Leonard Cohen's Home in Hydra

History & Culture

05.10.2026

Leonard Cohen's poem "Days of Kindness", from 1985, describes Greece as being a good place to read by moonlight on the terrace. He knew this from experience. Hydra was his home for much of the 1960s. He arrived in the spring of 1960, aged 25, and bought a house on the island, where he wrote much of his early work. Many places on Hydra still carry traces of him, even now that Hydra has become far better known.

Where is Hydra?

Hydra is a small island in the Argo-Saronic Gulf, not far from Athens. Fast ferries from Piraeus take about an hour and a half. Unlike other Greek islands, Hydra does not allow cars or scooters; only a few service vehicles are permitted. Donkeys, mules, and water taxis do the rest. As a result, the island has kept both its charm and its quiet.

How Did Leonard Cohen Come to Hydra?

To begin with, Cohen grew up in Montreal, Canada. A Canadian arts grant took him to London in 1959, and he spent that time writing in Hampstead. In the rainy spring of 1960, tired of the grey weather, he stepped into a bank and got talking to a teller with a deep tan, who had just come back from Greece. Within weeks, Cohen was on his way to Hydra, an island that had drawn writers and artists such as Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller and Patrick Leigh Fermor, as well as the Greek painter Nikos Ghika, who had a family house there.

Where Did Leonard Cohen Spend Time in Hydra?

By the port of Hydra, you can find a few spots where Cohen liked to sit and drink coffee. Among them is Roloi Café, once the Katsikas brothers' grocery store, known as "O Katsikas". Cohen and other artists used to gather here, and it is where his first concert took place: Cohen played his guitar while a few friends sat in the back of the shop.

In the port, where the streets have no names, you will find the Pirate Bar, another of Cohen's favourite haunts. Cohen and his friends used to sit at "O Peiratis" and talk about philosophy and writing.

Leonard Cohen’s Daily Routine on Hydra

Cohen described his new house and his routine on Hydra in a letter to his mother. In his words: “I get up around 7 generally and work till about noon.”

He added that the early morning was the coolest and best part of the day, though he loved the heat, with the Aegean only ten minutes from his door.

Leonard Cohen’s House in Hydra

Cohen describes buying the house in Hydra as the smartest decision he ever made, as he bought it in 1960 for $1,500. It was an old three-storey whitewashed building with no electricity or plumbing. But for him, it was very important to have a private space to work. Over the years, Cohen gradually worked on the house and made it a home where he could host his fellow artists and writers. It is still owned by his family today.

Leonard Cohen’s Career in Hydra

On Hydra, Cohen met the love of his life, the Norwegian woman Marianne Ihlen. She was the woman he wrote about in one of his first masterpieces, “So Long, Marianne.” As he told it, Cohen was inspired to write "Bird on the Wire" by the birds that lined up on Hydra's first telephone wires in the 1960s.

While on the island, Cohen worked on his first novels. He had already published two poetry collections, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956) and The Spice-Box of Earth (1961). The Favourite Game (1963) was largely written in London and finished on Hydra. Beautiful Losers (1966) was written on the island. Some of the songs on his first albums, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) and Songs from a Room (1969), also began on Hydra. These records made the young Canadian's name in the music industry.

Hydra Changes

Over the following decades, Hydra became more popular with tourists and lost some of its bohemian appeal for young writers. In the summer high season, it can feel like a glamorous island. Winter suits creative people better, and because there are no cars, Hydra still moves slowly.

Leonard Cohen After Hydra

Cohen's later life took him far from the island. He explored Scientology in the late 1960s, spent several years at the Mount Baldy Zen Center in California, and later stayed for long periods in Mumbai to study with the teacher Ramesh Balsekar. After this long search, he was quoted as saying: "Religion, teachers, women, drugs, the road, fame, money, nothing gets me high and offers relief from the suffering like blackening pages, writing."

It was on Hydra that he learned to write this way. The poet Kenneth Koch, who spent that summer of 1960 on Hydra with his family, put it like this, as his daughter Katherine later recalled: "Once you've lived on Hydra you can't live anywhere, including Hydra."

Hydra For Buyers Today

Asking prices on Hydra have risen visibly over the years. Based on relevant data, in January 2026, the average asking price was about €7,188 per square metre. But it's important to clarify that these are asking prices and do not necessarily reflect sale prices.

Around 2,070 people live in the municipality year-round, which includes the islet of Dokos. The island has state schools from nursery through secondary level. Since 2014, drinking water has come mainly from a desalination plant at Mandraki, while electricity arrives by undersea cable.

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