Halkidiki

In recent years, the Halkidiki Peninsula has become a highly sought after destination for a holiday in Greece. Until recently it was little considered especially by an Italian public, but little by little it is starting to arouse curiosity and push many people to discover it.

It is located north of Greece just below Macedonia, land of myths and legends as well as homeland of the Great Alexander the Great, the youngest and most powerful conqueror in all of history who reached as far as northern India, expanding the Greek world more than anyone else in the world. world.

Its shape resembles three fingers that stretch into the sea, a natural extension of the land. The Halkidiki Peninsula, in addition to being beautiful from a naturalistic point of view, is also full of history and offers unique sites in the world. The ancient Athenians, the Byzantine monks, the Roman colonists and the Ottomans passed through here, a beautiful mix of cultures that shaped and influenced the entire territory.

Its origins date back to 200,000 years ago as evidenced by the skull of Petralona found in 1960 and then moved on to the classical period when the ancient cities of Olynthos, Toroni Mende and Potidea were born which, leaving the coalition in 432 AD, triggered a series of circumstances which brought war to the Peloponnese. In 200 AD the Romans tried to invade the coastal cities but Philip the Macedonian King prevented their success and then fell in 168 AD, until the Byzantine period and then passed under monastic power in the Middle Ages. Then follows the Ottoman period, perhaps the most devastating for the Halkidiki Peninsula. Ancient Byzantine monuments are destroyed, Muslim immigrants are imported to fill, plunder the cities and impose heavy taxes, also plundering the products of the land such as silver, which was very present in Chalkidiki in distant times. In 1821 a revolutionary force attempted to retake the Peninsula but was repressed by the Ottomans. In 1919, another Greek defeat against Turkey led to other Greek Orthodox exiles being driven out of Turkey, making coexistence very difficult from many points of view. We arrive at the Second World War with the Nazi occupation which gave rise to a brutal civil war and then settled in the second half of the century, liberating Halkidiki and making it grow economically, thus becoming an important tourist destination.

As we said above, the Halkidiki Peninsula is made up of three phalanges, the first one you meet in the west is Kassandra, a favorite destination for its lively nightlife and very close to Thessaloniki, less than 100 kilometres, a favorite place for weekends. A mix of rural life, fairytale sea, almost no wind and breathtaking natural beauty. A dynamic area perfect for both families with children and young people, Kassandra manages to satisfy anyone.

The power plant is Sithonia and here we can say that Mother Nature has truly given the best of herself. Immense pine forests that sometimes reach all the way to the sea, creating wonderful corners where the green of the vegetation and the blue of the sea create incredible plays of colour, long beaches of golden or very white sand lapped by turquoise or emerald waters where you can abandon yourself and not think about nothing, accommodation facilities and comfort for all budgets and sunsets especially in Vorvourou that will leave you breathless with a succession of small coves which with the setting of the sun create a palette of colors that will leave you breathless.

And we arrive at the last finger, the mystical Mount Athos, a pilgrimage destination and an extremely important area from a religious point of view, so much so that it is considered almost with the Vatican for the Orthodox. An area rich in monasteries, there are twenty of them, all with their own particularities, immersed in an uncontaminated and wild nature where peace reigns and a magical atmosphere can be felt. Here there are six beautiful islets called Le Drenia, a sort of natural pools that can only be reached by boat where the water is something indescribable. The only sore point: Mount Athos is off-limits to the female universe, only men can visit it and I must have a special permit which must be requested several months in advance and for exclusively scientific or religious reasons. We ladies are only allowed to admire it from the sea at a distance of 500 meters...

According to Greek mythology, a great battle took place in Halkidiki between Zeus and other Olympian Gods against the Giants. The leader of the colossi Cassandros was buried in Kassandra, the second phalanx was dedicated to the son of the God Poseidon Sithon while Athos owes its name to the giant who threw an enormous boulder at Zeus, missing him.

Certainly a different Greece but with a lot of charm and beauties to be discovered.