Windmills in Olympos

The windmills in Olympos village are iconic feature of Karpathos island. These characteristic buildings were built everywhere in the village - on the slopes of the high mountains, on the steep cliffs, or among the houses, but the most of the windmills stand on a hill overlooking the area. They are facing towards the west where the strongest winds are coming from. There are currently dozens of windmills in Olympos, but most of the windmills are unused. The first windmills in the area were built in the 10-11th century, but they were renovated several times in the past.

The windmill's architecture is relatively similar. They all have a round or a semi-round shape, whitewashed walls, flat roof and small windows. One of these windmills has been transformed into a museum, it can be found on the western slopes of Olympos.

Windmills in Olympos




Windmills over the village








Sometimes the windmills are hidden by the clouds




The windmill's entrance





Abandoned windmill - many of them are used as a storage room