Sikia - Kriaritsi: Splendid sandy beach in a beautiful landscape with a view over the islets Skepes, Ahinoi and Petalida.

⇠ Thessaloniki 152km ⇠ Polygyros 90km

One of the oldest villages in Halkidiki, and formerly known as Logos, once belonged to the Megisti Lavra Monastery -according to Athonite documents. There are various explanations of how the village came to be called Sykia. The first explains the name as meaning the ‘shadow (skia) of Athos’; the second interprets it as a corruption of Singos, name of an ancient city in the vicinity, and the third claims there was once an ancient fig tree (sykias) in the center of the village. This is a traditional village, with narrow streets and quaint old houses. There are rooms to be rented in Sykia and the surrounding area, as well as camping sites and tavernas much prized for their local meat dishes.

Sightseeing

• The old quarter of Sykia, where many neighborhoods remain as they were in the middle of the 19th century.
• The Church of Agios Athanasios, dating from 1819, which was twice burned down. Next to it you can admire the remains of the old school, built in 1870.
• On nearby Koukos Hill are the remains of a castle; excavations has shown that the area had been inhabited since the 11th century BC.
• The windmills on the long sandy beach of Sykia, built around the middle of the 19th century.
• The ruins of the church in Episkopi, a 20 minute walk south of Sykia.