Paleo Pili

Paleo Pili is a ruined Byzantine hilltop settlement in central Kos, about 16 kilometres southwest of Kos Town, on the slopes of Mount Dikeos, the island's highest peak. The fortress was founded in the 11th century by the monk Hosios Christodoulos, who also established the monastery on Patmos, and its elevated, defensible position protected the community from pirate raids for centuries, later serving the Knights of St John as a stronghold too.

Within the walls lie the remains of houses, storage rooms, cisterns, and three small churches, the best preserved being Ypapanti, built in the 14th century and decorated with murals, its columns reused from an older temple to Demeter. The settlement remained inhabited under the Knights and later the Ottomans, until a cholera epidemic forced its abandonment in 1830, when residents resettled a few kilometres away in what is now the village of Pyli.

The climb up to the ruins rewards visitors with sweeping views over the island and the Aegean, and the site is worth a visit if you're chartering a gulet from Kos for guests keen to pair a day at sea with a look at Kos's inland history.