---

Modern Description: Two and half kilometres east of Chora, the coast road passes a conspicuous conical promontory to the seaward side: this is Vryokastro, crowned by the site of Tinos's earliest prehistoric settlement. Ascent is easy and the views are good, but there is little for the visitor to see, beyond the interesting site itself and the quantity of potsherds under foot – some even from large amphorae and tiles, indicating a continuity of habitation well into later historic epochs. The first settlement here, taking advantage of natural defences, a panoramic position and the proximity of two natural harbours appears to have been in the Early Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BC). Vryokastro was linked by marine trade routes with sites of the same epoch such as Aghia Irini on Kea and Akrotiri on Thera, but has yielded a lesser wealth of artefacts than they have.

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

---