Pelion, Greece - Pilion, Greece: Archaeology & archaeological sites

Archaeology

"It is certainly desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors."

Plutarch "Morals"

Pelion and the surrounding areas boast a history of about 10,000 years! The first Neolithic settlements at Dimini and Sesklo date back to 7,000 B.C. And, according to

Homer, Olizon, identified with present day Milina, contributed, some 3,000 years ago, a significant number of ships and troops to the Greek expedition against Troy, headed by the famous archer

Philoctetes, who held

Heracles' bow and poisoned arrows.

As a result, you can come across signs of ancient human activities at the most unexpected of places; on the beach at Theotokos, for example. Unfortunately, most of the sites in the region have neither been restored nor entirely excavated, to date, probably due to a lack of funds. And a lot of sites, like the towns known to have flourished in the southern part of Pelion and elsewhere, remain, as yet, undiscovered...

Archaeological sites are usually open on weekends, but closed Mondays. For official info on visiting times and entrance fees, kindly visit the Hellenic Ministry of Culture site and scroll to the bottom of the page. If you're an adventurous chap, then visit their home page and try to find the associated info yourself!


		Volos Museum Tour this small, yet extremely interesting museum, that houses significant exhibits, spanning from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic and Roman periods (almost 7 millennia). The museum was recently renovated on the occasion of the Athens Olympics.
		Theotokos Take a dip in the sea and enjoy the sunshine by the ancient pillars that... "litter" the beach. Next to them stands a small church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and only a few feet away rest the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, which only go to show that this beach has been a place of non-stop worship for thousands of years.
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