Exomvourgo is a 641-metre mountain in the centre of Tinos that served as the island's fortified capital under Venetian rule from 1207 until 1715. The Venetians called it Castello di Santa Elena and built a substantial town on its slopes — at its peak, over a thousand people lived within the walls, in 677 houses with five churches and storage facilities.
Today the fortress ruins are scattered across the rocky summit, which takes about 20 minutes to reach on foot from the nearby villages. The views from the top are superb — the whole island spreads out below, and on clear days you can see Mykonos, Syros, Andros, and the Aegean horizon. Near the base, a Catholic monastery occupies a former cathedral, a reminder that Tinos has a large Catholic minority dating from the Venetian period — an unusual situation in the Greek islands.