Visit Exo Gonia for a true flavor of rural traditional Santorini

Exo Gonia, at the southeastern side of Santorini close to Pyrgos village, almost 8 kilometers away from the capital Fira, retains its traditional rural character with a strictly kept number of cafes and restaurants and restricted accommodations.

It has a combination of old and new houses, manor houses and beautiful churches. Exo Gonia can righteously claim to be the monastic centre of Santorini. Most notable is the church of Agios Charalambos, a male monastery that was built around 1705.

This and the church of Panagia Episkopi, in Episkopi Gonia village, are the only churches in Santorini that have tiled roofs, unlike the numerous blue-domed churches.

The monastery’s property has been considerable and it played a substantial role in ensuring the continuity of Greek education in Santorini, while contributing to the 1821 war of Independence from Ottoman rule.

How to get to Exo Gonia Village