I may have written about Argyropouli on my previous visit, but I make no excuse for doing so again because I love this mountain village. It's about a 40 minute drive from Almyrida and Plaka, along the National Road and up into olive groves and mountain peaks. The sort of place that makes me wonder what life would have been like if I'd been born there. Not a wish, you understand, just a wonder...
The name literally means silver springs - and the lower part of the village is a celebration of water, with springs that cascade in eternal abundance from the mountain slopes and nurture enormous trees, creating cool shade. The springs are channelled into waterfalls, waterwheels and ponds of trout and enormous sturgeon that dominate the fancier end of the menu at the many local tavernas.
On a recent visit, we opted for more modest mezze and were delighted with courgette flowers stuffed with rice, courgette balls containing the green and yellow types, slightly spicy meat balls and aubergine salad, which is a really tasty dip of aubergine mixed with yogurt and other stuff, ideal to enjoy with fresh crusty bread.
The upper part of Argyropouli is a place where avocados grow in abundance and buzzards fly overhead - and there are stunning views. This place was a Roman settlement and you can walk a circuit of the upper village taking in an ancient cistern, an elaborate mosaic pavement and tiny Orthodox churches, one of which incorporates Roman columns.
The name literally means silver springs - and the lower part of the village is a celebration of water, with springs that cascade in eternal abundance from the mountain slopes and nurture enormous trees, creating cool shade. The springs are channelled into waterfalls, waterwheels and ponds of trout and enormous sturgeon that dominate the fancier end of the menu at the many local tavernas.
On a recent visit, we opted for more modest mezze and were delighted with courgette flowers stuffed with rice, courgette balls containing the green and yellow types, slightly spicy meat balls and aubergine salad, which is a really tasty dip of aubergine mixed with yogurt and other stuff, ideal to enjoy with fresh crusty bread.
The upper part of Argyropouli is a place where avocados grow in abundance and buzzards fly overhead - and there are stunning views. This place was a Roman settlement and you can walk a circuit of the upper village taking in an ancient cistern, an elaborate mosaic pavement and tiny Orthodox churches, one of which incorporates Roman columns.
There is also a
gateway lintel with a Latin inscription that translates as, ‘All in this world is smoke and shadow’.
I got quite interested in that very philosophical statement, thinking that perhaps it harked back to an ancient Greek spirituality where overnight 'incubation' in the temple would reveal the illusory nature of what we perceive to be physical reality. All very quantum physics. However, it turned out that this cautionary note actually refers to a medieval army that accepted an invitation to a wedding, only to be ambushed and slaughtered. Very much more mammon than spirit then....
Many places you can visit in Greece are sadly lacking in information, but in Argyropuli the local community have got together and produced a leaflet in English and German giving visitors a map and description of the various sites, which makes one's wander round the village so much more meaningful.
I think the project was spearheaded by a lively German lady who runs a shop selling toiletries and healthy things made from avocado, but it's clear that the Greek residents do not resent tourists because a friendly elderly man led us down a narrow path that we might have missed, especially to show us some ancient buildings. I also caught sight of these very Greek shutters and a table outside a tiny house. (Thanks Dominic for my new camera:-))
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