Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
It is fifteen minutes and one world away from Mykonos Town.
The monastery
Panagia Tourliani stands on the square: a monastery founded in the sixteenth century, with a carved and gilded wooden iconostasis inside, a marble bell tower outside, and a courtyard you can walk into.
It is a working religious site. Modest dress, quiet, and no photography where it is asked. The visit takes twenty minutes and it is the only substantial piece of religious architecture on an island otherwise famous for tiny whitewashed chapels.
The square
The point of Ano Mera for most visitors is what surrounds the monastery: tables under trees, food at prices that would be a rounding error at a beach club, and locals rather than visitors at most of them.
That is worth an evening, especially on a trip where every other meal has been an event. Our where to eat in Mykonos page covers the island’s tables, and the Mykonos guide is honest about the cost of everything else.
Where it fits
Ano Mera sits on the road between town and the east-coast beaches, so it slots naturally into a day at Kalafatis or Elia: the beach in the day, the village square in the evening.
Buses cross the island to the village in season, and it is a short drive.
Last checked August 2026. Monastery hours and dress rules change - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
What is there to do in Ano Mera?
Visit the Panagia Tourliani monastery on the square, and eat or drink under the trees around it. It is a village rather than a sight.
Is Ano Mera cheaper than Mykonos Town?
Generally yes. The tavernas on the square are priced for a village rather than for the harbour, which is a large part of why visitors come.
What is Panagia Tourliani?
A sixteenth-century monastery on the village square, with a carved gilded iconostasis and a marble bell tower, still in religious use.
How far is Ano Mera from Mykonos Town?
About fifteen minutes by road, on the way to the east-coast beaches, with seasonal buses.
Is Ano Mera worth visiting?
If you want an evening that is not the harbour or a beach club, yes. It is the one place on the island that still reads as an ordinary Cycladic village.
Next
Read things to do in Mykonos, where to eat in Mykonos, or Kalafatis beach.