About the village
Afetes (Niaou) is a central Pelion village, build low and around the mountain slope and sits above the beach of Afissos. It belongs to the municipality of Afetes that extends from the Pagasetic Sea towards the east and the Aegean Sea with rich nature and unlimited view towards the sea.
Mythology tells us that this is the place where Jason stopped and excluded Hercules from the Argonauts because of his size and weight as he would worsen the sail with Argo. This incident according to the local tradition gave the village is name. The villages' first settlers where shepherds from Macedonia, who came at 1550 and settled in farms. This is the reason that many call the village by the name “Niaou” which derives from the Slavic counterpart of the word "farm".
During your stay in Afetes, you can admire the traditional Pelion architecture that characterizes the village and walk along the charming kalderimi paths. The main square is where everything happens, named “Square of Love" with its plane tree and the traditional taverns. At the end of the square we find the church of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (St. John The Baptist), which was build completely out of stone by the famous builder Dimos Zipaniotis from Epirus.
Distinct characteristic of the village are the three stone bridges that lay above the three ravines crossing the village ending in the sea. They offer a unique opportunity for careless walking and through them you can walk your way towards Afissos from a beautiful path.
