A Walk to the Hellenic City of Florina

The day started with a little drizzle. The forecast did say there would be a possibility of snow – whatever happens, I’ve come prepared with a waterproof coat and plenty of layers so I’m sorted for ‘most’ eventualities.

Autopilot took me straight towards the river. By now I’ve been up and down its length many times photographing the beautiful mansion houses like a woman possessed. Today I want to do something different. You can’t walk along the river without having your eyes drawn up to the Cross of Florina sitting on top of Agios Panteleimon hill. Today it comes in and out of visibility as the low-slung clouds wrap themselves around it. As my lungs are still in recovery mode I know that they don’t have the capacity to take me there but maybe I can get quite close. It’s about a 50-minute uphill walk to the Cross but halfway along is the Archaeological site of the Hellenic City of Florina. Google Maps says 25 minutes but I’ll take it at a much more leisurely pace.

I crossed the river and followed the road which began to climb almost immediately. On the right, I passed the church and cemetery of St George of Florina. There isn’t anything unusual about the church but it’s a nice distraction along the way.

Within 25 minutes I’m up above Florina town. The weather has cleared a little and the Florina Cross is more visible. The smell of wood smoke is thick in the air.

I passed a swish-looking hotel called the Lynx Mountain Resort and Casino. It has a prime position overlooking Florina town so if you’re looking for a bit of 5* luxury with a bit of gambling thrown into the mix maybe this is the place for you.

One last push and I arrive at the entrance to the archaeological site. The entrance fee is 2€ and the man in the kiosk advised me to swipe right.

Excavations on part of the site began in 1930 – 1934. From what I understand, these excavations were lost when the former Hotel Xenia was built. Excavations began again in the 1980’s uncovering a site 8000 square metres in size. The city had a uniform and organised layout with each block made up for 4-5 houses each with 3-4 rooms. Each block was separated by a paved street 1.5 -3 metres wide providing access to the houses and also facilitating drainage. Drainage channels also traversed the street and were covered by stone slabs. I imagine this was a necessity to deal with the run-off from the mountains.

The walls of the houses were 40-50cm thick made up of roughly hewn stone for the first metre or so, finished with brick and roofed with terracotta tile. Every house had a hearth and a store room that contained large earthenware jars for storing grain. The excavations also uncovered evidence of rudimentary forges used for making metalware.

Evidence from the vast excavations indicated that the city existed from the 4th century BC and was destroyed by fire in the 1st century AD. However, it’s thought that a city had existed on the site since pre-historic times. Large amounts of finds were unearthed during the excavations including pottery vessels, coins, metal tools and loom weights indicating that there was a well-developed agricultural and weaving industry. The finds of the excavation are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Florina. Unfortunately, it was closed during my stay.

As I made my way to the exit something caught my eye on the ground. It was a tortoise. Along with the bears, they should be in hibernation but judging by the injuries on their shell it had been dead for a long while. I expect a bird of prey had had it.

I began to walk down the hill and on one of the hairpin bends I noticed a sign for a little taverna. It was hard to tell if was open so I went closer to investigate. It was and it looked the perfect place to have a Sunday afternoon meal.

Taverna Kalyva is a music-themed restaurant with fantastic views over Florina. It’s a very family-orientated place and I was made to feel very welcome. The walls are adorned with album covers and in the middle of the restaurant is a wood-fueled heater making the place nice and toasty. What a find!

The gentleman that was serving in the restaurant didn’t speak English so he brought a lady from the kitchen to take my order. She recommended the Florina peppers to start and the grilled meatballs with politiki salad and fried potatoes. This is the first time in weeks that I’ve had an appetite so I celebrated with my first glass of wine in ages!

The Florina peppers were absolutely divine. I told the lady that I’d grown Florina peppers at home but they didn’t taste as sweet as these and blamed it on the lack of sun. She told me that the secret is to cook them over coal. To finish the meal she brought me a delicious complimentary spoon sweet.

If you’re ever in Florina you must visit this place!

My time in Florina has unfortunately come to an end. Five nights came and went in a flash of which a fair chunk can be written off due to illness. I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see the places that I wanted to but such is travel and such is life. As I get over the lurgy hopefully I’ll be able to get more out of my next destination.

In the meantime here are a few more photos of beautiful Florina just for the hell of it!