A closer look at the Lichadonisia
Like the cluster of islands said to have been desired by the Beatles, Greece’s hidden ‘Seychelles’ are home to a natural harbour, abandoned houses and abundant olive trees.
I’ve spent plenty of time discussing the evidence for which island in Greece the Beatles wanted to buy – and arguing the case for the Lichadonisia as the main focus of the group’s interest. But abstract analysis can only tell you so much. With this in mind, in 2020 I visited this group of islands to get a first-hand impression. The archipelago has an unusually captivating atmosphere – and from what I could see, there’s plenty there that matches what we’re told in accounts of the Beatles’ plans.
Despite frequently being described as the ‘Greek Seychelles’, the Lichadonisia remain relatively little known. But in summer, there are regular trips there both from the Greek mainland and the large neighbouring island of Evia. One morning in early September, I bought a ticket from Kavos, at Evia’s north-western tip, to the largest island in the archipelago, Monolia. I was the only passenger on the tiny boat as it sped across to the island. The sun sparkled on the calm water’s surface as it lapped against the side. Taking a brief detour along the channel between Monolia and the nearest other islet, the driver pointed out the outline of a second world war shipwreck on the seabed 10 metres below, and told me how seals can often be spotted in the water around the islands.
It's from off the shore of Monolia that you can best observe its distinctive combination of black volcanic rocks, yellow sand and thick vegetation. Combined with the archipelago’s flat silhouettes, it creates an unmistakeable visual effect – one that also appears in the Beatles Anthology TV series. To my mind (and local people that I’ve shown the footage to), it’s beyond doubt that Monolia appears in the short section of that documentary that covers the Greece trip.
‘Gently curving bay’
After about fifteen minutes, the boat dropped me off at one end of Monolia’s sandy main beach. At that time, I was virtually the only visitor on the island – but as the day went on, the wooden tables and sunbeds filled with tourists, and by lunchtime the beach bar and grill was doing a brisk trade. The curved shape of the beach creates a natural harbour, and when I visited there were several small boats moored near the shore. As the sun approached its mid-day intensity, increasing numbers of people waded out into the bay to cool off in its turquoise-tinted waters.
In his 1988 memoir, Yesterday, the Beatles’ ‘Mr Fixit’ Alistair Taylor refers to the island selected for the group having a “gently curving bay…filled with brightly coloured high-prowed wooden fishing boats”. This could describe numerous places in Greece. But Monolia – if we allow for a modernisation in the type of boat – would certainly be among them.
Houses
Just a few minutes’ walk from the top of the beach, a number of buildings sit on the opposite side of the island. The small white church of Agios Georgios is still in use – sometimes as a venue for weddings – but the other structures are in various states of ruin, lending the place a romantic air. The Lichadonisia are now uninhabited, but until the early 1960s, they were a permanent home to dozens of people. At the time of the Beatles’ plans, the proposed sale documents refer to “five vacant fisherman’s houses”, which the group intended to renovate to “make them suitable for habitation”.
Taylor refers to a village on the main island, consisting of “half a dozen tall old Greek houses”, which were painted white and “scattered along the waterfront”. Today, while the state of some of the buildings makes it difficult to say exactly, there seem to be about that number. While technically they are not (as in Taylor’s account) directly on the curving bay, they are located very close to it.
Other islets
A significant point, according to several key accounts, is that the Beatles were interested specifically in a group of islands, rather than one single island. The exact number given is not always consistent. The lawyers’ documents refer to one main island as well as “five smaller unnamed offshore islands”, while Taylor refers to “at least four other smaller islands”. But several sources are clear that the place in question included one larger island and several smaller ones.
That also happens to be quite an accurate description of the Lichadonisia. At around 80 acres big, Monolia is the largest in the group. Very close to it are five smaller islets. When you visit, it’s clear that these form a coherent unit – similar in appearance and located closely together. From Monolia, the others are close enough to see easily (although I was told that the current would make it dangerous to swim between them).
The sixth Lichadonisia islet, Strongyli, is a bit of an outlier – slightly further away, and differentiated through its domed shape rising from the water. Home to a lighthouse, it is owned by the Hellenic Navy, and I suggest may not have been part of the proposed sale to the Beatles. If so, the documents’ reference to one main island and five smaller islands would be entirely accurate. The vagueness of the language in some accounts could be down to the nature of the archipelago. While there are seven named islets in the Lichadonisia (including Monolia), there are also a various even smaller bits of land and rock, known as Pontikonisia, that don’t have their own names.
Olives
Another noticeable aspect of some accounts is the prominence given to olives. In Yesterday, for example, Taylor says that the main island had “sixteen acres of olive groves, said to produce the finest olives in the district”. He adds that there was “a big olive company who buy the harvesting rights on the islands and would carry on the deal with us”. Taylor even tells us that he looked up the price of olives and calculated that “the income from the olive groves will pay for the place in about seven years”.
Olives are abundant in Greece. But the amount of space that Taylor dedicates to discussing the crops is still surprising. When you visit the area near the Lichadonisia, it makes more sense. It can seem like there are olives everywhere, with many parts of North Evia and the nearby Greek mainland covered with acre upon acre of groves. I don’t know the exact size of the area covered by olives on Monolia. But in the island’s interior, there are a lot of wild olive trees with thick, gnarled branches. While I’m sure there are other parts of Greece with as many olives, the character of the area does suggest a way of understanding Taylor’s focus.
Exotic yet accessible
Alistair Taylor’s account of the island the Beatles wanted gives the impression that it was truly a special place – but also easy to get to from Athens. In Yesterday, he writes that on his island-hunting trip with Alexis Mardas:
“We drove out of Athens to a local village and took a fishing boat out … to Paradise.”
Taylor describes the island as the “perfect setting for the Beatles” – adding that when the group themselves saw it they declared: “Yeow! This can’t be true!”. He writes of the Beatles and their entourage:
“All day they explored the place, setting off for the other little islands and meeting each other to compare notes, telling each other where the main house could be, discussing where they wanted the recording studios to be built, joking about who could live on which island, all totally in love with the place.”
Taylor’s account gives the impression that the Beatles were not just approving of these islands, but completely enamoured with them. Likewise, many visitors to the Lichadonisia convey a sense of awe at reaching a hidden paradise that is paradoxically so accessible. The archipelago is regularly compared to the Bahamas as well as the Seychelles. And yet from Athens, it can be reached via a couple of hours’ drive followed by a very short boat trip. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini in 2014 reported a place “so ours and so exotic at the same time” – while in 2018, CNN Greece declared that “never before has a paradise been so close”.
Many Greek islands have turquoise waters and sandy beaches. But isn’t these alone that give the Lichadonisia their appeal. Tucked peacefully between mountains on each horizon, the archipelago possesses an other-worldy quality. Perhaps it’s the relics of former settlements, the wild nature surrounded by tranquil seas – or even the unusual shape of the islands, that almost seem to dissolve into the water. But the feeling is unmistakeable. And it makes the rapturous responses reported in Alistair Taylor’s account all the more believable.
So, was this the group of islands that the Beatles wanted? We know that the group travelled very close to the Lichadonisia on their island cruise. I haven’t seen specific evidence that they set foot there - but shots of the archipelago appear in Anthology, and several aspects of the islands match descriptions of the place that the four desired. After visiting, I can also report another significant factor: the vibes feel right.
Read more:
A secret service connection? Argyris Mardas, IDEA and KYP|
Lord Goodman: Lawyer to the Beatles - and the prime minister
How a reporter tracked down the Beatles in Greece
Thank you for this. My heart hurts for what might have been, if they'd gone through with it. I used to think it was a daft idea, and perhaps it was, but I think it was a daft idea that might have saved them -- and certainly might have saved John.
Your photos, esp of the houses, remind me uncannily of the ashram in India. I wonder if there's something to that. That maybe part of their disappointment with India is that they hoped for another "island" paradise along the lines of Greece, when they saw the simlilarity, and when it didn't happen, it was another disillusionment.
Thank you for continuing to do this work. It's important.