Windmills (Kato Mili)

Located on a low ridge on the southern edge of Mykonos Town, a row of white windmills faces the Aegean Sea, the image that appears on most postcards of the island. They are known locally as Kato Mili, the lower mills, and they stand close to the quarter called Little Venice and the church of Paraportiani, which makes this one of the most photographed corners of Chora. The setting places them against the open sea and, in the evening, a wide sky.

The windmills were built mainly in the sixteenth century, during the period of Venetian influence in the Cyclades, and the island once had many dozens of them. Mykonos is exposed to the strong summer wind known as the meltemi, and mills were a natural way to turn it into flour. Farmers brought wheat from the surrounding fields to be ground, and the mills were an important part of the island's economy and its trade with passing ships. Traditional examples have a round stone tower painted white, a conical wooden roof that turns to face the wind and a set of canvas-covered sails.

The mills were gradually abandoned during the twentieth century as industrial milling and imported flour replaced them. Several have since been restored, and the group at Kato Mili has become a symbol of the island, giving rise to its nickname as the island of windmills. They are no longer used for grinding, and are mostly photographed from the path along the ridge. A nearby windmill, the Boni mill, has been preserved as a small museum of traditional flour-making.

Visitors who come here usually combine the windmills with a walk through the lanes of Chora, down to Little Venice and along the sea front, where bars with terraces over the water attract crowds for sunset. The ridge is open to the public and free to walk, and the hill is breezy even in summer, so a light jacket can be useful in the evening. Because the viewpoint is small, it can become crowded at sunset, and anyone who wants quiet and a clear view of the mills is better off arriving early in the morning.

The whole walk from the old harbour takes about fifteen minutes, with narrow lanes and steps along the way, so comfortable shoes help. From the mills, the view back across the cluster of whitewashed houses is among the best in the Cyclades, a perfect example of Cycladic whitewash against the sea.