Kastro Sciathos holiday photo guide old churches Kastro Skiathos Greece

Kastro is sat on a high cliff which protrudes out over the sea and is a natural fortress - it's located at the high northern part of Skiathos. It was originally settled during the 14th Century because of the threat from pirates on the lower coastal part of the island.
Initially under the control of the Byzantine empire it was also occupied by the Venetians and then the Turks, then the Venetians again until the Greek State was formed. The town was also protected itself by the use of a drawbridge the remains of which can still be seen - eventually Kastro was abandoned around 1830.
There are still many ruins scattered around the hillside showing that the population at one time must have been quite large. There were also a lot of churches in Kastro and several of these have now been restored with more slowly being sorted out as money pemits.

There are two ways to reach Kastro - daily excursion boats leave Skiathos and visit Kastro as part of their itinerary. Note that the boats leave you on the small pebble beach (which has a small seasonal taverna) and you then have a considerable climb up a twisty steep path to reach the town itself which can easily take 20 to 30 minutes. In July and August you also need to take account of the high temperatures which makes stiff climbs twice as difficult.
The other way to the Kastro is via road - well it's mostly track in fact and when we went to Kastro in July 2007 we did so reasonably easily by car. The most direct way is to use the road leaving the coastal road at Bus Stop 9 - this heads north almost directly twoards Kastro via Aghios Konstantinos. The last 1.2 kilometres of track which descend into the parking area near Kastro are in quite a rugged state - if using a small car when you return you need to just probably get into first gear and simply keep the car going - any hesitation and you may get stuck on the loose surface.

The last several 100 metres from the parking area are by a wide rocky footpath - remember to take a bottle of water with you when heading into Kastro itself since it always seems to be incredibly hot there.


Path to Kastro Gate	Kastro	Kastro Coastline	Cape Kastro

Kastro	Kastro Beach	Beach and Coastline Kastro	Kastro Drawbridge Ruins

Kastro Gate	Inside Aghia Marina	Aghia Marina	Aghios Nikolaos

Aghios Nikolaos church	Christos	Christos Courtyard	Christos Courtyard

inside Chirstos	Curch ruins	semi ruined church	Kastro Traditional House

Kastro Traditional House	Kastro Traditional House	Kastro Traditional House	Ruins

Please see our Main Skiathos page for lots more items on this excellent Greek Holiday Island.

You may be interested in our Home Page which has holiday, travel and walks information about around 16 other Greek Islands and similar guides for The Canary Islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

Visiting Kastro whilst on Holiday on the Greek island of Sciathos.

Skiathos Greece - Our Kastro Visitor Guide and Photos.