Greece 3 - Larisa, Metsovo

Today we will leave Leptokaria and move through Larisa to Metsovo.

Aoos reservoir near Metsovo

We get up early to take one last dip in the sea before our journey.

Beaches of Leptokaria

Then we load up the car and make the hour-long drive to Larisa. It is a town located in the central part of Greece, surrounded by beautiful nature and rich history. Outside the town we fill up a full tank of LPG. Having a gas car is a great advantage. At the time of our visit, gasoline cost around two Euros, while gas cost half that. At 10 kg of gas per 100 km, it was quite a big cost saving. Moreover, LPG is sold almost everywhere, so there is no problem with its availability either. In Larissa we park the car near the bus station. First we go to the church of Zodochos Pege. One of the most important attractions of this church is the icon of the Virgin Mary, which is located here. This icon was miraculously found near a spring that was considered to be healing, and became the destination of many pilgrims who came here in search of healing. Therefore, today the church serves as an important pilgrimage site for the faithful of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Larisa - Church of Zodochos Pege

Then we move to the centre. We will reach Lambrouli Square (also known as Liberty Square), located at the top of Frourio Hill , the city's ancient acropolis. This square is named after Pavlos Lambrouli, who was an important fighter for Greek independence in the 19th century.

There are many historic buildings, restaurants, cafes and shops on the square. Some of the most important buildings include the Bedesten, an Ottoman enclosed marketplace built at the end of the 15th century. Lambrouli Square is also the venue for many cultural events and festivals, such as concerts, theatre performances, markets and other social events. The remains of the original church of St Achilles are also located near the square. The temple is not named after a brave warrior, but after the first bishop of the city, St. Achilles. The temple lay on the site of his burial place, where many miraculous phenomena happened, and after 300 years people decided to build a temple on it.

Larisa - Lambrouli Square

On the outskirts of the centre is the Modern Church of Saint Achilles, which, unlike the historic one, is still standing.

Larisa - The modern temple of St. Achilles

The biggest highlight of this city is the Ancient Theatre, located on Eleftheriou Venizelou Street, which is full of cafes and restaurants. We also visit one cafe right across the street from the theatre and have an ice cream. Here too we get free water with it. After the ice cream we return to the car and continue on.

Larisa - Eleftheriou Venizelou Street

Larisa - Antique theatre

Next stop is the town of Trikala, where we plan to grab lunch. Here we reconsider our original plan and reschedule Meteora for tomorrow. Instead, we'll go straight to Metsovo and make a short detour to the Aoos reservoir, where we plan to take a dip. The road to Metsovo, while having nice views, is winding and slow and endless in five people in such a small car. We will go around the reservoir almost completely because we can't find a place near the road with an entrance to the water. The water was pretty cold, so we just got wet, took pictures, and climbed out quickly. After that we made our last trip to Metsovo, which was nearby.

Trikala - Lunch

Meteora

Aoos reservoir near Metsovo

We finally arrive in Metsovo until the early evening. We are staying at the hotel Asteri Metsova. Metsovo is a small village in the mountains that you wouldn't think you were in Greece and its character and buildings are more reminiscent of Austria. With its connection to the motorway, it's also a popular Greek destination for skiing.