Experience Cycladic Art

Experience Cycladic Art

Walk in the Time of Beauty

The Tinian people show great respect for the art of housing, the hospitality, aesthetics and practical comfort a home has to offer. Their houses are built with stone and a whole lot of love, with respect for their neighboring residents with whom they share the same arch and alley.

The dovecotes of Tinos

Even their dovecotes, masterpieces of Cycladic architecture, are constructed as protective dwellings for the pigeons against cats, mice and snakes. Dovecotes have existed on other Cycladic islands since ancient times but the most impressive are those of Tinos. They are made of slate, other stones and lime, and have magnificent decorative designs (rhombs, triangles, suns, cypresses and more). Such is their beauty that we were inspired to remodel the interior of one of these Tinian dovecotes for a unique experience in accommodation. Take a look at the unique dovecote suite on Tinos Island for an exceptional accommodation experience.

Tinos art has always been interwoven with some traditional truth, with this or the other everyday need. The Tinian dovecotes, for some, the prettiest in the Cyclades, are more than what the detached city dweller calls a “work of art”. For people on Tinos, dovecotes are not just artefacts of a high aesthetic value. They serve a different need for each Tinian family. Some host pigeons simply to watch and enjoy their charming presence, while others build dovecotes for breeding purposes since pigeon meat is very nutritious, healthy and fantastic in taste. In the past, Tinians exported pigeon meat. As for the pigeon droppings – a terror in urban households − are sought after on this island as an organic fertilizer for the fields. The chain association of these local resources with their honourable utilization is what the visitor sees and Tinians perceive as culture.

Those not blessed to be born or reside on Tinos, at best, will give its art and materials a museum-like value. For example, Tinian marble is said to have been used at both Buckingham Palace and the Louvre Museum. But on this island, people have grown up living among the works of many local artists and craftsmen who have worked and still work to this day on the famous white or green marble of the island; lintels, curved-in fountains, skylights, statues. Countless of times they have turned their gaze in prayer to a marble temple carved by one of these amazing artisans.

Art is everywhere on Tinos Island

The whole island is a landscape provoking you to create it anew summoning the artist within you. Great local masters have honoured this place with their sculptures and paintings: Chalepas, Philippotis, Lytras, Gyzis, Sochos, Gaitis, Varlamos…

The Heroes Monument of Triantaros, the village where the Aeolis is located, is carved by the famous Hellene artist Philippotis. No matter where you turn your gaze, in this place, you will surely come across a work of art. Old stone fountains and wells are fine examples of the local stone builders’ tradition.

At the Preparatory and Professional School of Fine Arts in the village of Pyrgos the living tradition of marble carving is continued with students from all over Greece. At the village’s Cemetary, the works of the renowned Tinian sculptor Yiannoulis Chalepas leave an eternal marking of the prevailing Orthodox Christian feeling of joyful sorrow; a reminder of the common human destiny carved in such mesmerising beauty...

At Kionia, one can combine swimming in the endless beach with a visit to the Sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite, probably dating back to the mid-4th century BC. Since ancient times, Tinos was a religious worship center. Poseidon was worshiped not only as the god of the sea, but also as a healer, and his wife Amphitrite, protected and helped female fertility.

Lying in your room at the Aeolis Tinos Suites, your eye will randomly stop to look at the shape of the Spiral which adorns the traditional metal rail of the bed. You've seen it in the logo of the Aeolis