On the islet of Panaghia, at the entrance to the harbour of Gaios, the lighthouse shares its ground with the monastery of the Panagia. The light here is older than the lighthouse itself: from 1776 onwards the monks kept a lantern burning to warn ships away. The islanders knew why, for vessels had been lost on the reef in front of the islet.

The lighthouse came into service in 1825, under British protection, on an old tower of the monastery which some believe to have been an ancient beacon. The square tower is under eight metres tall and the light stands 26 metres above the sea. The keepers’ house is beside it. In 1885 three keepers tended it, living next door to the single nun of the islet.

In 1890 it received the mechanism of the Lakka lighthouse and began to show a fixed white light with one green sector. It went dark in the Second World War and was lit again in 1946. Since 1982 it has been automatic and solar powered: one flash every 5 seconds, visible for 10 nautical miles. In 2012 it was declared a monument together with the other two lighthouses of Paxos.

How to get there: by boat from Gaios. The islet is mainly open for the feast of 15 August.