Patmos

Patmos is a small, hilly island in the north of the Dodecanese with an outsized place in Christian history. According to tradition it was here, in a cave on the hillside, that St John the Theologian received the visions he set down as the Book of Revelation. That legacy gives the island a hushed, contemplative character quite unlike the beach resorts further south, and in 1999 its religious monuments were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The island's crown is the Monastery of St John the Theologian, founded in 1088 and ringed by high grey walls that give the hilltown below the look of a fortress. Inside are frescoes, icons and a treasury of manuscripts and relics gathered over nine centuries. Just downhill, the Cave of the Apocalypse is built into the rock where John is said to have slept and dictated his revelations, its ceiling still marked by a fissure that pilgrims revere.

Around the monastery spreads Chora, one of the best preserved island towns in Greece: a maze of white lanes, grand sea-captains' mansions and small churches, largely free of cars and dazzling in the sun. Below on the coast is Skala, the lively main port and the hub of island life, where the ferries dock and the tavernas and shops gather along the waterfront.

Patmos is not primarily a beach island, but it has its share of quiet coves. Psili Ammos in the south, reached on foot or by small boat, is a fine stretch of sand, while Grikos, Kambos and Lampi offer easy swimming closer to the main settlements. The mood everywhere is calm and unhurried, and the island has long drawn a discreet, well-heeled crowd who value its peace.

There is no airport on Patmos; most visitors fly to Kos, Samos or Leros and continue by ferry, with fast boats from Kos taking around two and a half hours. Two to three days is enough to see the monastery and Chora and slow to the island's own gentle pace. Dress modestly for the monastery and the cave, which remain active places of worship.