Fiolitis: Village History and Church Art

Fiolitis is an old, agriculture-based village in the interior of Zakynthos, in the Riza region. The village is about 10 to 12 kilometres from the central port of Zakynthos. Village history and church art give the place its own distinctive focus if you are considering Fiolitis as a destination for your stay.

Location and orientation

Fiolitis is connected by a paved road to the road network running through central Zakynthos and the Riza region. Road access and the approximate distance from the port describe different aspects of the location: its connection to the road network on the one hand, and its distance from the central port on the other.

Churches and history in Fiolitis

The Church of Panagia of Fiolitis has been mentioned in sources since the early 16th century. The present Ναός της Παναγίας Φιολίτισσας και του Αγίου Νικολάου των Σχίνων is considered the village’s most important monument. Its dual dedication recalls two former churches in Fiolitis that were destroyed in the 1953 earthquakes.

The present Ναός της Παναγίας Φιολίτισσας και του Αγίου Νικολάου των Σχίνων houses religious artworks rescued from the former churches. These include the carved, gilded Baroque-style iconostasis from the Church of Saint Nicholas. Another notable detail of the village’s history is this church’s bell tower: it was built in 1885, relocated after the 1953 earthquake, and stands 13.5 metres high.

The story of the young Giannis Klavdianos is also connected with Fiolitis. He came from the village and was sentenced to death by hanging in connection with the events of 1821. Along with the churches and the bell tower, this story is part of the historical heritage that defines Fiolitis as a village in the island’s interior.

Zakynthos as a wider travel destination

Beyond Fiolitis, Zakynthos offers other cultural points of interest. The Museum of Zakynthos displays works of the Cretan School, Cretan-Ionian icons, and works of Ionian naturalism from the 15th to the 19th century. On the ground floor of the Museum of Solomos and Eminent Zakynthians, a mausoleum has housed the remains of the national poets Andreas Kalvos and Dionysios Solomos since 1968. The Monastery of Agios Georgios sta Gremna in Volimes was founded in 1535.

Zakynthos’s natural attractions include the Blue Caves in the Aspros Vrachos area at Cape Skinari. Lake Keri is a wetland protected under the Ramsar Convention, a Natura site, and a nature reserve within the Zakynthos National Marine Park. The Keri Lighthouse is known for panoramic sunset views over the Ionian Sea and the Myzithres rocks. These places represent different facets of the wider destination from Fiolitis’s village and church history.

The port and local products are also part of the region’s attractions. The port of Agios Nikolaos in Volimes is a maritime gateway connecting Zakynthos to Kefalonia by ferry; check the current timetable for a crossing. In Volimes, Zakynthian Ladotyri cheese is made in cheese dairies and home workshops and offered as a local product.

If you are looking for a hotel on Zakynthos, you can distinguish Fiolitis’s specific local character from the wider destination’s cultural, natural, and maritime attractions. This makes it possible to place the village’s history within the greater diversity of Zakynthos without conflating the different locations.

Discover more destinations: Mouzaki, Romiri, Korithi, Marathias, Volímai, Zakinthos, Agios Kirikos, Tragaki.

Return to the main travel overview: Zakynthos.