Parnon

The enchanter

Up from its highest peak (Big Tourla or Kronio), 1936 m, mount Parnon or Malevos boasts to be the biggest alpine bulge in Peloponnese, taking up an expanse of 2 million acres.

Some of the prettiest and most picturesque little villages in Greece, such as Karyes, Vresthena, Polydroso (Gigina), Geraki and Saint Demetrios, are perched up in its slopes and crests.

Parnon has got nothing to envy the most famous mountains in the world for. The wild natural beauty of its landscape is so lavishly given to the visitor, especially to the one who will be wise enough to enroll in the trek groups crossing the mountain range. Numerous crests, valleys and plateaus, breathtakingly beautiful gorges, dense vegetation and forests, rare fauna, all have attracted the world’s interest and have secured the institutional protection of the place, which has been classified in the European Network Natura 2000.

Except for the pine forests, the groves of firs, chestnut trees, the lofty plane trees and acorn trees, the unique medicinal or fragrant herbs, the gorgeous Ecological Park of Parnon is the home to rare species of birds, like the partridge, the mice-hawk, the woodpecker as well as mammals such as the fox, the hare and the jackal.

Upon setting eyes on the mountain’s landscape, it’s literally love at first sight. Water falls and creaks and caves but also cultural relics which go back to the Paleolithic age and reach our times, such as sacred temples, ancient quarries, castles, carriage tracks, byzantine monuments and monasteries.

This enchanting alpine bulge is the land of promise for nature lovers and those who seek to enjoy both faces of Mother Nature, tranquility and wilderness, through organized activities including hiking, mountaineering, speleology and many more. It is, therefore, useful to know about the mountain resort, of George Pierce,1420m, 40 persons capacity, in “Arnomousga”, which among its other basic facilities has got a fireplace and oil heaters, a kitchen, water supply from a spring, as well as basketball and volleyball courts. For more information contact the Greek Alpine Association in Sparta, tel. 2731022574.