Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Why it looks like that
It is not one church. It is five chapels that were built at different times and eventually merged into a single structure, four at ground level and one above them, with the whitewash rendering the joins invisible.
The result is a mass of curves, buttresses and small domes with almost no straight lines, which is why photographs of it look like sculpture rather than architecture. The name refers to a gate in the medieval walls that once stood beside it.
Seeing it
The exterior is the attraction, and it is free and always accessible. The interiors are generally not open to visitors, so treat this as a building to walk around rather than to enter.
Late afternoon is the hour: the low sun rakes across the whitewash and picks out the curves, and the sea behind gives the frame. At midday the glare flattens it.
Two minutes will do it. It sits on the way to Little Venice and the windmills, so nobody makes a special trip, and nobody should.
While you are there
The three sights of Mykonos Town, Paraportiani, Little Venice and the windmills, are within five minutes of each other, which is the standard evening walk before dinner. Our things to do in Mykonos page runs that route, and where to eat in Mykonos covers where it ends.
Last checked August 2026. Access to the interiors is limited and varies - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Why is Paraportiani famous?
Because it is five chapels merged into one whitewashed structure with almost no straight lines, which makes it the most photographed church in the Cyclades.
Can you go inside Paraportiani?
Generally no. The interiors are not routinely open, and the exterior is what visitors come for.
What does Paraportiani mean?
The name refers to a side gate in the medieval walls that once stood beside the church.
When is the best time to photograph Paraportiani?
Late afternoon, when low sun rakes across the whitewash. Midday light flattens the shape.
Where is Paraportiani?
At the edge of Mykonos Town by the old harbour, a couple of minutes from Little Venice.
Next
Read things to do in Mykonos, Little Venice, or the windmills.