Pelion, between the Gulf of Volos and the Aegean

A mountain between two seas

Pelion rises just above Volos. In a few bends, the road leaves the port and the olive trees for Portaria and Makrinitsa, at around 600 metres. Makrinitsa is nicknamed ‘the balcony of Pelion’: the whole city and the gulf lie at its feet. The road then crosses the Hania pass, at 1,190 metres, under the beech trees, and drops back down through the chestnut trees towards Zagora and the Aegean.

Here, the mountain has two coasts. To the east, the Aegean is open and the water is clear. Hairpin roads lead down to beaches and coves: Chorefto, Agios Ioannis, Damouchari and Mylopotamos. To the west, the Gulf of Volos is calm, almost like a lake. You follow it to Afissos, then all the way to the tip of the peninsula, at Trikeri and the little port of Agia Kyriaki.

Driving is slow: thirty kilometres of Pelion often take an hour. Old cobbled paths, the kalderimia, still link the villages to the beaches, for example from Tsagarada to Mylopotamos.

These villages also played a part in Greek history. In Milies, Anthimos Gazis and Grigorios Konstantas opened a school in 1814, which is now a library. Milies was the first community in Pelion to join the War of Independence, in 1821. Yet the region only became Greek in 1881.

The painter Theophilos, born on Lesbos, lived in Pelion for many years. A café in Makrinitsa still has one of his frescoes. In Anakasia, the Kontos house has become the Theophilos Museum: the large room upstairs is covered in his paintings.

The centaurs and the Argo

In Greek mythology, Pelion is the mountain of the centaurs. The wisest of them, Chiron, lived here in a cave. According to legend, he raised heroes such as Jason and Achilles. The wedding of Peleus and Thetis is said to have taken place near his cave. Eris is said to have thrown the golden apple there, which started the quarrel that led to the Trojan War.

Volos stands on the site of ancient Iolcus, where Jason is said to have set sail on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece. According to Euripides, the ship’s oars had been cut from the pines of Pelion.

What not to miss

1. 1MakrinitsaIts cobbled lanes, its fountains and the view over the gulf from the square.
2. 2The little train of PelionA 60-centimetre narrow-gauge line, from Ano Lechonia to Milies, designed by Evaristo de Chirico, father of the painter Giorgio de Chirico.
3. 3The plane tree of TsagaradaOn the square of Agia Paraskevi, a plane tree that is at least a thousand years old, according to tradition.
4. 4Mylopotamos beachTwo coves of white pebbles, divided by a rock pierced by an arch.
5. 5DamouchariA sheltered cove below the ruins of a castle; a scene from the film Mamma Mia! was shot here in 2007.
6. 6Agia KyriakiA fishing village at the tip of the peninsula, where wooden caiques are still built.

Pelion in pictures

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Damouchari, its old customs house and red boat by the green water.

Food in Pelion

Volos is the town of tsipouro, a spirit distilled from grape pomace. In the tsipouradika, each small carafe comes with a different plate of meze, often fish or seafood. In the mountains, people eat spetsofai, a sausage stewed with peppers and tomatoes, and cheese or spinach pies.

Zagora apples have protected designation of origin status. In cafés, ‘spoon sweets’, fruit preserved in syrup, are served with a glass of water. In Agia Kyriaki, the tavernas by the harbour grill the catch of the day and octopus dried in the sun.