Greek greetings to all readers! Only the other day returned from the wonderful city of Kstoria, and I want to tell you what he was filled with me, and what beauty, attractions and surprises he is in himself.
And for a start, I also will also tell about an interesting place literally a 10-minute drive from Castoria (before entering, if you go from the side of thessalonik) - this is a small open-air museum - Dispilio. There you will visit an excellent green area with shady trees and huts on the shore of Orestiad Lake. The most interesting thing in it is that an ancient neolithic settlement was found in this place archaeologists (only imagine: 5,000 BC. Er). In the huts you will find the reconstruction of life, as it could look like historians, archaeologists and anthropologists: animal skins, ceramics, tools for agriculture and hunting, ritual items (all objects - copies, originals can be seen in the museum that is a little further, On the same street). The huts themselves also demonstrate different stages of their construction: how the framework, the walls, the roof is arranged. The guide in Greek and in English told a brief story (not tiring guests with excessive information) of this place and, as scientists and teachers of universities (from Athens and Thessalonik), did openings here, one after one, since 1932, and especially in the 90s When the excavations were carried out most actively and successfully. Also found a sign with signs that could be evidence of the existence of writing. I really liked the atmosphere of this place, his mood. There is also a tavern, the summer platform of which goes directly to the spacious lawn of the park-museum, where it is very cool to run and get sideways with children.
It was a very good start of the trip, and moving further along the lake we saw the outlines and red roofs of the Castorian houses. This city has a rich history, many historical and architectural monuments, wonderful nature and good urban management. The streets of the city are clean, interesting design of new objects, whether to stop transport or urn on the embankment in the form of Pelican, which holds a bucket. From the first minutes you notice that residents and the city administration appreciate the historical heritage and traditions, while doing the city with modern and cozy. On the embankment a lot of cafes and taverns, where you can eat or drink coffee. We have lunch in one of the taverns called Tsipourokipos, ordered a critical snack "Dakos" - this is a crisp bread with tomatoes, feta cheese and olives, several types of fish - marine and lake, tasty, and cost us 30 euros for two. After lunch, we decided that the best way to see the city on the lake is to rent bikes and go for a walk along the embankment. So they did, right in the center of the embankment found bicycle rental (3 euros for an hour and a half) and made a large circle on the other side of the city. Walking turned out to be wonderful: after the embankment, the road began right next to the lake, on the way we observed interesting vintage houses and mansions of the 20s of the 20th century, monasteries and churches, centuries-old planes and cypresses. There are still many lake birds that feel great with people and even cars on the road, we saw as a big group of geese leisurely passed the roadway, there are still a lot of pelicans, ducks and herds. I would say that the castor is not similar to other Greek cities or places in which I used it is unique and this fact is already a reason to visit here. Many, probably, know that the manufacturing industry from fur is very developed here, and many tourists come for high quality and affordable price for fur coats and fur. I found interesting materials about Castor's written tourism expert. Perhaps they will be useful and interesting for reading (public links with the author's permission): http://www.ayda.ru/story133801-26972 and http://www.turpravda.ru/gr/kastorija/blog-165927.html In these stories a lot of accurate and clear information on the history of the city and its famous business, which local masters glorified for the whole world.
For me, this trip was more familiar with the city, the nature and people, the first impressions to come back and make new discoveries. The city center is planned as a slope or pyramid, that is, rising to the top, you can see the city from different sides, surrounded by the lake, and the mountains. We got to the viewing platform, passed by the Monastery of St. Athanasius, which offers amazing views. After that, we went down a bit down to the residential quarters of the Upper City, a little reminding anopoly Thessalonika, but with a lot of churches in the Byzantine style, literally at every step and on every corner with the most interesting frescoes on the facades, with a preserved or renovated stone masonry. A visit to the churches (there are a lot of them here, there are also many, as in thessaloniki) and architectural monuments (homes and mansions, "Ardenko") can be a separate trip, as well as the study of nature around Castoria, which I will write in the next story.
