Church of Panagia Evangelistria

The most visited church in Greece, and the reason Tinos is on the map for Greeks. It was built in the 1820s over the spot where a nun of the Kechrovouni convent was told in a vision to dig, and where an icon of the Virgin was duly found. Marble throughout, lamps by the hundred, and a steady queue to kiss the icon. On 15 August pilgrims cover the 800 metres up from the wharf on their knees — a carpet runs the length of the street for them. Dress for a working church: shoulders and knees covered, phones away inside.