Sights – monuments and archaeological sites in Halkidiki.

• taria


• 2 Feb 2018

The Prefecture of Halkidiki is the most touristic part of central Macedonia and Northern Greece in general. The 500 km coastline of beautiful beaches with crystal clear waters and many alternations in the landscape, make it an ideal holiday destination for many visitors for years. It has generally easy access by car because of its relatively good road network, many hotels, many rooms to let – apartments and camping, and also continuous beaches, capes, harbors, small coves that have shown it to one of the top holiday destinations in Greece.

Halkidiki is considered to be a diverse and generally interesting destination because apart from a holiday, its visitor can satisfy its archaeological and religious desires because it has many archaeological sites, small or larger museums, scattered folkloric centers and intense, all over the prefecture due of Mount Athos, religious and ecclesiastical tradition.

Of course, if someone decides to move away from the prefecture then you must visit:

• Pella, the capital of Ancient Macedonia (late 5th century BC – early 4th century AD), with important finds such as the marble head of Alexander the Great, Macedonian Tombs, silver coins, etc. .,
• Vergina, a world-renowned cultural attraction that will travel to you in the time of Alexander the Great. Visit the tomb of Philip’s of B’ and the Royal Tombs, the palace of the Ancient City, the theater, the cemetery, the imposing Necropolis, the museum, etc.
• Alistrati with its cave, considered to be one of the finest and most beautiful of Greece, possibly also of Europe, where nature wanted to create the greatest power for the creation of decorations and formations.
• Dodoni with the ancient theater, which is one of the largest and best preserved ancient Greek theaters, with a capacity of approximately 18,000 people.
• And a little further is the Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia, with the abundance of Roman and Byzantine monuments – museums.
• Meteora, these huge rocks that awe with the nests on their peaks and caves from the 11th century monasteries, which UNESCO has described as a “Preserved and Protected Monument of Humanity”.

these are areas that will cover all your interests and will leave you with the most beautiful memories of your vacation.

1. Unique sights of Halkidiki Prefecture.

• Mount Athos. The immense Byzantine museum. The orchard of Our Virgin Maria. The largest but also the most important monastic state of the Orthodox. A place full of mysticism, spreads to the eastern peninsula of Halkidiki. It is the second most important religious – pilgrimage destination after Jerusalem, for more than 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world. It is a self-governing part of the Greek state, while religiously belonging to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
• Ancient Olynthos with its renovated archaeological site and its accompanying archaeological museum. It is considered to be the top town of the classical period with the most organized urban planning system.
• Ancient Stagira: The birthplace of Aristotle, on the Liotopi peninsula on the eastern coast of Chalkidiki.
• The Petralona cave with its Anthropological Museum. It became famous for its rich prehistoric finds of significant paleontological value and its impressive stalactites. It is considered the cave of the archangel and the acropolis of paleoanthropology.
• Monastery of Agia Anastasia (9th c.). It is situated on the border with the Prefecture of Thessaloniki between Vasilika and Galatista and it falls straight to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• The monastery of Agios Arsenios, between the villages of Vatopedi and Metamorphosis in the Toroneos gulf and in the same area,
• The Monastery of the Annunciation, the largest and most impressive from a building point of view throughout Greece.
• Holy Monastery of Souroti – Monastery of St. Paisios. A few kilometers outside the road of Halkidiki with Thessaloniki, the monastery is dedicated to St. John the Theologian and Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia. In the Monastery there are the relics of Saint Arsenios and the tomb of Saint Paisios.
• The Folklore Museum of Polygyros, whose exhibits come from all over Halkidiki. They cover a wide chronological period from the Bronze Age to the Roman period and are, perhaps, the most important archaeological sites of the prefecture.

2. Other archaeological sites, monuments and attractions:

• The sanctuary of Ammon Zeus and the sanctuary of the Nymphs and Dionysus in Kallithea.
• The ruins of Potidea Castle and the Potidea Canal.
• Relics of the fortification of ancient Toroni and the castle of Likithos in Toroni.
• Ancient Skioni.
• Ancient Mendi on the peninsula of Kassandra,
• Residues of mining sinks in Olympiada.
• The Roman farmhouse in M. Kypsa, N. Fokea.
• In Nea Moudania, the Museum of Traditional Boats and Instruments and the Folklore Museum of Bithynia have remarkable exhibits of special interest.
• Folklore Museum of Afytos.
• The Museum of Folklore and History of the Parthenon in the homonymous mountainous village of Sithonia,
• The Folklore Museum of Ierissos mainly for the architecture of its traditional building.
• The folk museum of Agia Paraskevi.
• The Historical and Archeological Museum of Arnea with the permanent exhibition of the famous Arniotian weavers of the region.
• The Petrokerasa Folklore Museum in mountainous Halkidiki.
• Early Christian basilica: a) of Nikiti (Agios Georgios, Elias, Sofroniou, with its marvelous mosaic floor and unique marble-all 5th century). b) St. Athanasius in Toroni. c) at the “Zepko” of the Olympiada and others.
• Towers and Castles: Byzantine Tower (1405) at Zografou, St Paul’s Tower (1407) and Stavronikita Tower (1543) in N. Fokea, Pyrgos at Mariana at Olynthos (1375), Krounas Tower in Ierissos, (13th century), Prosforio Tower at Ouranoupolis (13th century), Fragkokastro at Ouranoupolis (13th century), Tower of Galatista (14th c.),
• Towers and Castles: Byzantine Tower (1405) at Zografou, St Paul’s Tower (1407) and Stavronikita Tower (1543) in N. Fokea, Pyrgos at Mariana at Olynthos (1375), Krounas Tower in Ierissos, (13th century), Prosforio Tower at Ouranoupolis (13th century), Fragkokastro at Ouranoupolis (13th century), Tower of Galatista (14th c.), Towers of Stagira (16th c.), Etc.
• Remains of monasteries: Church and auxiliary buildings in Zografou, Metochi Agios Panteleimonos in Flogita, Metochi Tripotamou in N. Marmaras, Metochia Koutloumousiou and Zografou in Agios Nikolaos etc.
• Parish churches of special interest: Dimitrios of Athytos (1858)), Panteleimonos in Kallithea (1865), the old parish church of Pefkohori (19th century), the church of Kassandria with the paleo-Christian infrared, Athanasius of Sykia (1861), the temples of Galatistas (19th century), of Vavdos, where there is a marble embankment of the 5th century, the church of Stagira, St. Niketas at Nikiti with the wonderful pictures of Parali, etc.
• Churches: The small Byzantine temple above the sanctuary of Dionysus in Kallithea, the chapel of Panagia Faneromeni with frescoes of the 16th century. in N. Skioni, the cemetery of Nikiti in the 16th century, from which the central aisle with frescoes of the same period survives, the Virgin Mary in the Virgin Mary (1863) with an interesting carved wooden temple, the Saint Nicholas in the “Celio” of Polygyros, etc.
• Settlements with interesting elements of folk architecture: Arnaia, Galatea, Nikiti, Agios Nikolaos, Sykia, the traditional village of Parthenon that is built at an altitude of 350 meters on the slopes of Mount Itamos in Sithonia (north of Marmaras) , Paliouriou, Kalandras, and others.
• Other attractions: The Galatista watermills, the windmills of Sykia and Kassandria, the mills of Nikiti, Stagira bath, the Town Hall of Arnea, Polygyros and Kassandria, the statue of Aristotle.