Tinos Exomvourgo Castle

Location: Xynara

Standing on Mount Exomvourgo, an imposing cone-shaped hill that dominates southern Tinos, Exomvourgo Castle —once the most powerful castle in the Cyclades— boasts a strategic location with commanding views of the entire island and the strait that separates Tinos and Mykonos.

As early as the Bronze Age, Exomvourgo used to be the island’s capital, and scant remnants of the original Cyclopean walls can still be discerned on the hill’s southwestern slopes, beneath the ruins of posterior fortifications. Between the 4th century BC and the 10th century AD, the site lay abandoned, till the frequent pirate raids forced the inhabitants to move from the coast back to the inland.

However, after the 4th Crusade, Tinos was granted to the Venetian Ghisi brothers, and Exomvourgo flourished again. Becoming the capital of this feudal estate, the pre-existing Byzantine Castle of Agia Eleni (the Castle of Tinos) was further reinforced. After 1390, when the Ghisi dynasty came to an end, it passed directly under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Venice and contributed significantly to the island’s defense. Upgraded to meet the new defensive needs that emerged after the introduction of gunpowder, it was instrumental in keeping Tinos the only Venetian domain in the midst of the Ottoman-ruled Aegean. In terms of structure, it was surrounded by a 600-meter long enceinte, which was further protected by formidable bastions as well as four towers.

Things changed after 1715, though, when a mighty Turkish fleet sailed to Tinos and laid siege to the castle, whose defenders were forced to surrender. A few days later, the Ottomans blew the castle up with the aim of weakening Tinos’ defenses, as they probably didn’t mean to use the fort themselves. After the destruction of the old castle town, its inhabitants established a new settlement called Burgo (a name commonly used for the villages that developed around castles), but it soon became evident that life on this rocky hill didn’t offer any advantages anymore and Burgo was gradually abandoned.

Today, one can only see the ruins of this once impressive castle, but the hike up to the top of Mount Exomvourgo is highly rewarding as the views of the island and the Aegean Sea are truly breathtaking. In the wider area of Exomvourgo, visitors will also find the Catholic convent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as the traditional villages of Koumaros and Xynara.