Culture Enthousiasts in Olympus Pieria

From 850€

Our experience will start at Thessaloniki where we will participate in a guided tour around the main archaeological and cultural sites of the city, such as the Αrch of Galerius, the Roman Market and the White Tower, where we will realize that Thessaloniki has been a multicultural city for centuries. Except for the local culture and history, we will get to know the local cuisine by tasting local dishes at a traditional tavern of the city.

The next morning after an overnight stay at Thessaloniki, we will depart for Katerini (Pieria) by bus or train. A minibus will pick us up from Katerini and we will head to the traditional village of Paleos Panteleimon, where we will stay in a lovely guesthouse surrounded by nature, the “Agnadi Guesthouse”. We will then have a small tour in which we will learn more about the architectural heritage of this beautiful village. As traveling is not only about visiting new places but also meeting new people, we will meet two local professionals who have their own jewelry workshop and will introduce us to the art of jewelry making.

The next morning, we will have a two-hour guided tour at the Platamonas Castle where its placement and its high and wide walls will help us understand how important it was in the fortification of the area. When we return to our guesthouse, we will have free time for relaxation. Then, we will enjoy a meal with traditional dishes at a local tavern, while admiring the unique view of the Aegean Sea and listening to traditional music played by local musicians calling us to dance together.

The next day, we will take a small taste of the local food products that are produced in the area depending on the time of the year and we will take part in a cooking workshop. Food as well as the religion of a place are key parts of its culture so we will visit one of the most important religious monuments in the area, the Holy Monastery of “Saint Dionysios in Olympus”, the Saint that protects Litochoro village, which will be our next destination. There, we will stay at a traditionally built family hotel called «To Palio Litochoro».

On the 5th day, we will visit the Maritime Museum at Litochoro which is a typical example of the cultural heritage of the place, because despite the distance of the village from the coast, for many decades its inhabitants chose to become sailors. if our visit to Pieria is in the summer, we will have the chance to attend a theatrical play or a music concert at archeological sites of important significance in Pieria, organized by Olympus Festival. The cultural events of the Olympus Festival take place every year, for more than 50 years, in archeological sites of the area such as the ancient theatre of Dion and the Castle of Platamonas. The rest months, when this experience isn’t available, we will visit other local festivals or participate in a mental empowerment workshop with a group facilitator in which we will express creatively our thoughts and emotions regarding the common experiences that we have shared.

The next morning, we will have a guided tour at the Archaeological Museum and site of Dion which houses the archeological findings of the ancient Macedonian city of Dion, which was dedicated to the king of the ancient Greek gods, Zeus (Dias). At noon, we will have free time at the village of Litochoro to walk in its alleys and admire the Macedonian architecture of its buildings. In the afternoon, we will participate in a mental empowerment workshop where we can express our thoughts and share our emotions and experiences regarding the cultural events and the educational workshops that we attended.

The last day, on our way back to Thessaloniki we will participate in a pottery construction workshop at the village of Paliabela, where we will visit a local pottery lab. There, we will learn about the art of pottery, we will get to know about the pottery making processes that come from the ancient times, we will get to experiment with clay and we will take a small handmade souvenir with us to remember the unique experiences we lived together.