Pyrgos and sunset from the top of the village

What it is

Pyrgos Kallistis is Santorini's highest village, in the centre of the island, a few kilometres south-east of Fira. It is built as an amphitheatre around a hill, and at the top are the remains of the Kasteli, the medieval fortified enclosure around which it grew. From above you see the island in almost every direction: the caldera and the volcano on one side, the plain of vineyards and the open sea on the other.

Between 1835 and 1914 it was the seat of the old municipality of Kallisti. Today it has around a thousand inhabitants and is one of the island's villages that has changed least with tourism: narrow lanes that climb in zigzags, vaulted passageways, walls that were defences and houses dug into the earth, like caves.

What to see

• The Kasteli: it had a single entrance, the Kasteloporta, and underground passages that served as refuge for the villagers. Climb through the lanes without a map: they all end at the top.
• The church of the Theotokaki, the Dormition of the Virgin, inside the Kasteli, believed to date from the 10th century although its present form is later.
• The church of the Presentation of the Virgin, the highest point of the Kasteli.
• The Collection of Icons and Ecclesiastical Objects, in the restored church of Agia Triada, under the Ministry of Culture since 1997. It opens on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 to 15:30 and on Thursdays from 11:00 to 15:30; closed on Tuesdays. Admission €5 (€3 reduced). In November 2026 the Ephorate announced it closed exceptionally until Sunday 15: check before going.

Opposite the village, on the slope of Profitis Ilias, is the church of Agios Georgios, called Katafyo ("refuge"), where the villagers hid during raids. At the top of that mountain is the monastery of Profitis Ilias.

Sunset

Pyrgos is a quiet alternative to Oia for watching the sunset. From the top of the village the sun goes down over the caldera and you won't run into the crush of Oia. Go up half an hour before sunset to find a place.

If you prefer to watch it with a glass in hand, on the outskirts is the terrace of the SantoWines winery, above the caldera.

Holy Week

On the night of Orthodox Good Friday, Pyrgos holds an epitaphios procession through the streets, with fires lit in tins all over the village, which draw its silhouette in the darkness. It is the village's best-known festival; if it coincides with your trip, book accommodation and arrive in good time, because people come from all over the island.

How to get there and park

The KTEL bus leaves from Fira station and costs €2.20 (€2.80 at night, from 0:30 to 5:00). By car, the lanes of the old village are not for cars: park at the entrance to the village and walk up. In summer, at sunset, go with room to spare to find a space.

How long it takes and who it suits

Between one and two hours unhurried: going up, getting lost in the Kasteli, the icon collection and a coffee at the top. It is a walk for all ages, but with many steps and slopes: with a pushchair, better a baby carrier; in a wheelchair, the Kasteli is not practicable.

How to combine it

Pyrgos fits at the end of a day in the south: in the morning the Akrotiri site or the sea kayak along the south coast, and at sunset Pyrgos. For dinner inland you have Metaxy Mas, in Exo Gonia.