Tinos

Tinos (Greek: Τήνος [ˈtinos]) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It forms part of the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of 194.464 square kilometres (75.083 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 8,934 inhabitants. Tinos is famous amongst Greeks for the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, for the island's 80 or so windmills, for about 1,000 artistic dovecotes, for 50 active villages and for the Venetian fortifications on the mountain Exomvourgo. On Tinos, both Greek Orthodox and Catholic populations coexist, and the island is also well known for its sculptors and painters, such as Nikolaos Gysis, Yannoulis Chalepas and Nikiforos Lytras. The island is located near the geographical center of the Cyclades islands complex, and because of the Panagia Evangelistria church, with the reputedly miraculous icon of Virgin Mary that it holds, Tinos is also the center of a yearly pilgrimage that takes place on the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (15 August, Greek: Dekapentavgoustos). Many pilgrims make their way along the 800 metres (2,600 feet) from the ferry wharf to the church on their hands and knees as sign of devotion.