The chief place on the island of Kéa is the town of Kéa (Khóra; pop. 1,700). It lies at the foot of Mt Profítis Ilías (560m/1,837ft) on the site of ancient Ioulis, of which there are some remains within the medieval Kástro (1210). Ioulis was the home of two notable poets, Simonides and his nephew Bacchylides (sixth-fifth century B.C.).
Kea town
has maintained its Cycladic idiom intact. Built in the shape of an amphitheater, it presents the visitor with an impressive vista of two-story houses and tiled roofs, steep cobbled alleyways and splendid churches with elaborately carved wooden icon screens. At the highest point of the village, on the site of the ancient acropolis, is a quarter known as Kastro which commands a breathtaking view of the nearby islands off the coast of Attica.