As you walk through the arcade from Kairis Square, the Oxoporta (gateway to the old city), will lead you to the medieval part of the town with its large, well-preserved houses combining Venetian and neo-classical features. The streets are punctuated with archways, arcades and fountains.
This is the location of numerous churches, such as the Church of Our Lady Palatiani or Agia Tsoura (which has a remarkable woodcut iconostasis) and the Catholic Church of St. Andrew of the Latins. Overlooking Paraporti, you will notice the St. George’s Cathedral, which has a distinctive marble relief on the front wall and a fabulous woodcut iconostasis.
Just opposite stands Kairis’ house, where various embroidery, photography and other exhibitions take place today. Theophilos Kairis was a scholar, a philosopher, a theologian, a priest and an eminent figure of the Neohellenic Enlightenment.
The Municipal Theatre of Andros is also located a few steps from St. George’s Cathedral. The street opens into the huge Riva Square, where you’ll see an imposing statue of the Unknown Sailor by Michalis Tombros. Originally, the Embirikos family mansions also stood on the square, until 1943, when they were destroyed by German bomb raids. The square was rebuilt at the expenses of the Embirikos family.
Below Riva Square, you will see the Kamara, the tiny bridge that links the old Venetian fort to the square, and the Tourlitis lighthouse perched on a rock in the bay of Nimborio. Note that today’s lighthouse is an exact replica of the earlier one.
