Hem utomlands

Hem Utomlands has visited the Greek island of Skiathos and its neighbour Skopelos, the islands where the movie Mamma Mia was shot recently.  On these beautiful islands, it is not difficult to find houses with fantastic sea views.  There are today about ten Swedish owned houses on these islands.

It is difficult to find more beautiful islands.  This is the reason why producers Tom Hanks and the ABBA duo Benny Andersson and Björn Ulveus chose to shoot the movie Mamma Mia on Skiathos and Skopelos.  These green islands, with mountains reaching an altitude of 500 meters, are covered by pine and olive trees.  Few islands in the Mediterranean can compete with Skiathos when it comes to beautiful beaches.  There are more than 60 beaches on this small island, and from time to time some of the beaches appear in lists with the most beautiful beaches in the world.  And around the Northern Sporades, to which Skiathos and Skopelos belong, you will find the cleanest waters in the Mediterranean.  In many places you have a clear view of 20 meters down into the water.

During the tourist season, May to October, the island is full of activities.  Tourists from all over Europe visit the islands, mainly to Skiathos, but also to Skopelos where life moves at a slower pace.  Swedish charter companies bring Scandinavians to Skiathos with flights of three hours.  Skiathos has an airport so if you go to Skopelos you normally fly to Skiathos and then catch a ferry or a hydrofoil.  These boats also go to ports on the mainland, a trip of about two hours.

After the tourist season, the islands go into winter hybernation.  The islands become very quiet and calm. This is the time when the islanders pick olives, socialize and rest after the intensive tourist season.

Skiathos has a long and colourful history.  In the summer of 480 BC, the Persian warrior king Xerxes stayed several months on the island with his fleet before attacking the Athenians and other Greek states late in September that year.  Xerxes' fleet then suffered a major defeat at the battle of Salamis.  In the 1700's, Skiathos suffered a lot from attacks from Turks and pirates and the major town was moved to a place high up on rocks on the northern part of the island in order to be able to defend the island. Today, remains of this ruin town remind us of this pprimarilyeriod of the history.  At the Evangelistria monastery high up on the island, the freedom fight against the turks started and it was here that the first modern Greek flag was hoisted in 1807.

Many foreigners own houses on the islands and primarily on Skiathos.  Englishmen and Germans are the largest groups of foreign house investors but also Swedes have found the islands.  There are about 10 Swedish owned houses here, mostly on Skiathos.  Most house owners here have a sea view.  You can find houses on Skiathos without a see view, but this is not easy!

Two of the largest estate agencies are foreign owned, one by an Englishman, who has lived on Skiathos over 30 years, and by a German. To buy a house in Skiathos town is cheaper than buying outside town.  To a large extent, this is due to cost of land.  In order to build, you need a plot of minimum 4 strema (4,000 sqm) and then you can build one or more houses of a maximum total of 200sqm. The basement, which is often later developed, is not included in this figure. This means that on Skiathos you will never find the type of construction ghettos that you sometimes find in Spain.  Also, you are not allowed to build on land that is classified as forest land.  Since Skiathos to a large extent is a forest island, this means that large portions of the island will be free from housing.  To cut down a pine tree illegally can can mean that you end up in court with severe punishment as a consequence.

The Northern Sporades is a group of islands consisting of Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and many smaller islands. This island group is very popular among those interested in sailing.  And many house owners own boats.  To go over to Skopelos or to Pillion, the mainland, with a small motor boat takes about half an hour.  It is very popular to take the boat and go over to Skopelos or the mainland to a beach taverna at some small village and endulge in tasty Greek food and have glass of wine in a very stress free surrounding.  We from Hem Utomlands had the privilege of enjoying this, and we enjoyed every minute of it... Wouldn't you like to do it to?