Portaria

Portaria is a beautiful, mountainous, traditional settlement, just 13 km away. from Volos. It is built at an altitude of 650 meters near the monastery of “Panagia Portarea”, which gave its name to the area and dates back to the 13th century.

The wonderful natural landscape, the cool springs and the mansions make Portaria an attraction for lovers of tranquility and natural beauty. The testimony of human presence harmonizes with a magnificent natural landscape full of dense forests. You will discover its charm if you wander along the cobbled streets of the village, which are flooded with the scents of the intense vegetation and which, combined with the abundant water, offer an unimaginable variety of natural materials and a palette of colours and history.

Portaria is the closest village to Volos, so it takes on the task of welcoming visitors as a “lady on the reception desk”. In the past it was the most important commercial centre among the villages of Pelion, while after 1900 the hotel “Theoxenia” was a sample of the huge economic prosperity, as it was considered the largest and most luxurious hotel in the Balkans. But it was destroyed during the German occupation. Its remains in the central square of the village prove to this day the importance and splendor that characterized Portaria all those years.

The area is ideal for winter and summer holidays as it offers a variety of alternative sports. During the winter you can visit the Pelion Ski Centre located 12km from Portaria. Every year it attracts many visitors who, apart from skiing and snowboarding, enjoy the snow-covered tops of Pelion and the panoramic view of Pagasitikos Gulf. Many cultural events are also organized in the summer. In May the “World Dance Day” is celebrated, in July “The International Children’s Dance Festival” and in August “The International Dance Festival”. In the last week of August, the celebration culminates with the revival of the Pelion Wedding. It is worth buying handmade spoon sweets, local wine and tsipouro, fresh fruit and folk art. In Portaria, the Women’s Agrotourism Cooperative was founded and operates, offering traditional food, handmade sweets, etc.

Whenever you visit, Portaria, beautiful, picturesque and peaceful, is waiting for you to turn around and enchant you on a journey through history and tradition.