Platamon is a resort town located in Greece on the Riviera of Olympus, in central Macedonia.
Platamon is one of the plethora resorts, in Thermaic Gulf, that lie at the foot Olympus Mountain. All are famed for their sprawling beaches starting with Paralia Katerini, continuing with Olympic Beach, Leptokaria, Skotina and ending with Nei Pori. Platamon in Greek means "The Long Beach".
Some sources give as the origin of its name, the sycamore trees that majestically spread their crowns over the houses with colonial architecture. The town is also a harbor for yachts. Along its shores, there are many restaurants where you can serve fish dishes.
Platamon has a permanent population of about 1500 inhabitants, but in the summer, when tourists arrive (mostly from Serbia and Romania, but also from Greece) the population reaches 120 000.
The town's big attraction is the Venetian Castle that dominates the surroundings, situated on a hill on the Aegean coast.
We discovered this holiday destination by chance 5 years ago. The owner of one of the resorts on the Olympic Riviera, Nikos Bozas, was presenting his properties on one of the Romanian TV channels. Being also a Romanian citizen, Nikos runs the Niko Paradise hotel and the nearby Bozas villa togeather with his son Stelios Bozas. They also run a Romanian-Greek travel agency: Platamon Travel.
Until then we had never set foot in the land of the Olympian Gods, now having the opportunity to spend The New Year's Eve at the hotel owned by the Bozas family. After a wonderful week there, at the turn of the years, the next visits came naturally over following years. And there were not a few, but seven or eight.
The landmark of the resort is the castle built by the Byzantines in the 10th century, between 1204-1222 and later fortified under Venetian and Ottoman rule. According to early historical sources, the ancient city of Heraklion stood on this site.
The castle enjoys a very important strategic position on the road connecting Macedonia and Thessaly via the Tempi Valley. The construction of the castle was started by the Frankish King Boniface of Monferatikos in 1205, on the ruins of an existing Byzantine castle on that hill.
For the first time it was mentioned in writings from the 13th century, when the Franks restored the fortifications, followed by the Byzantines in the 14th century and by the Venetians in the 15th century. After the fall of Constantinople and the Fourth Crusade, the castle was under Byzantine occupation until 1470, when it was conquered by the Ottomans, under whom it played an important role in the 14th century.
The castle can be visited all year round and is very well preserved and restored.
Another important destination for tourists staying in and around Platamon is the traditional village of Palios Panteleimon, at 6 km away. The asphalted road meanders along, revealing wonderful views of the sea. The architecture of the area reveals stone constructions, including paving stones covering the narrow and winding streets on steep slopes, which open some exceptional views of both the Aegean Sea and Olympus Mountain.
The mountain slopes are housing traditional stone and wooden buildings, restaurants, taverns, and small craft workshops offering painted pottery, leather goods, jewelry and souvenirs, as well as locally made clothing.
As regular visitors to the place, we made friends, seeing each other again being a pleasure, an occasion for jokes and hugs and little hand-made gifts.
We highly recommend the café situated next to the church, in the center of the village and for dinner taverns that border it. We often made visits here for several hours, coming from Platamon, for lunch or dinner, after which we took wonderful walks along the narrow alleys, capturing exceptional photo views.
The camera lens captured enchanting views and magnificent sunsets unfolding to the eye behind the imposing Olympus. The colors are stunning, delighting the eye of the viewer.
Platamon is located 786 km from Bucharest and 106 km from Thessaloniki, on the E75 express road and Egnatia Odos motorway, from the Promachonas border to its destination.