Porto Gaios. Saint Nicolo
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Lo que dice el Arxiduc:
Now we want to visit Saint Nicolo ( Nikolaos) Island more carefully. It is also known as Scoglio Fortezza as it’s crowned by a 46-meter-high fortress. In front of the town is a smooth path with steps which runs to a rocky hill covered in wood spurge and asphodels. The hill closest to the inner part is covered by pretty olive trees, a cistern and a small house under its shade. Further away are four Italian pines. The path forms a curve, and the view is very pretty behind to the town with the slopes covered in olive trees. From the second curve is a pretty view towards the coast of Albania and Saint Maura.
The view is beautiful from the top of the slope, with the port entrance, Isla della Madonna with the faraway Secca della Madonna, a buoy indicating where an English boat and two Greek ones were lost, and the pretty Albanian coast. The walls of the old fort are thick, though a bit in ruins, broken at the top. Towards the port entrance is a tower-shaped square gable forming an angle, with a round guard tower with a ruinous dome sticking out. At the end of the point towards Scoglio Madonna is a small fenced-in space next to a church and a limestone quarry. The view of the port entrance from here is especially beautiful.
Next to the Agios Nikolaos Church are some fairly old olive trees, with knotty trunks, and a walled in space with a bench in front and a bell to the right. There is a hole above and two windows on the sides of a small door. In the interior is a wooden ceiling and a simple Ikonostasis (wall of icons) with wooden benches along the walls, one with a canopy on the right. It doesn’t have any lateral windows, and the floor is made of stone. Towards the back is a small and rough triple apse. The church is covered in tiles. This small church is private property.
In front, on the other side of the island is Agios Ioannis Church, a square house on a soft slope where a lot of trees of heaven grow. It has a simple apse which stands out and a stone bench. There are two steps on the port side, where there is a square door and two lunette windows. The church has a small hole in front. In the interior, it is paved, and there is an open ceiling. It is very abandoned. There is a stone Ikonostasis with fairly rough painted images of Saints. Within the apse is a Panagia (Virgin Mary) with Baby Jesus in the middle.
Datos proyecto Nixe III:
Access to the fortress is the same as it was before. Just in front of the town we find a small dock and steps off to the side leading up to the fortress. We see mastics up front followed by a few olive trees, just as the Archduke mentioned. Behind is a grove of pine trees which wasn’t there in his day.
We did find some of the Italian pines the Archduke mentioned. Concretely, two are still alive. Another one is dead though still standing, and the fourth was brought down by lightning years ago.
Upon reaching the top, the first thing we see is an ancient mill and then the fortress built according to plans attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The fortress has been abandoned in part, but it is a very attractive place due to its history and setting.
Not far from the Italian pines is the Agios Nikolaos Church. It still has several olive trees off to the sides. The bell that used to be visible on the facade was later hung from a branch of one of these trees, but it was stolen by some tourists.
On the other side of Saint Nicolo is Agios Ioannis Church. We weren’t able to reach it on foot but did pass by it on boat, noting that it is completely surrounded by vegetation today.
Access to Saint Nicolo is restricted. It’s a beautiful spot, and the local Town Hall is studying the possibility of restoring the fortress and opening it up to visitors.
Photos
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