PELION, October 2026 — Central Pelion tempts visitors in all 12 months, with forest villages, a ski centre, old churches and pebble beaches.
The Mountain of the Centaurs also offers trails for every level, while its taverns showcase fine local produce.
Chania and Drakeia, the gateway to central Pelion
Chania is the closest village in central Pelion to the ski centre at Agriolefkes, 12 kilometres from Portaria. As its name suggests, it once had inns, or hania, for travellers and muleteers.
Today, because of the ski centre, Chania is full of shops, hotels, ski hire stores and taverns serving traditional dishes.
About 8 kilometres away lies Drakeia, another village of central Pelion. The drive winds through chestnut and beech forests, with stunning views of the Pagasetic Gulf.
Spread across the slope since 1615, or even earlier, Drakeia has an upper neighbourhood of old houses. It also has two plane-shaded squares and a traditional bakery.
Its churches include Agios Georgios, with paintings by Pagonis, and Agios Spyridon, with a carved iconostasis. Road signs call Drakeia a “martyr village”, because German forces executed 118 people here in reprisal for resistance activity.
Kissos and the story behind its name
At 550 metres, Kissos ranks among the most beautiful small villages of central Pelion, hidden in forests of chestnut, beech and plane trees.
Its major sight stands on the main square: the church of Agia Marina. This three-aisled basilica is one of the most representative church monuments on the mountain. Due to its fame, many people travel to Kissos to admire it.
Locals still call the village “K’so”. However, the name does not come from ivy, which is kissos in Greek. According to the historian Yanis Kordatos, it is a corruption of chrysos, the Greek word for gold.
That may reflect its past under Ottoman rule, when Kissos was a thriving main village of central Pelion. A local workshop turned chestnut wood on lathes to make wooden plates sold abroad. The village also prospered from silk and from skoutia, cloths woven with goat hair.
A forest village with a legendary plane tree
Tsagarada, the forest village of central Pelion, spreads across four neighbourhoods: Agios Stefanos, Agia Kyriaki, Agia Paraskevi and Taxiarches. They lie far apart, so it hardly feels like a classic village.
Its story began in the 16th century, when people from the beach at Karavostasi moved uphill to escape pirates and, later, the Turks. As a result, they hid their homes deep in the forest.
By the mid-19th century, many residents had emigrated, mostly to Egypt. Some wealthy Egyptiot Greeks later funded fine buildings, roads, aqueducts and stone fountains in Tsagarada.
For many years, it has been the most popular village in central Pelion, with dozens of hotels and restaurants. Its closeness to beaches such as Mylopotamos, Papa Nero and Fakistra also helped it grow.
The heart of the village is Agia Paraskevi. On its large square stands a giant plane tree, with a trunk 14 metres around. Local legend puts its age at 1,000 years.
Beside it, the church of Agia Paraskevi blends local architecture with neoclassical touches. In the small Taxiarches square, in contrast, the monumental church dates from 1786, and its carved Venetian-style iconostasis from 1749.
An old harbour below castle ruins
During the 19th century, Damouchari offered the only relatively safe harbour on the eastern side of the mountain. It had warehouses, shops and the Turkish customs house. Because of this port, many residents of Tsagarada and Mouresi became sailors.
A cape splits it into Old and New Damouchari. Although much has changed since 1970, when few people knew of it, it keeps its charm. Spring and autumn are the best seasons to visit this corner of central Pelion, since summer brings crowds.
On a rocky hill 25 metres above the sea stand the ruins of a castle. Without any excavation, firm facts are scarce. Even so, most accounts call it Byzantine, adding that the Venetians used it for a time.
Near the car park in Damouchari stands the chapel of Agios Nikolaos, built or renovated in 1744. Many credit its early 19th-century frescoes to Pagonis. Look for the dog-headed saint, as well as the faded Last Supper.
Mouresi and the beaches of Agios Ioannis
Officially Mouresion, the village goes simply by Mouresi in central Pelion. It offers wide Aegean views, with hundreds of places to stay nearby, many on the road down to Agios Ioannis.
Once you stroll its square, the church of Agia Triada wins you over, framed by giant linden trees. Renovated in 1776, it has a carved iconostasis and unusual purple-burgundy door and window frames.
Folklorist Kostas Liapis notes that Mouresi flourished in the late 18th century, when residents raised silkworms and made skoutia.
Below it, Agios Ioannis, once the landing for Kissos, has plane trees and a huge white pebble beach. Its family holiday tradition began with youth camps run by the Thessaloniki YMCA from 1928. Large hotels followed from 1930, then contractors gave it its present shape during the military junta.
Near the Mouresi road, the chapel of Agios Ioannis Prodromos has a pebble floor and crypto-Christian symbols on its iconostasis. Papa Nero beach lies right beside Agios Ioannis, while Plaka beach sits on the other side.
Source: travel.gr
The post Central Pelion: 7 Villages Between Forest and Aegean Sea appeared first on Greek City Times.