Leros Sights: Lakki Art-Deco, the Castle of Pandeli and the War Museum
The main sight of Leros is Lakki, a town of Italian Art-Deco and Rationalist buildings unlike any other on the Greek islands. The island also keeps the medieval Castle of Pandeli above Platanos, a war museum and wartime monument at Lakki, the mosaic-filled Church of Agios Ioannis Theologos, the old Paleokastro near Xirokambos, and the church of Agios Isidoros standing on a rock in the sea at Gourna. Hire a car to explore Leros at your own pace, covered in our Leros car hire guide.
- Signature town
- Lakki (Art-Deco)
- Main castle
- Castle of Pandeli
- Oldest castle
- Paleokastro
- On the sea
- Agios Isidoros
Lakki and its Art-Deco architecture
Lakki is the biggest sight on Leros, a whole town built by the Italians in the Art-Deco and Rationalist style of the 1920s and 1930s. During their occupation the Italians turned Leros into a naval base and laid out Lakki as a planned new town, with wide boulevards and public buildings that look unlike anything on the other Greek islands. It is the commercial centre of the island, and its architecture is the reason many visitors come. The town also holds the Church of Agios Ioannis Theologos (Saint John the Evangelist), one of the most interesting churches in the whole of the Dodecanese, with beautiful mosaics from the 11th century.
The war museum and the wartime monument
Lakki keeps the memory of the Second World War, when Leros was a fortified naval base. The town holds the island's war museum, and on the harbourfront a monument remembers a Greek navy ship that was sunk here by German bombing during the war. The Italian barracks, tunnels and fortifications from the occupation are scattered across the island, and after the war the large empty buildings at Lakki were used to house patients, a chapter of the island's past that still surprises first-time visitors.
The Castle of Pandeli
The Castle of Pandeli, also called the Kastro, is the medieval castle of Leros, standing on a hill above Platanos, Agia Marina and the fishing village of Pandeli. It crowns the skyline of the main town and gives a wide view over the east-coast bays; several hotels in Platanos, such as the Elefteria, look straight up at it. The castle is the most prominent landmark on this side of the island and an easy walk or drive up from the capital.
Paleokastro and the Church of Panagia
Paleokastro is the oldest castle on Leros, set on a hilltop near Xirokambos in the south-west of the island. Its walls enclose the Church of Panagia, the Holy Virgin Mary, which dates from the 4th century AD and was renovated later. The stones on the north side of the fort are squared and very heavy. From the hill there is a broad view over the south of the island and the bay of Xirokambos below.
Partheni and the temple of Artemis
Partheni, in the north of Leros close to the airport, is believed to be the site of an ancient temple of Artemis, the goddess the Romans called Diana. Much of the site still waits to be excavated. Nearby stands the Brouzi fortress, built on the remains of an ancient city that once stood at the mouth of the bay of Agia Marina.
The church of Agios Isidoros
The church of Agios Isidoros stands on a small rock about 50 metres out to sea in the bay of Gourna, on the west coast of Leros. A narrow causeway lets you walk out to it across the shallow water. The little white church against the sea is one of the most photographed sights on the island, and the surrounding bay, with its dark sand and open horizon, is the best place on Leros for sunset pictures.
