This heavenly mountain that includes all the beauty of the greek nature! Its higher peak is Pliasidi (1551m.). The eastern side descends steeply towards the Aegean Sea and the western one towards the Pagasitic Gulf.

Ancient times

The findings of ancient times are few. About ten small towns were built on Pelion’s slopes. Ruins of low importance are scattered all over the mountain. Columns of an unknown temple and geometric graves were found in Theotokou's ruins of walls in the villages of Paou, Lehonia and Keramidi and pottery shards in the Hill of Episkopi in Ano Volos area. Most civilazation activity occured on the lowlands around Volos city and can be witnessed at Sesklo and Dimini ancient ruins. 

Middle ages

After the 12th century in Eastern and Western Pelion there was the development of some villages at the same time they were full of monks, who established on small monasteries on the sloples of the mountain. On the 13th century the monks life was flourishing in Pelion and big monasteries were built in Makrinitsa, on Episkopi’s hill. Today, unfortunately almost nothing has been saved of those times. Only some architectural parts there are left now in after byzantine temples, such as “Panagias” in Makrinitsa, “Agios Nikolaos” in Portaria and “Episkopis” in Ano Volos.

Ottoman empire/ occupation

In the beginning of the fifteenth century the whole region of Thessaly was occupied by the Turks. Then a lot of Greeks from the whole area of Thessaly moved to Mount Pelion for security. Villages were being developed around the monasteries. The development of the pelioritic villages was a result of the privileges that the Turks had conceded to them. The region of Pelion was self-administrated and belonged to Valide-Hanum, Sultan’s mother. Sultan Mahmut visited Pelion for hunting (in one of his visits to the city of Larissa) and got surprised by its beauty, offering the region as a present to his mother.

The taxes that the villages of Pelion had to pay to the Turks were much lower compared to other parts of Greece. Significant consequence of this situation was Pilio’s economic development. The local products of handicrafts of that times were silk, olives and figs. Later they were producing shoes and other kinds of clothing. As the commerce was organised through agencies in Constantinopole, Smyrne and Moldavia, the products were being exported by ships, constructed in Mitzela and Trikeri, or on horses till Vienna and Budapest.

The inhabitants of Pelion became leaders of the economic revival of the occupied Greece. They were becoming rich not only economically but spiritually, while they were coming in touch with the more progressive Europeans. The result was a very important school and a rich library that were established in Zagora. Rigas Feraios, the most important representative of the Greek Renaissance, studied there. Milies, also, had an innovative school equipped with organs of physics and chemistry and a famous library, that still exists. Daniel Filippides and Anthimos Gazis, representatives of greek literature at that period, were coming from Milies. Together with Gregorios Constadas, Kallinikos III (Patriarch of Constantinopole) and Filippos Ioannou, they played an important role in the economical, political and spiritual activity of Pelion during the period of the turkish occupation. During that time, in Zagora mercantile silk yarns and woolen fabrics flourished, while Makrynitsa developed trade and tanning.