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The main appeal of Milos is in an area that has been the island's focus of habitation since Classical times, where a cluster of villages huddle in the lee of a crag, four kilometres northwest of the harbour. PLAKA ( MILOS ) is the largest of these communities and the official capital of the island, with a hospital and post office . There is also a motorbike rental outfit near the archeological museum (see below). There are rooms available scattered around the village, with those on the west side offering spectacular views (there's a map and listing in Welcome to Milos ). Among the nicest of these are the pretty studios of Sotiria & Stavros Karamitsou (tel 02870/23 820; ?43-58) and those of Stratis Vourakis (tel 02870/21 702; ?43-58). Kaliopi Moraitou (tel 02870/41 353; ?43-58) has newly refurbished rooms in the house where the Venus de Milo was allegedly hidden following its discovery (see below), and Maria Kentrota (tel 02870/21 572; ?34-42) has a couple of charming, if basic, studios close to the archeological museum. There are also three or four blocks of modern accommodation overlooking the busy approach road. A number of ouzeris have opened up in recent years, making Plaka a real eating paradise: highly recommended are Arhondoula, Dhiporto and To Kastro up in the centre of the village, as well as Plakiani Gonia on the approach road. The Utopia Cafe is a fine place to stop for a coffee or a drink and take in the sensational view, especially at sunset. Plaka boasts two museums . Behind the lower car park, at the top of the approach boulevard through the newer district, the archeological museum (Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm; ?1.50) contains numerous obsidian implements, plus a whole wing of finds from ancient Phylakopi whose highlights include a votive lamp in the form of a bull and a rather Minoan-looking terracotta goddess. Labelling is scant, but isn't really needed for a plaster cast of the most famous statue in the world, the Venus de Milo, the original of which was found on the island in 1820 and appropriated by the French; her arms were knocked off in the melee surrounding her abduction. Up in a mansion of the old quarter, the folk museum (Tues-Sat 10am-2pm & 6-9pm; ?1.50) offers room re-creations, but is otherwise a Greek-labelled jumble of impedimenta pertaining to milling, brewing, cheese-making, baking and weaving, rounded off by old engravings, photos and mineral samples. A stairway beginning near the police station leads up to the old Venetian Kastro , its slopes clad in stone and cement to channel precious rainwater into cisterns. The enormous chapel of Panayia Thalassitra looms near the summit, where the ancient Melians made their last stand against the Athenians before the massacre of 416 BC. Today it offers one of the best views in the Aegean, particularly at sunset in clear conditions. The attractive village of TRYPITI (meaning "perforated"), which takes its name from the cliffside tombs nearby and covers a long ridge a kilometre south of Plaka, is another good base if you're after a village environment. There are a few modest rooms , two of which are just down the steep street from the tiny platia below the main church. The best place to eat is Ta Glaronisia , on the main street and there's a nice little bar, Konaki , near the main square. From Trypiti, it's a pleasant 45-minute walk down to Adhamas via Skinopi on the winding old kalderimi , which begins on the saddle linking Trypiti with the hamlet of Klimatovouni. TRIOVASSALOS and its twin PERAN TRIOVASSALOS are more workaday, less polished than Plaka or Trypiti. There are "rooms to rent" signs out here as well, but they'll inevitably be noisier. Peran also offers the idiosyncratic taverna O Hamos (which means "a mess") and a naive pebble mosaic in the courtyard of Ayios Yeoryios church - created in 1880, it features assorted animal and plant motifs.
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