Pinakates

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Pinakates (Greek: Πινακάτες) is a Greek mountain village located 25 km east of Volos in the Magnesia prefecture. Pinakates belongs since 2001 to the municipality of Milies.

[edit] Subdivisions

• Agios Athanasios

[edit] Nearest places

• Agios Georgios Nileias
• Vyzitsa
• Milies
• Kala Nera
• Volos

[edit] Etymology

Most probably the origin of the name refers to the activity of the first inhabitants who produced wooden plates, an article known in the local dialect as pinakia (πινάκια). Maybe the word has its roots in the Albanian language.

[edit] Population

[edit] Geography

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The village is build on the eastern slopes of the mountainous peninsula Pelion. From a little above the village down to the shores of the Pagasetic Gulf the area is dominated by olive trees, vineyards and apple trees, the main source of income for most of the permanent residents. Higher up the mountain you still find unspoilt nature only visited by hikers, hunters (wild boar) and gatherers of mushrooms and herbs.

[edit] History

The first mention of the village of Pinakates is in the Modern Geography of Greece (Γεωγραφία Νεωτερική περί της Ελλάδο = Geografia Neoteriki peri tis Ellados) of Daniil Filippidis and Grigoriou Konstantas (Vienna 1791). At that time the village consisted of about 100 houses but surely it was built much earlier.

In 1828 the village had 1000 inhabitants. In 1860 the village counted 160 families and 800 residents. Pinakates joined the rest of Greece when Thessaly was liberated in 1881. In the beginning of the 20th century it opened its school which had 56 students. One of the main benefactors of this school was a business man from Pinakates, Ioannis G. Sarafopoulos.

The main industry in Pinakates became the production of wine and oil. Also the culture of olives boosted the village's economy. Money from Greeks living in Egypt contributed to the development of the village.

Pinakates is considered to be one of the best preserved of the 24 villages in Pilion and therefore became a category 1 protected landmark. The village was so well preserved because until recently it was only accessible via one road which ended in the center of the village. All the other roads could only be used on foot or by mule. Electricity came finally to the village in 1973 and a few years later a connection by bus with Volos was established.

The isolated position on the mountain side kept the village well preserved but also almost meant its downfall. During the last decade of the previous century only five families lived in Pinakates during wintertime.Currently it counts about 150 people, although on the voting registers some 350 names are listed. A lot of them however have moved to neighbouring villages.

Pinakates was a independent village until 2001 when it became a district of the municipality of Milies. Due to the limited number of children in the village it no longer has a school.

[edit] Other

Pinakates has several churches and a beautiful square (plateia),dominated by a huge plane tree and a marvellous marble fountain. In the village a lot of the ruins are now restored in order to bring them back to their former glory.

[edit] See also

• List of settlements in the Magnesia prefecture

[edit] External links

• Pinakates on GTP Travel Pages
• Map and aerial photos:
  • Street map information from: Mapquest, LiveLocal or Google or Yahoo! Maps
  • Satellite images: Google or Microsoft Virtual Earth - image now available
• Coordinates: 39°20′4″N, 22°6′49″E