Volos: Sights

Updated: 2004-06-28 15:06

The waterfront is a pleasant place to go for a stroll. Along the coast there are many shops, cafeterias and restaurants.

Above the town are Portaria and Makrinitsa, two beautiful villages on the slopes of mount Pelio built in the distinctive local architectural style, and affording a superb view of the city and the wide Gulf of Pagasae.

Among the exhibits in the Archaeological Museum are a large collection of Bronze Age treasures, pottery from the 8th and 5th centuries BC, and sculptures from Archaic and Classical period. Particularly worth seeing, and unique, are well-preserved works of the Hellenistic period by a woman painter Dimitrias, who claimed descent from Iolkos.

The Municipal Library has a fine collection of paintings, sculptures, and works by recent Greek artists.

Other things to see are the Church of SS. Constantine and Helen, the Metamorphosis church, the Trinity Church (Agia Triada), and the cathedral of Volos, dedicated to St Nicholas.

If you are interested in Greek folk art, you should not miss the Theophilos Museum in the district of Anakasia, which has works by the great self-taught Naive painter, and the Makris Folk Art Museum.

For train enthusiasts, and others, there is‘the little old Pelio steam train’, as the song goes. At the beginning of the 20th century Milies, a well-to-do village up on mount Pelio, was linked with the city of Volos only by a narrow-gauge railway, built by the Italian engineer Evaristo de Chirico, father of the painter. The train is now back in service on what is probably the most scenic part of the old line, from Ano Lehonia to Milies itself.

The Panthessaliko Stadium, where the preliminary games of the Olympic Football Tournament will be held, is in the municipality called Nea Ionia (not to be confused with Nea Ionia in Athens!). This is a township founded by refugees from Asia Minor, Pontos, and Cappadocia in the early 1920s. The refugees played a key role in the evolution of social, financial and cultural life. Small-scale society and the ‘neighbourhood’ are still very important features of everyday life in Nea Ionia.

If you go out of town on the Volos-Larissa highway for 6.5 km, you will arrive at the substantial prehistoric monument of Dimini, with the remains of an acropolis (citadel), walls and two unique grave complexes dating from 4000-1200 BC.
At Sesklo, 13.5 km from Volos, there are further such remains, including the oldest citadel in Europe (around 6000 BC). Built on the site of the ancient city of Pherai, modern Velestino, 17 km west of Volos, is the birthplace of the great revolutionary poet and political thinker Rhigas Pheraios.

South-west of Volos, in a pine grove close to the coast road, are the remains of ancient Dimitrias, a major city of the 3rd century BC. The ruins include a temple and a theatre with amazing acoustics. East, at Pefkakia, there are remains of a Mycenean settlement - the ancient city of Pagasai, a major trading centre in the 5th century BC.The adjacent modern settlement of Nees Pagases is a popular summer resort.

Continuing along the main road, and some 18 km from Volos, you come to Nea Anchialos, which has important finds both from the Neolithic period and from the early Christian period. In Almyros, 35 km from Volos, there is an Archaeological Museum and nearby are the Monastery of Panagia on mount Orthrys, and the pretty seaside fishing villages of Amaliapoli, Paralia Pteleou, and Achilleio.

When in Volos, you should not miss the celebrated villages of Pelio, amid the beauties of nature. If swimming is what you prefer, follow the coast road along the Gulf of Pagasae and through the villages of Agria, Lehonia, Platanidia, Kala Nera, Afisso, Milina, and Chorto. Or visit the lovely seaside districts looking out to the Aegean - Agios Ioannis, Chorefto, Damouhari, Xynovrysi, Paltsi. At the southern tip of Pelio you will find picturesque Trikeri, and the islet of the same name. If you prefer a mountain vacation, you are spoilt for choice: Portaria, Makrinitsa, Zagora, Tsagarada, Argalasti, Milies, Vyzitsa, Agios Georgios and many smaller hamlets which will long remain in the memory.