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Location
SKOTINA
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The resort lies on the coast of Scotina, East
Olympus’ Department of Pieria‘s municipality, just a few kilometers away from mountain
Olympus, a place overshadowed by the residence of the mythical Gods themselves. The
resort is located where the mountain meets
the sapphire crystal clear waters of the
Aegean.
The resort is roughly 60 kilometers from the
city of Larissa and you can get there by taking the A1 from Thessaloniki, the capital of
Macedonia. You can either use train or buses
from Thessaloniki or Larissa to Katerini, and
stop in Skotina. If you arrive in Thessaloniki
you can take the train or bus to Larissa and
stop in Skotina. The distance between Thessaloniki and Skotina is about 100 Kilometers.
The resort is mainly being used as a summer
resort for the Hellenic Air Force’s personnel.
The entire estate covers 48 acres.
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Facilities
The resort comprises of a total of 16 houses, 1 V.I.P. room and another 126 apartments available
for the Resort’s staff and guests.
Each apartment’s capacity varies from 1 to 5 guests.
The resort itself accommodates various amenities concerning the guests’ everyday needs, such
as a mini-market, access to three different snack/refreshment beach bars, restaurant and an organized beach, which is fully equipped to ensure the indulgence of the guests in the clear waters
as well as water sports, with trained life guard support standing by.
The cost per person is as follow:
Breakfast - approximately 5 euros
Dinner - approximately 8 euros
Lunch - approximately 7 euros
For the protection of the environment is a very high priority for us, and all effluence are highly
processed to ensure the habitat remains pristine.
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Castle of
Platamona
At the foot of Olympus, at a hill next to the sea is
raised the Castle of Platamonas, built between the
6th -10th century. It is one of the most imposing
and important Medieval castles in Greece . It has
a polygonal form and surrounds with walls the top
of the hill. In the Acropolis is a tall imposing tower.
"The Byzantine Castle of Platamonas (platamonas
= a long beach) is located in the southern part of
Pieria, on the side of the national motorway, on the
top of a small hill by the sea. It is built at a key-position, jist opposite the "passage" of the Valley of
Tempi, which has connected Thessaly to Pieria
since the remote antiquity. It has been supported
reasonably that the city Heraclia or Heraclion
which was probably built in the 5th century BC,
was located in exactly the same place. The castle
-its greatest part at least-was built by the Franc
king of Thessaloniki...
Dion
At the foot of Olympus and hardly 5 km from the
Pierian coasts are found the Ancient Dion, the Holy
city of Macedonians. The first acme of the city is
placed in the years of Arhelaou (414-399 B.C.),
when the King lightened the feasts with scenic
fights. Dion meets a new acme in Roman years. In
the 2nd and 3rd century A.D., Dion lives a Greek
regeneration. The end of life in the city comes in
the 5th century A.D, when catastrophic earthquakes, floods and other calamities cause its end.
Its residents abandon it and go up in the low
tumps of Olympus. The sanctuaries of the gods
with the theatres (Greek and Roman) and the
studium were located in a big area outside the city.
The researches outside the walls of the city gave
many facts for the worship of Macedonians. Sculptures and signs were found in the sanctuary of
Dios and Dionysos. The city was very well fortified
and had many paved streets. The streets encom-
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pass building squares with private houses, public
buildings, shops and laboratories. Impressive are
the public baths, of 4000 m2 with a splendid water
supply and sewerage system. Admirable are the
underground heating system and the insulation of
the walls.
Livithra
An ancient city with an Acropolis, homeland of the
mythical Orpheus, it was situated between Ancient
Leptokarya and Skotina, at the entrance to the
great chasm which divides Lower from Upper
Olympus
Excavations of the site were begun by the Byzantine Society of Thessaloniki in 1954. The repeated
flooding of the area created the beds of the
streams of Zilianas.
The Archaeological site extends for over 1,500 sq,
kilometers (the city, Acropolis, Cemetery, etc.) surrounded by the beds of the streams, which were
covered by age old plane forests.
This extends over the vast bulk of Mount Olympus
being a continuation of this historical and archaeological area, and includes:
a) An enclosed Acropolis (about 15 stremmata in
extent) which appears to date from the Hellenistic
age. This place shows traces of the bed of the Grivas torrent, the remains of whose banks protected
the ancient surrounding walls, built of squared
stone.
b) The ancient settlement which was built to the
North West and above The Acropolis. This date
from prehistoric times to the Byzantine era.
c) An ancient cemetery possibly dating from the
prehistoric period and the early Greek age
(Mykenes, the Iron Age and early historical times.)
Stone walls, internal floor spaces, cobbled roads
outside, coins and objects of worship are those
things which have been excavated in the early
stages of the project.
Thesssaloniki
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece and the
capital of Macedonia, the nation's largest region. The
Thessaloniki Urban Area is the largest city in the wider
geographical region of Macedonia. According to the
2001 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a population of 363,987.
Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe; its
commercial port is also of great importance for Greece
and its southeast European hinterland.
Thessaloniki retains several Ottoman and Jewish structures as well as a large number of Byzantine architectural
monuments. The city has hosted an annual International
Trade Fair, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival,
and the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora.
The distance between Thessaloniki and Skotina is about
100 Kimoleters.
Vergina
About 12 km outside of Veroia, and 48 km west of Thessaloniki.
The discovery of the royal tombs of ancient Aegae in
1977 by Greek Archeology Professor Manolis Andronikos
was one of the major archeological events of the 20th
century, that caused a whirlwind of historical interest and
speculation.
The city of Aegae was the ancient capital of Macedonia
and remained the center of social and cultural life of the
Kingdom even after all administrative functions were
moved to the city of Pella. In 336 BC, King Philip II of
Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, was assassinated in the theater of Aegae. Alexander rose the
throne and set out on the conquests that created his legend.
The excavations of Professor Andronikos lasted for a
number of years and concluded in 1977, with the discovery of a series of untouched royal tombs, buried under a
hill, one of which belongs to Philip II.
The finds caused international excitement and went on
an international tour in 1980-82, that drew hundreds of
thousands of admirers, in the United States and Europe.
Professor Andronikos wrote about his quest and about
the importance of the finds in an exceptional tome, published by Ekdotini Athinon.
The Museum is built around the tombs and is indeed an
exceptional exhibition space.
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