Agios Petros dressed for the festive season, one of the stone villages of Mount Parnon. Photo: travel.gr

Christmas on Mount Parnon: Stone Villages Far From the Crowds

by · Greek City Times

Mount Parnon promises a quieter Christmas in the Peloponnese, with stone villages, fir-clad slopes and smoking chimneys.

These are the most beautiful festive days of the year, when everyone feels like a child again. Picture snow on the bell tower, crackling fireplaces and the scent of burning wood in the frosty air.

Why Mount Parnon suits a quieter Christmas

Imagine decorated rooms and a snowy fir outside the window, while fairy lights blink lazily in a warm lobby. Piles of kourabiedes and melomakarona add their buttery, irresistible aromas.

This year, however, consider spending Christmas in the Peloponnese away from the most mainstream villages. They are fine choices, but a change brings more peace, tender moments and fewer late nights in mountain bars.

Read more: Four Quiet Christmas Villages in the Mountains of Greece

Few places offer that better than Mount Parnon. Here, nature breathes calm, even when peaks rise high and slopes look steep and rugged.

A wild mountain also known as Malevos

Mount Parnon, also called Malevos, ranks among the most beautiful mountains in Greece: unexplored, rugged and imposing. It stretches across eastern Arcadia and part of Laconia, while its highest peak, Megali Tourla, reaches 2,000 metres.

Green slopes turn alpine near the summits, with fir, black pine, cedar, oak, plane and chestnut trees. Mount Parnon is also a declared natural monument and a protected area in the Natura 2000 network.

Fir-covered slopes, towering peaks and untouched villages built from local stone set the scene. Cobbled paths and old mansions turn any visit into a voyage of discovery.

For hardier visitors, marked trails wind among plane, walnut, chestnut and fir trees. They also follow running streams, something rare elsewhere in the Peloponnese.

Kastanitsa, Tsintzina, Geraki, Karyes, Agios Petros, Vamvakou, Vereia, Agrianoi, Platanos and Prastos all cling to these slopes. Divided between Laconia and Arcadia, the Parnon villages leave images that never fade.

Kosmas, the balcony of Kynouria

Start in Kosmas, known as the “balcony of Kynouria”, at an altitude of 1,150 metres. Because it sits so high, fir-covered peaks stretch as far as the eye can see.

On the horizon, you can even make out the islands of Spetses, Spetsopoula and Hydra. Then sit in the lovely plane-shaded square, the heart of the village, and feel at the centre of the world.

Karyes and the plane trees of Menelaus

Karyes is a stone-built mountain village and one of the main settlements of Mount Parnon. At its entrance stand the plane trees of Menelaus, three ancient trees beside a spring.

According to legend, Menelaus planted them in 1100 BC. The European E4 trail also passes through Karyes, after starting in the Pyrenees, entering Greece at Florina and ending at Zakros in Crete.

Prastos, Platanos and Tsintzina

Prastos, the old capital of Tsakonia, impresses with stone tower houses and loopholes built for defence. Today, it remains a living record of history among the Parnon villages.

Platanos lives up to its name, which means plane tree in Greek. Plane trees crowd the village, while running water and waterfalls appear in the right season.

Tsintzina, also called Polydroso, is among the prettiest villages of Mount Parnon, built on both sides of a ravine. Fir and cherry trees surround it, and its mapped, waymarked trails are well worth exploring.

Kastanitsa and Vamvakou on Mount Parnon

Kastanitsa, one of the most picturesque villages of Mount Parnon, showcases Tsakonian architecture, with stone houses and ornate wooden balconies. When you reach its highest lanes, the view is magical.

Vamvakou stands out for its history as the birthplace of Stavros Niarchos. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has taken on the Vamvakou Revival project, which aims to bring the village fully back to life.

Along the way, Vamvakou has also become an enchanting Christmas destination in its own right.

Agios Petros and Malevi Monastery

Agios Petros, another stone-built village of Mount Parnon, boasts fine local architecture, tower houses and mansions. It was among the first mountain villages in Greece to gain tourist facilities, because of the religious visitors drawn to Malevi Monastery.

Just outside the village, the newly built church of Malevi, with its guesthouses and flowering courtyard, attracts thousands of pilgrims. Many believe its icon is one of 70 painted by Luke the Evangelist.

So Parnon has earned the nickname “second Mount Athos”.

Closer to Athens: Feneos, Goura and Lake Doxa

If Mount Parnon feels too far, mountainous Corinthia lies just an hour and a half from Athens. During winter, its plateau offers authentic villages, lovely guesthouses and smoking fireplaces, with cold, snow and decorated lanes.

In Kefalari, on the slopes of Mount Ziria, a taverna below the village cooks hearty winter food. Order salted cod with skordalia, boiled goat and hortopita with handmade filo, all served beside the fire.

Further on, stone-built Goura and neighbouring Feneos are two of the prettiest villages in the area, while Ancient Feneos is worth a visit. Nearby, a passable dirt road starts at Lake Doxa and runs through beech and chestnut forests.

Overall, Christmas in the Peloponnese mountains can feel straight out of a fairytale.

Source: travel.gr

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