Sights – Monuments in Ouranoupoli
1. Ouranoupoli is a small town of about 800 inhabitants. It is located just before the border to Mount Athos, perhaps the last secular point of its visitors. In its center dominates the tower of Prosfori, while from the port in front of it, the boats that carry pilgrims or simple excursionists depart daily for it. But there are some attractions-monuments in Ouranoupoli that you must see.
It took its name from the city it founded in 315 BC. Alexander, son of Antipater and brother of Cassander. It was built on the ruins of ancient Sani, which was a colony of the inhabitants of Andros and which was completely destroyed by Philip II. Coins have survived that have the inscription “HEAVENLY CITY” and others “HEAVENLY CITY” as well as a representation of Urania Aphrodite, sitting on a globe on one side and a radiant sun with eight rays appearing on the other.
After the Asia Minor disaster and the exchange of populations, refugees from the islands of Marmara in the Propontis came to the current site and settled in the tower, in its nearby buildings and in tents. The first houses of the village were built in 1926 by a German company, some of which are still preserved. Later the inhabitants built the church, the school and a community started to be organized called “Prosphorion”, later it was called “Pyrgos” and around 1960 it finally got its final name as “Uranopolis”.
During your stay, don’t forget to visit some of the sights and monuments in Ouranoupoli:
2. Take a day trip to Mount Athos. The vast Byzantine museum. The Orchard of Panagia. The largest and most important monastic state of the Orthodox East. An overwhelming place, full of mystique, spread across the eastern peninsula of Halkidiki. It is the second most important religious – pilgrimage destination after Jerusalem, for more than 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world. It is a self-governing part of the Greek state, while religiously it belongs to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
For men there is the possibility to visit it and see it from the inside after following the procedure provided by the rules of the Mount to obtain the permission to enter and stay in a monastery. For women, but not everyone can enter it, there is the possibility to admire it up close with some of the routes that the ships that depart from the port in front of the Tower take every day.
3. Visit the Tower of Ouranoupoli, a Byzantine building which originally belonged to the Vatopedi Monastery along with other buildings from the Prosforion stock of the area. Historical sources mention information about the building from 1344 but according to other reports it is probably older. In 1379, John Paleologos, then despot of Thessaloniki, who lived in Pyrgos, exempted him from taxes. During the earthquake of 1585 the tower was seriously damaged and in 1858 repair work began, resulting in its current form. After 1922 the refugees from Propontida who came to the area inhabited the tower, while in 1928 its tenants were the English-Australian couple Lock who had the care and maintenance of it while at the same time offering social work to the residents of the area. Today the complex of the Tower belongs to the Ministry of Culture of Greece and a museum operates on its premises and exhibitions are organized from time to time.
Walk to the Monastery of Zygos (place also known as Fragokastro). It is an ancient Agioreitiko monastery which was founded in the middle of the 10th century. and was destroyed shortly before 1198. It is located about 2 kilometers east of Ouranoupoli in Halkidiki, just outside the borders of Mount Athos.
It seems that the monastery of Zygos (which was built in a place where there were facilities from the 4th BC to the 6th AD century) already existed before 991, but the first clear evidence of its establishment dates back to 996. Although throughout the 11th century the Monastery was one of the most important Athonian monasteries, in 1199 it was already deserted and was granted, as metochi, by the emperor Alexios III Angelos to the reconstituted monastery of Chelandario. Around 1206 (2 years after the Fourth Crusade and the beginning of the Frankish rule), a Frankish lord settled in the castle of Zygos, who rebuilt the walls and the monastery into a castle and used the castle as a base to plunder Mount Athos , until, around 1211, with the intervention of the Pope of Rome, he was expelled from the region. For this reason, the ruins of the Monastery are known today as “Fragokastro”. During its operation, the monastery was dedicated to the Prophet Elias.
Parts of the great representation of the Annunciation are preserved in the area, there is a full-length representation probably of Agios Nikolaos, there are also marble settings from the 11th century. in satisfactory condition. The archaeological dig has also brought to light many finds, such as three lead bulls from the 11th century, a medal with an engraved representation of Saint Paraskevi, book covers, thimble seals, coins from the 11th and 12th centuries. etc., while the excavation and restoration works are in progress.
5. Visit the Medieval Cemetery at Ierissos a necropolis with more than 600 recently discovered graves, research on which only began in 1973. The cemetery was used from Archaic to Roman times, and then intermittently until the 17th century e.g. It extends in the coastal area of Ierissos with many types of graves in at least two or three layers parallel to the coastline in which adults and children were buried in the same place according to ancient customs. The graves are rectangular, plain or lined, with or without decoration, as well as burials in jars. In the tombs there are findings similar to the burial customs of other cities of Macedonia and Thrace.
6. To see the Grove of Aristotle in Stageira. A unique theme park in which there are interactive instruments that work based on the natural laws mentioned in the writings of this great teacher.
7. Walk to ancient Stageira, the ancient city where Aristotle was born in 384 BC. and who is regarded as the father of Western philosophy. It is probably the most important historical site of Halkidiki, it is located on the Liotopi Peninsula near the current Olympiada. Iones from Andros in 665 BC. they founded the city about which Strabo in the <<Geographies>> gives him a lot of information.
8. Visit the pilgrimage of Megali Panagia about 1.5 km east of the village of Megali Panagia, in a green place where there used to be a chapel dedicated to Constantine the Great, first built in 1863 and rebuilt again after the earthquake of 1932. It has magnificent Catholicos with a wood-carved iconostasis from 1870, the work of two Bulgarian craftsmen who worked for seven years.
According to tradition, the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary was found at this point in 1860 after a vision seen by an old woman named Gerakina. Because of this event, the former community of Revenikia changed its name to Megali Panagia. The miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary no longer exists because it was stolen in 1978 and has not been found since. Outside the precincts of the monastery there is under the temple the area of the Consecration of the Virgin Mary with running water.
9. Pass by the church of Agios Stefanos in Arnaia, a mountain village of Halkidiki with a very strong traditional architectural style. The metropolitan church of Agios Stefanos has something unique. That is to say, while it functions normally for the needs of the faithful, at the same time it is also a visitable area of historical and archaeological interest because it is built on important priceless antiquities which are almost entirely visible to visitors.
The church is a three-aisled basilica dedicated to Agios Stefanos due to some share of the monastery of Konstamonitos of Agioreita (its catholicon is dedicated to Agios Stefanos) that existed in the area. It was built in 1812, while during the revolution of 1821 it burned to the ground like the whole village. Later, after rebuilding the village, the residents also built the church, in which a unique wood-carved iconostasis and icons donated by the Konstamonitou monastery were placed.
10. Go for a walk to the waterfalls of Varvara in a beautiful forest landscape of willows, lindens, alders, hazelnuts, beeches, etc. mixed with rocks, a landscape of earthly paradise. The falls are located on the border of Olympiada Varvara on the road from Olympiada to Varvara, a beautiful forest route that is easily accessible to all.
11. Imagine the canal of Xerxes, perhaps the greatest engineering project in Halkidiki in ancient times. Today it is buried between the villages of Nea Roda and Trypiti, it was 2 km long, 30 m wide and about 15 m deep. According to Herodotus and Thucydides during the Median wars in 480 BC. the king of the Persians, Xerxes, in order to avoid the circumambulation of Mount Athos and not to have the fate of Mardonius 10 years before, ordered the Artachaeus and Buvaros to open a canal to connect the bay of Ierissos with the Syngytikos and thus pass with safety his fleet.
In 2008, research by Greek and English engineers showed the exact location of the canal, which is visible from a great height since several points inside it have suffered subsidence. Also in the local community there is the name “trouble” for the beach at Nea Roda where the canal started, as well as walls in the sea.
Source : Sights-Monuments in Ouranoupoli