Ano Mera Square

Ano Mera Square sits at the geographic and social center of Mykonos's only inland village, roughly 7 kilometers east of Mykonos Town. While the rest of the island runs on cocktails and club music, this square runs on Greek coffee, afternoon backgammon, and the rhythm of a community that has been here far longer than any beach bar. It is the one place on Mykonos where the primary audience is people who actually live there.

The square is anchored on its northern edge by the monastery of Panagia Tourliani, a 16th-century foundation whose whitewashed walls and ornate marble belfry are visible from the moment you arrive. The combination of a working monastery, traditional kafeneions, and a handful of tavernas serving home-style food makes Ano Mera Square a compact portrait of what Mykonian life looked like before the island became famous for entirely different reasons.

For travelers who have spent any time in Mykonos Town, the contrast is immediate and deliberate. There are no designer boutiques on this square, no velvet ropes, and no DJ sets audible from the street. What you get instead is a proper plateia — shaded by trees, surrounded by low buildings in the Cycladic style, and unhurried in a way that feels almost startling by island standards.

What to Expect

Ano Mera Square is a traditional Greek village square, roughly rectangular in layout, with a central open area ringed by tavernas and cafes that set out chairs and tables facing the monastery and the street. The paving is stone, the buildings are low and white, and the pace is slow. On weekday mornings you will find locals having their first coffee; by midday families from the surrounding area come in for lunch. Weekend afternoons draw a fuller crowd, including Greek day-trippers from Mykonos Town who come specifically because this square feels like the island's real interior.

The monastery of Panagia Tourliani is the dominant visual feature. Founded in 1542, it has a richly carved marble fountain in its courtyard and an elaborately decorated iconostasis inside the church. The monastery is open to visitors at certain hours and requires modest dress — covered shoulders and knees — as with any active Orthodox site in Greece.

The tavernas on and immediately around the square serve straightforward Greek food: grilled meats, moussaka, fresh salads, and daily specials that depend on what arrived from the supplier that morning. These are not tourist-menu restaurants calibrated to international tastes; portions are generous and prices reflect a local clientele. Several kafeneions serve Greek coffee and loukoumades if you want to sit without committing to a full meal.

The square itself has no entry requirement, no ticket, and no scheduled attraction beyond the monastery. You can arrive, sit down, order a coffee, and stay as long as you like.

How to Get There

Ano Mera is 7 kilometers east of Mykonos Town (Chora) along the main island road. The KTEL public bus runs a regular route from the Fabrika bus station in Mykonos Town to Ano Mera, making it one of the few inland destinations on the island reliably served by public transport. Journey time is approximately 15–20 minutes depending on stops and traffic, and the fare is low by island standards. Buses run throughout the day in summer, with reduced frequency in shoulder season — check the current timetable at Fabrika before you plan a return trip.

By car or scooter, the road from Mykonos Town to Ano Mera is the island's main arterial route and is clearly signed. There is street parking available on and around the village square, though spaces fill up on summer weekends and around midday. Arriving before 10:00 or after 15:00 gives you the best chance of parking close to the square.

Taxis from Mykonos Town serve Ano Mera and can be booked through the island's taxi rank or by phone. The ride takes under 15 minutes under normal conditions. There is no practical walking route from Mykonos Town — the road has no pavement for most of its length and the summer heat makes the distance unpleasant on foot.

Best Time to Visit

Ano Mera Square is at its most genuine in the morning — from around 08:00 until noon — when it functions as a working village center rather than a sightseeing stop. The monastery typically opens to visitors in the morning and again in the late afternoon; midday and early afternoon it is often closed for the midday rest period.

July and August are the busiest months on Mykonos as a whole, and Ano Mera does see more visitors during this period, but the square never approaches the density of Mykonos Town or the main beaches. Visiting in late morning gives you access to the monastery while it is open, then lunch at one of the tavernas before the afternoon heat peaks.

Shoulder season — late April through June, and September through October — is arguably the best time to be here. The weather is comfortable, the tavernas are open and calm, and the village operates entirely on its own schedule. In winter, some businesses around the square reduce hours or close, but the square itself and the monastery remain part of the village's daily life.

Ano Mera is at higher elevation than the coastline, which means it catches a breeze in summer and can be noticeably cooler than the beaches — a practical reason to schedule a visit in the hottest part of the day if you want relief from the coast.

Tips for Visiting

• Dress for the monastery. The monastery of Panagia Tourliani is an active religious site. Bring a wrap or light layer to cover bare shoulders and wear or carry something to cover your knees. Sarongs work fine and can be tucked into a bag.
• Arrive before noon if the monastery is your priority. Orthodox monasteries on the Cyclades typically observe a midday closure. Arriving by 10:00 gives you time to see the courtyard, the marble fountain, and the interior iconostasis before the doors close for the afternoon.
• Order the daily special at lunch. The tavernas around the square price their food for a local clientele. The daily specials — chalked on a board or recited by the server — are almost always fresher and better value than the printed menu.
• Use the square as a base for the eastern side of the island. Ano Mera is centrally located relative to beaches like Elia, Kalafatis, and Kalo Livadi. Parking in the village and taking a short drive or taxi to those beaches can be more practical than fighting for parking at the beach itself in high season.
• Give yourself at least two hours. The square rewards sitting still. One coffee, a walk around the monastery courtyard, and a slow lunch is a reasonable half-day itinerary from Mykonos Town.
• Greek only at the kafeneions. The traditional kafeneions — as opposed to the tourist-facing tavernas — may not have English menus. A few words of Greek or a willingness to point at what the next table has ordered will serve you well.
• Check the monastery's festival dates. The Feast of the Assumption on 15 August is celebrated at the monastery and draws a significant local crowd. If you are on Mykonos around that date, the square and monastery take on an entirely different character — but plan for limited space.

History and Context

Ano Mera — the name translates roughly as "upper part" — developed as an inland settlement during the medieval and Ottoman periods, when coastal exposure to piracy made hillside and inland locations significantly safer than the shore. Many Cycladic villages share this origin: the visible, accessible harbors we now associate with island tourism were historically the most dangerous places to live.

The monastery of Panagia Tourliani was established in 1542 by two monks from the village of Tourliani, which eventually gave the foundation its name. It became the spiritual center of the island's interior and remains the most significant religious site in Mykonos outside Mykonos Town itself. The monastery's carved marble belfry was added in the 18th century by craftsmen from Tinos, an island long associated with marble work and religious iconography in the Cyclades. The interior iconostasis — the carved wooden screen that separates the nave from the sanctuary — is Florentine Baroque in influence, an unusual stylistic combination for a Greek Orthodox church that reflects the range of cultural contact the Cyclades experienced across the early modern period.

The square as a social institution predates any current building on it. Greek village squares function as outdoor common rooms — the place where disputes are settled, news circulated, and community identity maintained. Ano Mera's square has played that role for the village continuously since the settlement consolidated around the monastery in the post-medieval period.