Symi

Symi is a small Dodecanese island north of Rhodes, whose main harbour at Yialos is lined with neoclassical mansions in terracotta, ochre, and buff tones stacked up the steep hillside in tiers. The island's architecture reflects wealth accumulated from sponge fishing and shipbuilding during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and many facades have been carefully restored. The monastery of the Archangel Michael Panormitis at the southern end of the island is an important pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians.