Our Lady of the Side Gate

The Church of Panagia Paraportiani sits near the harbour mouth. Its name literally means 'Our Lady of the Side Gate' in Greek, as its entrance was found in the side gate of the entrance to the Kastro area of the town.

The building of this church started in 1425 and was not completed until the 17th century. The whitewashed church actually consists of five other churches attached together: the four churches (Saint Estathios, Saint Sozon, Saints Anargyroi and Saint Anastasia) are all on the ground and constitute the base of the fifth church that has been built on top of them. This architectural idiosyncrasy has made it the most photographed church on Mykonos.

While we were in town, and as it was the start of the tourist season, the local decorator was hastily whitewashing the church inside and out. A swarthy tradesman with shoulder-length dreadlocks, he was not a bit impressed with several foreign nationals stepping over his rollers and brushes to get a look inside. He'd removed all the furniture in readiness for his distempering schedule and he got into a bit of a hot Aegean strop.