Chora, old mines, and beaches

We hired cars and drove up to the capital of Serifos, Chora. From the church at the top there was a great view back down to Livadi and Sifnos in the distance.

The road up was steep and windy. We walked up to the church and the views of Chora and the surrounding country were fantastic.

Chora is a labyrnth of pedestrian-only, narrow and steep streets.

But then one street led to a surprisingly large square with a church and a neo-classical town hall.

 Took a few photos at the middle of the town....

... and then we drove higher, over the peak of the hills behind Chora and then on to Megalo Livadi at the southwest of Serifos, once the centre of the iron ore mining industry in Serifos.

 All around this area there are deserted buildings and rusting mining equipment.

Megalo Livadi was the site of the first workers strike in Greece in response to low pay, excessive working hours and poor safety conditions. But the response from the authorities led to four workers being shot and killed and then three policemen died when the workers fought back. There's a memorial site there now.

We had lunch under the trees near the beach.

We drove home past bays with more mining ruins, stopped for a swim at one of them, and then swam again near the hotel before our last dinner on a Greek Island.