Sikia is the largest village of Sithonia, and to a great extent has
kept much of its traditional color. Tradition has it that in the old days, before
the village was built, the people had lived in scattered settlements with between
50 to 100 houses in each.
Nobody is quite sure when the village name was changed to Sikia but
it probably dates back to the 15th century. There are different versions of how
the village gained its new name, one of them relates to the shadow cast by the
rising sun of mount Athos
across the Gulf. The tip of the shadow just covers the village. And although in
the local accent the name of the village pronounced almost the same as the word
for shadow. Another interpretation links the name of the village with the town
of the period from ancient times, Sigga's, which gave its name to the Gulf of
mount Athos. A third version of the story suggests that the name is derived from
the Greek word of fig tree. In medieval times a huge fig tree stood in the meadows
of the valley which was remarkable enough for it to be mentioned in the 14th century
documents of mount Athos.
The old village which lies about 3 km from the sea, has many sub settlements
along the beautiful bays of the coastline which are much frequented by tourists
in the summer : Linaraki, Pigadaki,
Kalamitsi, Porto
Koufo, Toroni, Tristinika.
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