GREECE: UNSPOILED
Despite a little film called Mamma Mia, Tsagarada remains a wellkept secret. As if fashioned by the gods themselves, this is the Greek idyll of the neo-classical imagination. Story and photography by Marc Andrews.
Despite Mamma Mia, Tsagarada remains a well-kept secret.
Movie buffs, Meryl Streep fans and, surely, every gay man in the world knows that the successful 2008 Mamma Mia! film, based on the successful stage musical based on the successful songs of ABBA, was filmed on location on the small island of Skopelos in northern Greece.
What most people don’t know, however, is that the pivotal Dancing Queen sequence, in which Meryl Streep leads the jiving emancipation of Greek women through the olive groves to a subsequent and empowering plunge into the welcoming waters of the
Aegean Sea, was filmed nearby at a much more secluded and, arguably, lovelier spot.
The tiny seaside village that can claim this fanciful Hollywood honour is Damouhari, hidden away in Tsagarada on the Pelion area of the Greek coastline. As if flawlessly positioned by the gods themselves on a sequestered part of the mainland, it’s a miniscule slither of idyllic Mediterranean coast boasting a picture-perfect bay, where the scene was shot. There’s a hilltop lookout at the centre of the bay with a hoisted Greek flag overlooking the gorgeous turquoise water and white-rock beach.
A makeshift pontoon, created especially for the film by its producers, is gone, but the locals haven’t forgotten their place in cinema history with numerous plaques to commemorate Meryl and her apparently beloved American hairdresser. These are artfully placed about the town’s charming, whitewashed walls.
Meryl, her hairdresser and the pontoon may be gone but Damouhari’s natural beauty remains. On moonlight nights you may hear echoes of “you can dance, you can jive” carried on the gentle evening breeze across the water. Well… possibly. You can most definitely stay in the cleverly named Damma Mia guesthouse on the village beachfront, which also offers sea views of Skopelos and the even closer island of Skiathos.
For centuries, Greece has beguiled visitors from all over the world. To this day, tourists are eager to experience its ancient traditions, artisan cuisine and sedate pace of life. That’s especially the case in this classically Greek
A hilltop lookout at the centre of the bay overlooks the gorgeous turquoise water and white-rock beach.
secret escape, centred round the port city and airport hub of Volos.
If archaeological ruins and pagan artefacts are top of your Greek holiday list, don’t miss the anthropological museum in Volos, with treasures rivalling some of the bigger finds in the Greek capital of Athens and its next biggest city of Thessaloniki, which is only a few hours drive away south. To get your ancient history fix, spend an hour being impressed by curios, jewellery and even dead bodies from thousands of years ago.
Plaques to commemorate Meryl and her beloved American hairdresser artfully adorn whitewashed walls.
Aside from its historical cachet, the Pelion region is famous among foodies for its abundant organic chestnuts, natural forest honey and crispy dark red apples. It’s the kind of place where you can amble down a serene hillside lane and suddenly find yourself engulfed by fruit orchards, blackberry bushes and wild fig trees dripping with ripe fruit, caramelized by the dazzling southern European summer sunshine.
If you’re more about capturing seaside rays with the bonus of dreamy instagrammable tapered blue, gold and red sunsets at twilight you’re also in luck. Two of the beaches to be discovered in this under-visited region are so outstanding we’d like to keep them a secret,
just between you and us, so they retain their unspoiled beauty and carefree Greek charm.
The first, Mylopotamos, can be found nestled at the bottom of a winding mountain path and, so I was told by the proud locals, is considered one of the top three beaches not just in Greece or Europe but the world. A big call, but they might not be exaggerating.
Mylopotamos is a pristine beach with a natural rock doorway leading through to another beach boasting a series of striking, cavernous caves behind it. This is spectacular enough but add to this the alluring azure water and schools of fish to snorkel with. On the beach is a tiny taverna delivering killer cocktails, plus a local favourite – a refreshing, foamy, chilled coffee served in a long glass. This is pretty close to heaven on Earth. Those Greek Gods knew what they were doing.
Fruit orchards, blackberry bushes and wild fig trees dripping with fruit, caramelized by the summer sunshine.
The other beach gem is somewhat more remote, requiring a good half hour’s clamber down a mountainside, but offering breathtaking views of the bay below on the way. Fakistra Beach is secluded, quiet and even has its own stray dog, who will steal your shoes and bury them if you don’t feed him.
Along the path to the beach is another walkway leading to the historical “hidden schools”. During the Ottoman Empire, when the ruling Turks forbade the Greeks from speaking in their native tongue, children would be brought to secret caves in the middle of the night to learn Greek.
That’s Greece for you, though. Every time you think it’s all about the dazzling landscape, you’re reminded of the depth of the country’s history.
Pelion is also popular among adventure enthusiasts for its wide array of outdoor activities. Canyoning in particular is a must here thanks, primarily, to the numerous mountain waterfalls. Spending a day plunging into refreshing water in a wetsuit after rappelling down steep rocky cliffs might not be everyone’s idea of a great day’s vacation in Greece, but it won us over. The fact we had a very tall, handsome Dutch guy along to inspire us – and cheerfully divebomb us the entire time – helped.
As a wintery side note, some years it snows so heavily here that they even have a ski resort on the mountain top that opens for business. Sadly, climate change is ruining this natural quirk. The once annual snow season has become more of an occasional anomaly.
Volos is smack bang in the middle of the map between Athens and Thessaloniki and there are daily flights from both cities. During the northern hemisphere summer months there’s also direct three-hour flights to Volos from London.
If you’re after a perfect Greek adventure that’s not yet overrun by tourists like Mykonos, Santorini and stinking hot Athens, try Pelion’s little slice of heaven. In the cinematic splendour of Damouhari, reconnect with your innerdancing queen.