Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Halkidiki Peninsulas just east offer fine sandy coves and big beaches, and the
1000-year-old Athonite monastic community.
Macedonia's other big-ticket sights include legendary Mt Olympus, Greece's highest
peak at 2918m and a great place for hiking; and just opposite, more beaches stretch down
the wooded Pieria coast, punctuated by a clifftop Byzantine castle at Platamonas. Traces
of this heritage meet shimmering waters again in Macedonia's far northwest, where
grand basilica ruins and frescoed church grottoes meet the Prespa Lakes, and in quiet
Kastoria, with its sublime Byzantine shrines set above an elliptical lake of its own.
Macedonia's kaleidoscope of landscapes - from mountains and deep forests to arid
plains and wetland marshes - make it ideal for nature buffs, food lovers and outdoors ad-
venturers. Florina has Greece's best red peppers and highlands where brown bears amble,
while Veria is famous for its peaches; the nearby vineyards produce excellent wines.
Birdwatchers will enjoy scanning for pelicans, cormorants and migrating birds at the
lakes and saltwater estuaries (where tasty fish are plentiful too).
History
Although life in Macedonia goes back 700,000 years, it's best known for the powerful
Macedonian civilisation that peaked with Alexander the Great (d 323 BC), who
conquered as far as India. Deemed barbarians by cultivated Athenians, the Macedonians
