In Pelion there are plenty of beautiful country churches, old monasteries, the view of which transfers the visitor centuries ago, when monastery life blossomed in Pelion. Thessaly met the Turkish occupation in 1423, and since then began the development and evolution of important villages of Pelion.
In maps of the Medieval era, there is reference to some of these monasteries, which functioned also as the first residential nuclei for the most important villages of Pelion. Pelion itself did not meet the Turkish occupation, as the most part of Greece, instead special privileges were provided in the area due to its natural beauty.
Due to the relative protection and independence reserved in monasteries, many Greeks from Thessaly, Evia and the Aegean, affected by the evils of occupation, found a refuge there.
Gradually, the traditional towers of Pelion begun to be built around the monasteries, leading to the development of the 24 well-known villages of Pelion. Nowadays, many of these country churches constitute historical and cultural monuments, with old wooden temples, magnificent shrines, vaulted murals, religious paintings of folk artists and remarkable post-Byzantine engravings.
Highly valuable ecclesiastical utensils, silver from Epirus as well as from local artisans, painted glass devotional lamps from Venice, chalices form Odessa, silver Gospels, gold-embroidered epitaphs...
All these remind and indicate the devoutness of the residents of Pelion as well as the significant role that Christianity and the monasteries played in the development of Pelion villages, which is an additional reason for worth visiting some or even all monasteries and churches of the area.
In Greece, the religious tourism has been growing rapidly in recent years, indicating the very interesting character of this kind of alternative tourism, which even in periods of financial crisis, as the present one, does not appear to be influenced negatively. Religious tourism is associated with visits in monuments, museums or places of religious significance.
The motives for the development of this kind of tourism in Pelion are many, since the cultural and religious wealth of the area is immense and valuable, while the flourishing of culture and art during the Turkish occupation resulted in many and important artworks.
What stimulates the visitors’ interest mainly is the buildings which function still as religious places, buildings of historical, religious or architectural interest, placed mainly in idyllic landscapes, buildings of religious character, such as monasteries, hermitages, religious schools and libraries, etc., where conferences with religious and cultural content are held, and buildings operating as museums or showrooms where religious items are exhibited. This kind of choices are countless in Pelion.
The benefit gained by Pelion and its villages from this kind of tourism is multifaceted, since apart from the ‘hidden treasures’ of the area’s culture, which are revealed and become known to the wider public, they increase also the tourism in periods of time and months that it is normally recessed, constituting an important source of income for the shopkeepers of the area.
