MONASTERY
AIGIALI
CHORA
MOUROS
SUNSET
SANTA PARASKEVI
KATAPOLA
RAKOMELO
Amorgos, the "big blue", is located at the southeastern end of the Cyclades island group, between Naxos, the Small Cyclades, and Astypalaia. It's the natural gateway and link between the Cyclades and the Dodecanese islands. Amorgos is 136 nautical miles from Piraeus. It's capsule-shaped: the island is 18 miles long and 1.5 miles wide at its narrowest and 5 miles wide at its broadest.
The island's two natural harbors - Katapola in the center of the island and Aegiali at its northern end - serve as ports, although much of its 112 - kilometer coastline is craggy cliffs that plunge into sea. The island's highest peak, Krouellos, rises to 821 meters and is located at the island's northern end, above Aegiali. Here, the mountainous terrain is rockier and steeper.
Amorgos has two other peaks - Profitis Ilias (698 meters) in the middle of the island and Aspro Vouno (or Vouno or Korakas, 639 meters) on the west. Small valleys and plains laying between these three peaks harbor settlements like Kolofanas on the west, Katapola in the center, Aegiali in the north, as well as smaller ones like Kamari, Arkessini, and Ayios Pavlos.
Amorgos shares the same geological history with the other islands in the Cyclades group. The oldest rock formations are slate and the newest the limestone, which between them cover most of the land. The island's current shape is roughly 700,000 years old and was set with the sinking of large sections of its interior and the formation of its mountain masses.
The island's flora is typical of the Cyclades; vegetation is sparse, mostly shrubs with mastic shrubs, kermes oak, broom, and scrub (phrygana) beyond the fertile plains at Katapola, Kato Meria, and Aegiali that are thick with olive groves and other fruit - bearing trees. Vines, top quality vegetables, and some cereals are cultivated on terraced fields throughout the island. What the island lacks in size and in the density of its vegetation, it makes up for with the diversity of endemic flora, especially rare herbs with medicinal properties.
The climate on Amorgos is mild and similar to that of the other Cyclades. Aegiali is quite warm in summer because its basin-like shape shields it from the cooling northerly winds, or meltemia.