Idyllic Skopelos Town, the administrative center of the Sporades, overlooks a sparkling turquoise bay on the north coast. Three- and four-story white-washed houses rise virtually straight up a hillside that's a labyrinth of steps and pebble-studded lanes. The houses look prosperous (18th-century Skopelos society was highly cultured and influential) and cared for, their facades enlivened by brightly painted or brown timber balconies, doors, and shutters, along with vibrant bougainvillea, wisteria, and scatterings of potted plants. Interspersed among the red-tile roofs are several with traditional gray fish-scale slate—too heavy and expensive to be used much nowadays. At the town's summit you're standing within the walls of the ruined 13th-century castle erected by the Venetian Ghisi lords who held all the Sporades as their fief. It in turn rests on polygonal masonry of the 5th century BC, as this was the site of one of the island's three ancient acropoli.
You will encounter many churches here—the island has more than 360, of which 123 are in the town, and their exteriors incorporate ancient artifacts, Byzantine plates or early Christian elements, and slate-capped domes. The uppermost, the 11th-century Ayios Athanasios, is said to be situated on the ruins of the ancient temple of Minerva and has a typically whitewashed exterior and an interior that includes 17th-century Byzantine murals.
