Exomvourgo (also called Xomvourgo), dominates the heart of Tinos at an imposing 540 metre-high granite outcrop, which offers an enchanting view and where the island’s ancient acropolis was built, to be succeeded by a Venetian fort. In today’s Exomvourgo, three structures have managed to resist deterioration, thanks to the care shown by the faithful: two Orthodox churches, St. Minas and St. Eleousa, and the Catholic complex of Pilgrimage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is considered the largest pilgrimage of the Greek Catholic Church. It was founded within the fortress by Jesuit monks who arrived in Tinos in the 17th century and it is there that a large festival takes place every second Sunday of July.
On the island of Tinos it is a tradition to whitewash inside and out every church whenever it celebrates the memory of the saint to whom it is dedicated, while women of the village clean up the area around the church, polish the candle-stands, and decorate the sanctuary with flowers. After Mass, treats are served in the courtyard. The festival sometimes culminates in the main square with balo and syrto dances to the sounds of musicians playing instruments based on the violin. People celebrating their name-day open their homes to the public, having decorated their tables with beautiful dinner sets and white tablecloths.
A bounty of local dishes is served with abundant quantities of wine until late in the evening with offerings of psarakia, meringues, pasteli, and xerotigana along with homemade raki. Tinos traditional dishes are artichokes cooked in a variety of ways, sun-dried tomatoes with batter, froutalia, savore with molasses, fried fish with petimezi sauce, pork sausages, the saltsisi, and the louza of Tinos. Cheeses include the famed graviera and the kopanisti. As for sweets, famous are the amygdalota, xerotigana, karidota, pasteli, loukoumi, and various kinds of halva as well as the renowned thyme honey of Tinos.
