Travel Video PostCard

Skopelos is the greenest island in Greece. Here, where the green of the pine-trees and the dense forest mix with the deep blue of sea and sky, creating the picture of unrivalled nature beauty, you will find yourself in an idyllic land, in a small paradise in the very heart of Greece.

Because the island of Skopelos is defined by lush green forest and the blue of the sea the International Organization of Biopolitics, on July the 5th 1997, officially proclaimed it "Green and Blue Island". More than 50% of the island area is covered by a virgin forest of pine-trees. A forest which, when you visit Skopelos, will also need your love and care in order to maintain the natural beauty and ecological balance that has survived for nearly 4000 years.

Η Σκόπελος είναι το πιο πράσινο νησί στην Ελλάδα. Εδώ, όπου το πράσινο των πεύκων και των πυκνών δασών σμίγει με το βαθύ γαλάζιο της θάλασσας και του ουρανού δημιουργώντας μία εικόνα απαράμιλλης φυσικής ομορφιάς, θα συναντήσετε τον εαυτό σας σε μια ειδυλιακή γή, σε ένα μικρό παράδεισο στην καρδιά της Ελλάδας.

Το νησί της Σκοπέλου χαρακτηρίζεται απο τα πυκνά δάση και το γαλάζιο της Θάλασσας γι'αυτο και στις 5/7/97 ανακυρήχθηκε επίσημα ώς "πράσινο και γαλάζιο νησί" απο τον διεθνή οργανισμό Βιοπολιτικής. Είναι χαρακτηριστικό οτι το μεγαλύτερο κομμάτι της έκτασης του νησιού καλύπτεται απο παρθένο πευκοδάσος. Ενα δάσος που όταν επισκεφτείτε τη Σκόπελο θα χρειαστεί και τη δική σας αγάπη, φροντίδα και προσοχή για να παραμείνει όπως είναι. Olives and olive oil: Olive oil plays a role in the Skopelos diet, being the basis of all recipes of traditional cuisine. The most prevalent olive is the "Pelion" variety, larger and rounder than the "Kalamata". For eating the olives are cured both in the unripened and the ripened stages. Feta: A semi-soft, crumbly, well-salted white cheese made from goat milk. Used in Skopelos cheese pie and other vegetable pies, added to salads and served with meals. Cheese Pie: Not by definition a real pie, but a tiropita, a deep fried spiral of cheese stuffed phyllo dough. The pie is generally about 15 cm in diameter and 3 cm high. Honey: Honey in Skopelos is mainly pine honey from conifer trees and flower-honey from the nectar of fruit trees and wild flowers. Prunes: Oven or sun dried Blue or Red Plums.

The length of the coastline of Skopelos is 67 km. Due to the island's mountainous terrain most of the coast is inaccessible. The following are beaches accessible by road or trail: Staphylos, Velanio (the unofficial nudism beach), Agnondas, Limnonari, Panormos, Adrines, Milia, Kastani, Elios, Hovolo, Armenopetra, Kalives, Glyfoneri, Glysteri, Perivoliou, Keramoto, Chondrogiorgos.

In island legend Skopelos was founded by Staphylos or Staphylus (Greek for grape), one of the sons of the god Dionysos and the Princess Ariadne of Crete. Historically, in the Late Bronze Age Skopelos, then known as Peparethos (Πεπάρηθος) or Peparethus, was colonised by Cretans who introduced viticulture to the island.

Perhaps because of the legend of its founding by the son of the god of wine, the island was known throughout the ancient Greek cities of the Mediterranean Sea for its wine. The play Philoctetes (first performed at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BC) by Sophocles includes a wine merchant lost on his way to "Peparethos - rich in grapes and wine".

In 1936 excavations in the area of Staphylos / Velanio uncovered a royal tomb of the era of Mycenaean Greece. The island was briefly under the control of the city-state Chalcis, Euboea since at least the 8th century BC.

Voice Over - Wendie Hanson, Script - Kaleel Sakakeeny, Cinematography & Video Edit - John Samellas Show less