Greece Travel Index Greek Islands
Kea: Korissia(Livadia) and Vourkari
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Kea: Korissia(Livadia) and Vourkari
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The port of Korissia, also known as
Livadia is the first place you will see when you
arrive on the island since this is where the ferry
docks. It has a long sandy beach, a supermarket,
several restaurants, cafes, bars and a hotel or two.
Above the port on the hill of Agia Triada are the
ruins of the ancient acropolis and what is believed to
be an archaic temple dedicated to Apollo. The statue
known as the Kouros of Kea in the National Museum in
Athens was found here. Livadia was pretty much
deserted during the centuries of Ottoman rule but in
1922 it was repopulated by refugees from Asia Minor.
For ferry watchers it is a good place to be because
three ferries from Lavrion sail back and forth
continuously all day and into the night and a
few times a week the NEL from
Syros makes an appearance here. You can catch the
bus to Ioulis from here and
there are taxis that will take you anywhere when they
are not taking somebody else. You can also rent
motorbikes if you can find the guy who rents them. Cars too. If you get to the rental office and nobody is there, there should be a number posted on the door. If it is August they will be there but they probably won't have any cars so it does not really matter. But you can also rent from Swift in Athens and drive the car to the ferry which is always a fun experience. |
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As ports go Livadia is not too bad for swimming since the bay is so big and the rough seas of
the Cava d Oro flush it out from time to time but with so many other nice beaches on the island the only reason to swim here is if you happen to be staying here. At the
far end is a small church dedicated to Saint George and
just beyond that is the Villa Maroulis. The valley of
Livadia was populated by refugees from Asia Minor who
came to Kea after the exchange of populations which
was initiated with the policy of ethnic cleansing by
Attaturk and the burning of the city of Smyrna by the Turkish army.
The best time to be in Vourkari is Sunday afternoon as the Athenian weekend boats are leaving and the sailing charters are arriving. This is where you will often find me, at Thalia's, eating pastramatopita and grilled sardines, drinking an ouzo and watching the new sailors attempting to parallel park for the first time. It is an entertaining way to spend the afternoon and evening too and I often run into someone I know from somewhere else. For more information on sailboat charters see www.greecetravel.com/sailing |
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It is hard not to notice the enormous smokestack and
the ruins of the Enamel and Metallurgy factory that
sits in the valley of Livadi. The factory which was
owned by Ioannis Gleoudis had 900 employees who
produced enamel products, canteens, helmets and other
equipment during the pre-war period. Because of this
factory and the coal supply center for steamships at
Agios Nikolaos, the people of Kea were able to survive
during the years when many other islands were
destitute. There is something about having a big old
deserted factory on a small greek island that makes
you realize that these places did not spring up out of
the sea as tourist destinations. Islands like Kea
existed before tourism and they will probablky exist
after tourism too. For me, seeing the remains of an
old factory is as interesting as the ruins of an
ancient temple and in most cases leaves less to the
imagination.
The main beach in Livadia is a long sandy stretch that
lies at the end of the valley. There are a couple
restaurants and cafes and there are two hotels, one
apartment style overlooking the beach from the town
called the Karthea, and the other a long motel looking
establishment on the far end of the beach called Y
Tzia Mas. There is also the new 
One small shop that you might not find unless I tell you about is the pottery studio of Vicky Snyder who despite her American sounding name is actually of Greek ancestry and lives on Kea. She is also a reknown potter from New Mexico and teaches children from the island the aert of ceramics. She also has workshop for aspiring potters and those
who are experienced but want to take it to the next level. For more information on classes and workshops you can e-mail Vicky at 
If you follow the coast around you come to a nice
little beach called Gialiaskari that sits in a cove
shaded by eucalyptus trees. It is pretty active in the
summer but the water is blue, and beautiful though I no longer swim here after catching some kind of fungus despite the new waste-treatment facility they placed here just a few steps from the beach. (It really stinks too.) With all the other clean beaches on the island it seems silly to swim here despite the convenience.
There is a little cafe that has salads, pizzas
and pastas and coffees, beer, wine and mixed drinks
and this is where many of the young people hang out.
This is also where my daughter likes to go though on a normal day it seems like the only people actually in the sea are the tourists. It is really the only beach on the island with a bar that plays loud (mostly bad) music all day long. The bus passes
by here several times a day and so you can easily stay
in the town of Ioulis if you wanted to swim here or lay on the beach and listen to your own Ipod if that is your idea of a good time. If you
are the hiking sort, there is an incredible walk on
the old stone roads that bring you to the main road a
mile or so from Livadia, passing through farms and
springs along the way and providing some great
opportunities for photgraphs. When you reach the
bottom all sweaty and tired you have the refreshing
sea (to look at) and a nice cold beer or water. The density of the development in between Galiskari and Vourkari is something to marvel at and for half a million euros you can buy a small house right above the sea close enough to hear your neighbors arguing at night.
Further along around another bend is the yacht
harbor of Voukari which has several seafood
restaurants and is where all the people who are
sailing the Cyclades come.The bay of Voukari looks
almost like a lake and is the most sheltered spot in
the large harbor which is why it is popular with the
yachters who know they will get a good night's rest,
even when the waves are like mountains outside the
harbor. The boats dock up, parallel-parking style right on the
street and the waitors, when they are not too busy,
run out to help by catching the lines and shouting
directions and encouragement to the sailors. When the
boats are secured the captain, crew and passengers
cross the street for an ice-cold beer, a couple ouzos
and mezedes or a seafood dinner. Most of the
restaurants serve lobster too. The seafood is generally pretty fresh. My
favorite place is Thalia's which serves mezedes from
Asia Minor where her family comes from.
Vourkari would seem to
be the perfect place except for a small dilemna. It
smelled awful in the summer because of a serious
waste-treatment problem that the restaurants or the
local government could not seem to figure out how to
deal with. But with a new progressive mayor the
island is starting to deal with some of the problems
which afflict many islands in Greece, beginning with
the sewage problem in Vourkari putting in a whole new
system in the summer of 2005 and then widening the road in 2009 to alleviate the nightmare of trying to drive through here or park during August and summer weekends.
There are several galleries that have exhibits
by famous artists both living and dead.
Boyrkariani was established by Nikos Dalaretos, and set an example with the quality of the
exhibitions and the fame of the artists who
exhibited there. Previous summers the gallery has featured
exhibitions by Lisa Sotilis Giorgio
de Chirico and the famous water-colorist Tom Cullins who actually lives on the island. The gallery has now moved upstairs off the street into the old house that used to be the Dalaretos family house and has become ART S.A. run by the charming Sotiria Antonopoulou. Inside the gallery is a small
bookstore where you can buy prints, books and
postcards of the works of other artists including
the island's most famous artist: Aleko Fasianos.
This is a place that should not be missed and may
be worth going out of your way to get to if you
have a sailboat or yacht at your disposal and a
true love of painting and sculpture. For more
information on exhibitions at
ART A.A. Gallery you can contact Sotiria at 
Vourkari is also the nightlife and party area of the island and I know because I had to fight with my daughter who wanted to go down there every night of the summer. There are several cafe-bars and music clubs packed with boaters and Athenians and you will feel like you are in Mykonos. They stay open all night, or
at least I assume they do because my daughter does not get home until morning. (This is normal in Greece). If you are looking for a quiet romantic evening away from the summer crowds try upstairs at Vinylio
Wine Bar run by international chef Nicholas with a large list of wines and daily dinner specials and a great view of the sailboats and yachts. Below in the original Vinylio Cafe-bar DJs play music late into the night in what is considered by the hip Athenian youth to be one of the best bars in the Cyclades.
Across the bay is Agia Irini, where the ruins of a
temple to Dionysious, the fortified walls, tower
and gate of the Bronze Age settlement that once
stood here. There are also ruins from the Hellenistic
period as well as the Minoan and Mycenean periods
including the impressive Mansion of the Master.
There is a fence around it so unless you are an
archaeologist you can't get in but you can still
get a good view by walking around. There is the
remains of an old steel-hulled ship in the small
bay next to the site. Further along the Kokka
peninsula are the ruins of the Michalinos Coal
Company which used to supply steamships and the
area known as
Katsonis Crossing
where Captain Lambros Katsonis
dragged his ship across the isthmus and escaped
the Turkish fleet who thought they had him
trapped. At the very end is the Lighthouse of
Agios Nikolaos which sits on the location of an
ancient temple to Posideon, the stones of which
can still be seen. On the nearby peninsula of
Kefela close to Agia Irini, are the ruins of a
very large temple from the 6th Century BC and the
remains of some Neolithic tombs.