COMMUNITY INITIATIVE
OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME
LEADER+ 2000-2006
OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME
LEADER+ 2000-2006
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD
KEA- TZIA
PROJECTS
To locals it's Tzia but you'll find us as Kea on the map. Tzia is only an hour ferryboat journey from the port of Lavrio, near Athens, yet the island has remained relatively untouched by international tourism. In recent years Tzia has become popular with Athenians as a weekend retreat due to its close proximity to the mainland.
Tzia is a hiker's paradise with numbered routes that traverse the entire island and a variety of landscapes. On any hike you can experience several different micro-climates. The island is greener than most of the other Cycladic chain of islands that it belongs to, with thousands of oak and almond trees. There are many remote beaches with crystal blue seas that can only be reached on foot or by boat.
Artifacts found on the island point to a cycladic civilization as old as 2500 B.C. and 4 important ancient city-states have been discovered. Yet today there are less than 2500 permanent residents settled on 130 square kilometers. It is a quiet, peaceful island and there is a strong sense of the past as one witnesses many of the locals tilling the land with mules, hauling drinking water from springs and heating their homes by fire alone.
Tzia is a hiker's paradise with numbered routes that traverse the entire island and a variety of landscapes. On any hike you can experience several different micro-climates. The island is greener than most of the other Cycladic chain of islands that it belongs to, with thousands of oak and almond trees. There are many remote beaches with crystal blue seas that can only be reached on foot or by boat.
Artifacts found on the island point to a cycladic civilization as old as 2500 B.C. and 4 important ancient city-states have been discovered. Yet today there are less than 2500 permanent residents settled on 130 square kilometers. It is a quiet, peaceful island and there is a strong sense of the past as one witnesses many of the locals tilling the land with mules, hauling drinking water from springs and heating their homes by fire alone.