Fir forests, open horizons, oxygen and breaths of coolness, beautiful villages with scattered traditional settlements sprouting on the slopes of the Pindos mountains, hidden secrets of nature, the valley of Acheloosis everything that impresses the visitor in mountainous Artato Municipality of Georgiou Karaiskakis.
We left the city of Arta and took the road to the mountains
Beautiful route, although uphill, with the image of nature rewarding the visitor at every turn. After 57 kilometers we arrive at Astrochori, a reference village for the region, as it is located in the center of the mountain range and is a starting point for excursions to the unknown and unadulterated place.
In Astrochori we met Diogenis Dimos, a young man, a municipal councilor, who willingly accepted to show us around the area. As he told us, although he grew up in Athens, he returned with his family to Astrochori, following his vision, to make his place an alternative destination, so that it does not “disappear”.
“Seeing for so many years, that my place is emptying, slowly becoming deserted, I think that I can give new life to my places as a new presence, as a new person. Here is another Greece, it is the mountainous Greece with its unknown beauties, its special diversity, the rivers, the hills, the bald mountains, the large fir forests…”, he characteristically tells us.
We started the “exploration” of the area with Diogenes as our guide, who offers us an excellent experience in the unknown swimming pools, the soudes, as the locals call them, in a tributary of the Dichomeritis river. We leave Astrochori and head towards Ritsiana, a cool 5 km route through the fir trees. We learn that the Dichomeritis river originates from the Athamani mountains and empties into the artificial lake at the Pournario dam.
After a descent, the car stops and we face a small canyon. Next to the flow of the river and among carved rock formations, a natural swimming pool with blue-green waters impresses.
Following the guide’s instructions, we begin exploring the canyon. We walk over stable large stones, in and beside the river, to reach the large swimming pool with the waterfall. The landscape is magical. Divine creation. It is a place for swimming, for hiking, for a life full of untouched natural beauty.
The Soudes are 1.2 kilometers from the Ristian square.
Diogenis Dimos tells us that an effort is being made to highlight the natural attraction. The road was recently improved, signs were placed so that the visitor can easily find the route.
We leave Soudes and a few kilometers further, the view of the Acheloos valley is breathtaking. The river level has dropped and creates a wonderful relief between the mountains and the plain. The river is the natural boundary of the Prefectures of Arta, Trikala and Karditsa. In many parts of its flow, small beaches are created, where the locals enjoy cool dips in the summer.
The aim is to highlight my place, says Diogenes, as an alternative destination or another holiday proposal, as the area offers many activities. However, he states that not all the necessary infrastructures are yet in place, but some private initiatives are slowly starting.
On the way back to Astrochori, we go to old watermills and watermills, monuments of the pre-industrial era, which must be preserved and restored, as part of the culture of the region, but also attractions.
Time seems to have stood still in an old stone-built school. It is the 2nd Primary School of Astrochori, as stated on the old sign. Once the place was flooded with children’s voices. In the 1960s and 1970s, people began to leave the place and seek better fortune in the big cities. The halls are “living witnesses” of that era. The wooden desks, the blackboard, the posters from the national anniversaries, old maps, give off the flavor of post-war Greece.
With a little funding, Diogenes Dimos tells us, it could become a Museum of School Life.
Next to the school and above a stream with cold water and over-Aenovian plane trees, stands the Holy Church of Agia Barbara, which was built in 1860 in the catholicon of an old monastery, which had been looted and destroyed by Kurt Pasha.
As we return to Astrochori, Diogenes Dimos points out to us that you must discover the mountainous Arta. It has gifts of nature, history, culture, which remain unknown, because it was not given the opportunity until today.
In fact, as he says, he is trying to motivate young people in the area, so that with collective work, a spirit of volunteerism and the help of the State, it can emerge as a destination.
Source: RES-MPE
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