Katapola

Katapola is the main port of Amorgos, at the head of a long bay on the western side of the island and one of the largest natural harbours in the Cyclades. The name means roughly "below the town", the town in question being ancient Minoa on the hill above. Boats have been using this same piece of water for about three thousand years.

Three Settlements, One Bay

Katapola is not one village but three, strung around the shoreline:

• Katapola itself, where the ferries dock and most of the rooms, tavernas and shops are, with the church of Panagia Katapoliani on the waterfront.
• Rachidi, on the slope behind the port, built around the church of Agios Georgios, which was put up partly with ancient material taken from the ruins above. The town hall is here too.
• Xylokeratidi, on the opposite shore of the bay, a fishing settlement with tavernas along the quay and the small chapel of Ftohi Panagia.

Ancient Minoa

Above the port, on the hill of Moundoulia, stand the remains of Minoa, one of the three ancient cities of Amorgos. Despite the name, this is not a Minoan site in the Cretan sense; the name comes from a tradition connecting the place with King Minos. What excavation has actually found is a Greek city occupied more or less continuously from around the eleventh century BC to the fourth century AD, on a hill that shows traces of human presence as far back as about 4000 BC and an Early Cycladic cemetery.

Visible remains include a Geometric-period fortification wall with bastions, a gymnasium of the fourth century BC, a Hellenistic temple with smaller cult buildings around it, and a rock-cut latrine with its drainage still in place. Two Mycenaean chamber tombs, fenced today, lie at Katiforida on the Xylokeratidi side. Much of what came out of the site is in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Beaches Around the Bay

• Katapola beach, minutes from the quay, with natural shade and the path up to the archaeological site behind it.
• Agioi Saranta, small, with deep and noticeably cool water.
• Agios Panteleimonas, part sand and part rock, looking back across the harbour.
• Maltezi, a short walk or a ride on one of the small boats that run from the port, with a single beach bar and nothing else.
• Plakes, under rock cliffs in deep water, which is where divers go.

Anchoring

The bay is deep and straightforward to enter, with 10 to 20 metres in the approach and holding in sand and mud in 4 to 10 metres inside. It is well protected from the Meltemi, the northerly that dominates the Aegean summer, and open only from southwest through northwest. In northerlies boats lie off Maltezi in 4 to 7 metres over sand; in southerlies they move into the inner bay southeast of the port. There is also room stern-to on the quay in 3 to 6 metres, ferry berth excepted.

Shelter of that quality is scarce this far east in the Cyclades, which is why Katapola is a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Greece as well as the island's supply line, and why the bay fills from mid-afternoon in August.

The Psimeni Raki Festival

Katapola's own festival falls on 26 July and is built around psimeni raki, the local spirit: raki simmered with honey, sugar, cinnamon and cloves, then served cold. People gather at the church around half past six in the evening, and the celebration proper starts near nine, when dancers in traditional dress cross the bay by boat from Xylokeratidi to fireworks and live music. It runs until morning. Amorgian pasteli, sesame and honey served on a lemon leaf, and anevates, a cheese pie made with raki, come out alongside the drink.

Getting to Amorgos

There is no airport on the island. The nearest are on Naxos, Santorini and Paros, each with onward ferries; the crossing from Santorini takes anywhere from about two to five hours depending on whether the boat is a conventional ferry or a fast craft and how many islands it calls at on the way. Katapola and Aegiali, at the northeast end of the island, are the two ferry ports. Beds range from rooms above tavernas to a handful of small hotels, and the eating is mostly Greek and mostly on the water.