Amorgos

Amorgos is the island of the film The Big Blue, and its beauty is of the deep, quiet kind. The ferry arrives at Katapola, the port, and the winding road climbs to Chora, the capital, a beautiful village of white houses and blue doors on the crest of the mountain. The island is long and narrow, and its roads climb and fall through a landscape of stone terraces and dry walls. The great sight is the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa, built in 1088 on a ledge of the sheer cliff high above the sea — a white fortification of a monastery that seems to grow out of the rock itself. The path leads up to its gate and on to the terrace, which looks down on the blue water far below. Below that lies the bay of Agia Anna, where the cliff meets the sea in one of the most beautiful coves of the Aegean, and water so clear that the bottom seems only a hand's reach away. Amorgos is an island for pilgrims, for swimmers, and for dreamers — a place of extraordinary, austere beauty.

Amorgos has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, and in antiquity it was one of the islands colonised by the great city-states; the ancient city of Minoa stood near today's Katapola, and the island's marble and its wines were famous in the ancient world. Amorgos was the birthplace of the poet Simias and is associated with the ancient poet of love and wine. In the 11th century, the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa was founded on its cliff — according to tradition, the miraculous icon of the Virgin was brought from Hozoviotissa in Palestine — and the monastery has been the island's spiritual heart ever since, surviving sieges and centuries of change. The island passed through the usual Venetian and Ottoman rule, and its white villages and stone terraces bear witness to centuries of hard, proud life. In the 1980s, the film The Big Blue was shot here, and the island became known around the world for its extraordinary underwater beauty. Today Amorgos is one of the most loved islands of the eastern Cyclades, prized for its wild landscape, its cliff-hanging monastery, and its deep, clear sea.

Amorgos has some of the most beautiful swimming in Greece, in coves where the cliffs meet water of extraordinary clarity. Agia Anna, below the monastery, is the most famous: a cove of pale sand where the film was shot, with a church on the shore. The beaches of Aegiali — a long sandy bay in the green valley — are lovely and easy. Katapola's beaches are convenient and family-friendly. And the coves of the east coast, reachable by boat or rough track, are wild and almost empty, with water so clear it seems to glow. The island's long coastline rewards swimmers and snorkellers, and the water of Amorgos is among the most beautiful in the Cyclades.

Amorgos food is the honest cooking of a mountain island. The island produces excellent honey, cheese, and the famous local wine, and its terraced valleys grow vegetables and the island's herbs. The tavernas of Chora, Katapola, and Aegiali serve the classic Greek table: grilled fish, goat and lamb, and the island's own pasta and cheeses. The local speciality is the island's version of a goat stew and the small, fragrant sausages of the villages. For a real Amorgos meal, order the goat, a plate of the island's greens, and a carafe of the local wine, and eat on a terrace with the sea below you.

May, June, and September are the best months on Amorgos: warm, quiet, and beautiful, with the monastery at its most peaceful and the sea perfect. July and August are busier — the island is popular and its narrow roads fill — but its beauty is strong enough to hold the crowds. Spring is lovely, with wildflowers, and autumn lingers warm into October. Whenever you come, stay at least a few days, and be sure to climb to the monastery — it is the heart of Amorgos, and the reward is enormous.

Amorgos has no airport, and the ferry is the only way in. The crossing from Piraeus takes about seven hours, with shorter services from Naxos, Paros, Santorini and the other Cyclades.

A car or scooter is essential for exploring the island's length; the roads are winding and the views are huge. Visit the monastery early in the morning, when the light is best and the monks are most welcoming. Swim at Agia Anna and the beaches of Aegiali. Walk at least one of the island's trails. And take a boat trip along the coast if you can — the coves of Amorgos are its hidden treasure.