Ιερά Μονή Παλαιοκάστρου

This guide to the Monastery of Palaiokastro in Mykonos starts at a small dovecote beside the gate, its walls pierced with pigeon holes, and follows why such towers mattered so much across the Cyclades. It traces the Venetian Ghisi family's rule from 1204, and a noble privilege over pigeon-keeping that shut ordinary islanders out for generations. You'll hear what changed after the Ottoman admiral Barbarossa took the island in 1537, and how the hillside came to hold a monastery rebuilt in the 1750s and 60s. Look for the ruined fortress on the hill above that gave the monastery its name.