in the south of England instead of on a Greek island. The remains of the Temple of Aphrodite in old Palaiopoli, once described as the finest and oldest temple in the world. At the site of the temple an old church was erected with the use of the stones of the temple.

© Hans Huisman, https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2014