Panagia Paraportiani Church

Panagia Paraportiani is a whitewashed church complex in the Kastro quarter of Mykonos Town (Chora) on the Cycladic island of Mykonos in Greece, standing on a rocky promontory beside the sea just above Little Venice. It is the most photographed church on the island and an outstanding example of Cycladic vernacular architecture. The name means Our Lady of the Side Gate, after the small gate of the old kastro that stood beside it. The building is in fact five separate chapels fused together: four at ground level and a fifth on top, forming a single sculptural mass with rounded domes and no straight lines. Construction began in the fifteenth century and continued into the seventeenth, and it is said to have taken nearly a century to complete. The result is an irregular, almost abstract shape in gleaming white, with a single bell and small windows. Visitors typically approach on foot through the lanes of Kastro from the Little Venice direction and view the church from the stone terrace below the walls or from the stairs beside it. The church is usually open only for services or at limited times, so most visitors admire it from outside; entry is free when it is open. A visit takes about thirty to sixty minutes, often combined with a walk to the Little Venice waterfront and the windmills. The best photographs are taken early in the morning, when the lanes are empty and the light is soft on the white walls, or at sunset when the stone glows against the sea. Midday brings strong light and crowds, particularly in July and August when cruise ship passengers fill the narrow streets. The terrain around the church is paved with stone and has steps, so footwear with grip is advisable. Visitors are asked to keep voices low and dress modestly if entering the church, and to avoid climbing the walls for photographs.