After a week spent at the sea in Lefkada and Parga, we decided to change the scenery and move for two days to the city of Edessa near the border with North Macedonia.
To get here, we didn't follow the shorter and faster route on the highway, but we used a detour route through the Pindus mountains towards the border with Albania.
We passed through villages scattered on the ridges of the mountains and we were amazed by the fact that they have an impeccable road structure, with asphalt everywhere and of good quality. We made short stops for rest and photos, we admired the snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains, and we filled our lungs with fresh mountain air.
We made a longer stop before entering the town of Konitsa. Here is the famous arched stone bridge over the Aoos River. Once the bridge was a road bridge, but now access is only allowed to pedestrians. Near the bridge, you can admire a small but beautiful waterfall and a restaurant on the water's edge. Along the river is a beautiful trail that leads to the Aoos Gorge. We crossed a small part of it and admired the green and blue colors of the water.
Liga R.
We made another bigger stop in the city of Kastoria, actually in a large parking lot on the edge of the lake with the same name. Here we took a short walk along the shore of the lake and ate at a Greek restaurant. From the terrace of the restaurant, we could admire some houses arranged in an amphitheater, somewhat similar to the arrangement in the center of Parga. In my personal opinion... the lake seemed a bit unkempt, it can't even be compared to a similar one in Austria, for example.
Olivia S.
Arriving in Edessa, we checked in quickly, and taking advantage of the fact that we were close to the center, we skipped the rest hour and went for a walk following a randomly chosen itinerary. After not even 100 meters we arrived at the Edessa Waterfalls Park, a recreation area with a children's playground, many flowers, and trees, with a tourist information center, restaurants, bars, and cafes. I scanned the park a bit, then went down some landscaped steps and arrived at the Water Museum, an exhibition in the open air, where you can find, among other things, machines specific to a water mill.
Immediately after the museum is the famous Karanos waterfall, nicknamed the "Niagara of Greece". Although there are signs in the park that lead to the waterfall, we arrived at it guided by the noise produced by the falling water. I don't know what sensation my comrades had, but I was stuck for the moment when I caught sight of that huge waterfall. I have seen many waterfalls around Europe, some with high water flow, some very high, but this one has an impressive explosive drop. In fact, it is mentioned in tourist brochures as the largest and most spectacular waterfall in the Balkans and South-Eastern Europe.
Liga R.
Decades ago, the waterfall did not have this flow of water and flowed almost unnoticed in a wild place full of vegetation and inaccessible due to the steep slopes. Over time, probably as a result of a weather event, some measures were taken, access roads to it were built and improvements began. The most important one was made in 1942 by the German occupier, who, with the help of the locals, built here access roads, viewpoints, flower beds, and ponds. Then. in 1960, the Greeks completed the arrangement and the place became a very well-known tourist destination, frequented by tourists from all over the world.
Alex C.
Among the facilities are the alleys crossed in steps and the numerous lookout points that accompany the waterfall. We only went down the first two terraces-belvedere points, because below the sprays of water, brought by the wind, wet you to the skin. For the rest, I watched and filmed the waterfall from all angles and even entered under the water vault through a corridor dug into the stone, which leads to a small cave. Even here you can't escape the splashes of water, and the air temperature is noticeably low.
The waterfall has a height of 70 meters, and the volume of falling water is directed by the authorities. We found this out by accident. I visited the waterfall twice: the first time on a Sunday and the second time on Monday. Well, when we visited it the second time we were disappointed... nothing of the spectacular waterfall seen the day before. The flow of the waterfall was less than half, the height of the fall had also decreased, there were no more splashes of water, tourists as many as you could count on your fingers.
The waterfall is fed by the Edesseos river, which springs from the Voras mountains, crosses the Edessa Gorge, and is captured in the Agras hydropower basin. From the dam, the water is directed, through a concrete channel and sprinkled with mini-waterfalls, into the Karanos waterfall. There is no schedule for visiting the waterfall, but I suspect that outside of the weekend the flow of water is choked at the dam. Or maybe it was something accidental that happened during our visit. Maybe TravelToShare`s authors, who have been here, can help us with possibly other information.
Gabriella Emerson
The city of Edessa also has other tourist attractions: the old town, Orthodox churches, Byzantine churches, a mosque, and some archaeological sites. We visited the Greek Orthodox Church, near the waterfall park, and close to the accommodation, the Eastern Greek Church. For the rest, we preferred to walk from the waterfall, up the Edeosseos river, to the historic town. I passed through the park studded with centuries-old trees, crossed the river from one footbridge to another, and finally arrived at the Byzantine Bridge, a stone construction over 600 years old.
Another tourist destination near Edessa (about 30 km) is the spa resort Loutra Pozar ("waters under fire"). It is a resort set up at the foot of a mountain from which thermal waters spring up at a temperature, I estimated, of 35-38 degrees Celsius, where people come to be treated for some ailments. It is said that the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates himself, worked as a doctor at Pozar.
We got here easily, on a road winding through extensive cherry, apricot, and kiwi orchards, the GPS leading us directly to a large free parking lot. The natural setting is charming, pine forests, lots of vegetation, and a lake with very cold water that captures thermal springs from place to place.
Alex C.
I walked through the bed of this river, whose depth does not exceed the ankle, and tried the hot-cold effect of the Scottish shower type. Apart from the large pool, set up a little below the place where we stayed, on the river bank there are two smaller pools set up in the rock.
In one of them, paying three euros, we splashed around for about three hours. Next to the pool, there are rooms with lockers for changing clothes, sanitary facilities, and showers, all free of charge. The splashing was a very pleasant and comforting one... warm water, forest left and right, river and waterfall near the pool, natural massage made by the fall of thermal water, etc.
This is how our Greek stay went from the end of June, a period without a single drop of rain. It was, in my opinion, and that of the crew, a success from all points of view.
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