In the fertile ravine of Mylopotamos on the island of Kea, also called Tzia, the Aristaios family cultivates and produces a wide variety of handmade products using traditional recipes. At the Aristaios store you’ll find fresh fruit and vegetables, wild capers and caper leaves, local olive oil and olives, the local wine of mavroudi variety, tsipouro, handmade trahana, pasta from acorn flour, traditional liqueurs, on-the-spoon sweets made with “ampourkouna” figs, sun-dried tomatoes and figs, wild island herbs, thyme honey, pasteli, local cheeses like kopanisti, xerotyri, and xinotiri, handmade sausages, louza, and fresh wood-oven baked paximadia and pita.
This medium-difficulty heritage hiking tour takes you through Kea’s agricultural landscape, where watermills and windmills once reigned supreme. Your exploration begins in the picturesque settlement of Mylopotamos, home to the watermills centre powered by the bountiful spring of Flea — in days gone by, eleven active watermills lined the Flea River. Venturing towards Paliomylos, above the capital Ioulida, you reach the grandest complex of windmills in the Cyclades, driven by the meltemia north wind of the Aegean.
Difficulty: Medium | Duration: 2.3h | Distance: 25km | Elevation: 50–300m | Walking: 300m
Windmills & Watermills Walking Tour with Aristaios, Kea
- Guided Heritage Walk: Trek through the fertile Mylopotamos ravine on Kea Island, Aegean, discovering historic windmills, watermills, and the traditional architecture of Kea’s farming past
- Milling History: Learn how these ancient structures ground grain, pressed olives, and powered the island’s food production for centuries
- Farm Tasting: Return to Aristaios’s estate for a tasting of handmade island products crafted using the same ingredients these mills once processed
