Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sept daily noon-1am.
Pension Dimitris
Skála Maríon
T
694 45 05 064,
W
pension-dimitris.gr.
Perched on a hilltop behind the
port, this attractively designed modern building offers
smart rooms, a communal kitchen and o
ptio
nal breakfast
for a small extra charge. May to mid-Oct.
€40
Ploumis
Skála Rahoníou
T
25930 81442.
Right on the
main beach, this café-taverna provides everything from
breakfast through light snacks to full-blown meals of
freshly grilled fish, seafood and meat. Good for sunsets
especially.
May to mid-Oct daily 9am-midnight.
9
The interior
Few people get around to exploring inland Thássos - with the post-fire scrub still
struggling to revive, it's not always rewarding - but there are several worthwhile
excursions to or around the
hill villages
, which, as usual, portray a very different
lifestyle to the coastal resorts.
Theológos
THEOLÓGOS
, 10km along a well-surfaced but poorly signposted road from Potós, was
founded in the sixteenth century by refugees from Constantinople and became the
island's capital under the Ottomans. Its houses, most with oversized chimneys and slate
roofs, straggle in long tiers to either side of the main street, surrounded by generous
kitchen gardens or walled courtyards. A stroll along the single high street, with its
couple of
kafenía
, a soldiers' bar, a sandalmaker and traditional bakery, is rewarding.
Kástro
KÁSTRO
is the most naturally protected of the island's anti-pirate redoubts: thirty
ancient houses and a church surround a rocky pinnacle, fortified by the Byzantines and
the Genoese, which has a sheer drop on three sides. Summer occupation by shepherds
is becoming the norm after total abandonment in the nineteenth century, when mining
jobs at Limenária proved irresistible. Despite its proximity to Theológos
as the crow
flies, there's no straightforward route to
it; especially with a car, it's best to descend to
Potós before heading up a rough, 17km dirt track from Limenária.
Sotíras
SOTÍRAS
, a steep 3.5km up from Skála Sotíros, is
the only interior village with an
unobstructed view of sunset over the Aegean, and is thus popular with foreigners,
who've bought up about half of the houses for restoration. On the ridge opposite are
exploratory shafts left by the miners, whose ruined lodge looms above the church.
The Kazavíti villages
From Prínos (Kalýves) on the coast road, it's a 6km journey inland to the
Kazavíti villages
,
which are shrouded in greenery that escaped the fires; they're (poorly) signposted and
mapped officially as Megálo and Mikró Prínos but still universally known by their
Ottoman name.
MIKRÓ KAZAVÍTI
marks the start of the track for
MEGÁLO KAZAVÍTI
, where
the magnificent platía is one of the prettiest spots on the whole island.
EATING AND DRINKING
THE INTERIOR
Ì
Kleoniki/Tou Iatrou
Theológos
T
25930 31000.
In
the village centre, this excellent traditional taverna is at its
best in the evening when the roasting spits, loaded with
goat and suckling pig, start turning. Great barrelled wine
too.
Daily noon-1am.
Ì
Opos Palia
Sotíras
T
697 96 35 703.
Wonderfully
re-created old-style village
mezedhopolío
on the plane-
shaded square below the old fountain, serving original
recipes for dishes such as octopus in tomato sauce,
strapatsádha
and
bekri mezé
.
Daily noon-midnight,
except occasional winter closing.
