Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kastráki
KASTRÁKI
is a smaller, sloping village located on the way up to the pinnacles, twenty
minutes' walk out of Kalambáka, although along the busy and narrow road; in
season (May 15-Sept 15) there's regular bus service throughout the day. Like
Kalambáka, it's mostly modern, but even more low-key and arguably a better
springboard for hiking among and/or rock-climbing the 50-odd pinnacles all
around here.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING KASTRÁKI
Kastráki has scores of mid-range
dhomátia
, mostly high standard, as well as several hotels. As at Kalambáka it's worth
avoiding the main road, where coaches rumble through much of the day (and scooters buzz along by night).
Camping Vrachos
T
24320 22293,
W
campingkastraki
.gr.
Entering the downhill end of the village, you pass this
well-equipped facility, with a pool, minimarket, a
restaurant, and fairl
y re
liable facilities (hot water for
showers can run out).
€10
Ì
Doupiani House
T
24320 77555,
W
doupianihouse
.com.
Well sign posted left of the road, with superb views
from the front-facing rooms; proprietors Thanassis and Toula
serve breakfast (included) in the finest hotel garden of
Kastráki, and can
poi
nt walkers to the start of various hikes.
Closed Dec-Feb.
€50
Ì
Paradhisos
T
24320 22723.
This place is on the
through road, with views, and besides excellent
kokorétsi
and
biftéki
features
moussakás
, starters and
ravaní
by
award-winning owner-chef Koula, long experienced
cooking abroad and in Thessaloníki. Everything is fresh and
local. €10-15/person.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Pyrgos Adrachti
T
24320 22275,
W
hotel-adrachti.gr.
Built in 2007, this cosy, family-run property sits at the top
of the old quarter - a steep drive up but ample parking on
arrival. Features some of the best views in the area from
their comfortable wood and stone r
oom
s with a/c. Free
wi-fi and parking. Breakfast included.
€70
Vassiliki Zioga
T
24320 24037,
W
ziogasrooms.com.
Located downhill and well back from the road, this place
offers simple balconied, marble-floored rooms with a/c
and wi-fi, most with superb views, above a huge restaurant
(their own farm produce; €10/per
son)
, where guests have
breakfast (included). Free parking.
€40
3
The monasteries
The four most visited monasteries and convents -
Megálou Meteórou
,
Ayíou Nikoláou
,
Varlaám
and
Roussánou
- are essentially museum-monuments. Only
Ayías Triádhos
and
Ayíou Stefánou
still function with a primarily religious purpose, though there has
been a notable increase in pilgrimage by devout Romanian and Russian Orthodox.
Handy service elevators have now been installed to take care of both deliveries and
visiting dignitaries. However, access for most visitors is by extensive
stairways
carved
into the rock in the early twentieth century.
Each monastery consists essentially of monks' cells focused round a central space,
with chapels and refectories added on as possible - up, down and sideways - given the
physical limitations of constructing on a rock pinnacle. The central church of each
monastery, the
katholikón
, is usually elaborately decorated with beautiful and often
quirky sixteenth- and seventeenth-century frescoes.
Ayíou Nikoláou Anapafsá
T
24320 22375 • Daily except Fri: April-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-March 9am-1pm
The diminutive
Ayíou Nikoláou Anapafsá
is the closest monastery to Kastráki (20min on
foot or 5min by car). The road leads to the base of the stairway-path (150 steps). This
tiny, multi-levelled structure has superb frescoes from 1527 by the Cretan painter
Theophanes in its
katholikón
(main chapel). On the east wall of the naos over the
window, a shocked disciple somersaults backwards at the
Transfiguration,
, an ingenious use
of the cramped space; in the
Denial of Peter
on the left door-arch as you enter the naos,
the protagonists warm their hands over a fire in the pre-dawn, while above the
ierón
window is the
Sacrifice of Abraham
. On the west wall of the narthex, a stylite (column-
dwelling hermit) perches in a wilderness populated by wild beasts, while an acolyte
