Kastoria
Kastoria is a lakeside town in Macedonia which prospered with the fur trade and today has some handsome mansions, museums and many Byzantine churches to visit.
Visitors to the Greek islands and the mainland holiday resorts may feel they are seeing the most beautiful parts of the country, but the more adventurous travellers who find themselves in towns such as Kastoria in Macedonia may disagree.
It has a magnificent location around a headland that juts into the lake of the same name, though in typical Greek fashion this also has an alternative name: Lake Orestiada. There are cobbled streets and hidden alleyways, and the geography of the town, with water surrounding it and almost turning it into an island, means that it is very easy to get lost or disorientated.
Kastoria is about 700 m (2,300 ft) above sea level and has a population of around 33,000.
Kastoria’s Byzantine Churches
Getting lost is no bad things as some of the town’s best features are hidden away, like its numerous Byzantine churches. There are 54 of these, some of them over 1000 years old, such as the 9th century church of Taxiarkhes tís Mitropoleos, which is the oldest in the town. It has some good frescoes, added over the centuries, while in the 10th century church of Agios Stefanos there is an unusual women’s gallery.
Most of the churches are normally locked and to see inside them you will either have to be lucky and be there when there is a service or they are being cleaned, or track down the keys normally held at the Byzantine Museum.
Kastoria’s Museums
The Byzantine or Archaeological Museum
The Byzantine Museum is only small but is worth seeing as it has some beautifully detailed and coloured examples of icons from Kastoria’s churches. The museum is situated at the top of the town just off the main Platia Dexamenis, but if asking the way bear in mind that many local people refer to it as the Archaeological Museum.
The Folklore Museum
The town also has a Folklore Museum that merits a longer visit, not least for the building that houses it, the Aïvazi Mansion. This is a 17th-century mansion which was lived in until 1972 when it was converted into this fine museum containing household items, costumes, agricultural implements and a restored kitchen and wine cellar. There are also good displays on the fur trade to which Kastoria owed its former wealth.
Other Museums
Kastoria also has a couple of smaller, specialist museums, worth seeking out if you have a little more time. There is Costume Museum and a Monuments Museum.
Aquarium of Kastoria
The Aquarium of Kastoria is the largest freshwater aquarium in the Balkans, dedicated to showcasing the rich aquatic life of Greece’s lakes and rivers. It has 49 tanks housing 56 fish species including endemic and native varieties. It also has a fascinating replica of Lake Orestiada.
Kastoria Fur Trade
The very name of the town comes from the Greek word for beavers, kastoria, and it was their fine fur which made Kastoria the centre of the Greek fur trade from the 17th century onwards. Even though these had sadly been hunted to extinction by the 19th century, the furriers continued to import fur, and still do so today. Scraps and offcuts come in from various countries and are turned into coats, gloves, hats and other items which you will see for sale in some of the shops, although a lot of the material is immediately re-exported.
Handsome Mansions
The wealth that was created over the centuries resulted in some very handsome mansions being built, and in addition to seeing inside the one that is now the Folklore Museum, there are other impressive examples around the town, which can be viewed from outside.
Several of these are located in the streets within the vicinity of the Folklore Museum. Look for the Skoutari, Natzi, Basara and Immanouil mansions. They are typically built of stone on the ground floor but with more elaborate upper floors with wooden balconies, sgraffito plasterwork and occasionally stained glass in the windows. The living quarters are on these upper floors, the ground floor being used for storage, as you will see in the Folklore Museum.
Lakeside Walk
If you take a stroll along the lakeshore, which is a very pleasant walk especially in the spring or autumn when the many plane and beech trees are at their best, you will see the unusually-shaped local boats tied up at the water’s edge.
The lake’s waters are rather polluted, but nevertheless still harbour some wildlife, such as frogs and terrapins. It’s also home to around 200 bird species. A walk all the way round the headland would take you past another of the town’s attractions, the Monastery of Mavriotíssa, in its forested setting. It is no longer a working monastery, only two churches remaining, but these date back to the 11th and the 14th centuries and have well-preserved frescoes that are worth seeking out.
Why Visit Kastoria?
Kastoria is a lakeside jewel of Western Macedonia, blending Byzantine history, fur trade heritage, and serene natural landscapes. With its churches, mansions, museums, lake promenade and lively traditions, it offers a unique glimpse into Greece’s cultural and natural diversity.
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