Iresioni

Arachova Name Origin Background

by Kuznetsov_Sergey

When I heard the name of Arachova for the first time it seemed to me very Russian. And I was right! There are several theories as to the origin of the name Arachova. One is that the name is Slavic, being composed of two words Ara and Hova or the place of the walnut trees.

So we called it Arachov(ka) on Russian manner, ha-ha! This is as possibility as there were in past and still you may see a lot of walnut trees in the area.

Easter in Arachova

by dimilag

The preparations for the Easter, in Arachova, start on Shrove Monday. The locals must see about all the aspects of a traditional Easter feast, including the lamb, the spit, their Easter clothes, the fustanella, the woollen clothes of Saint George, the eggs and the confectionery.

Tradition requires that lambs be roasted on the spit and feasting be enjoyed twice. So, before dawn on Easter Sunday, the older of Arachova invite all the inhabitants to start the preparations for the pit cooking. They gather vine-branches, light the fire and poke it. Preventing the wood from being reduced to ashes is a task that needs skill and experience.

The location of Mavra Litharia offers a surprising view of Arachova at the time of pit cooking. You actually have the impression that this small country town is burning, as there are pits in every neighbourhood! More than 10 lambs are cooked over each pit! When the fire is ready, all people sit around the pit and sing the hymn “Christ is risen”. The eating and drinking spree culminates with dancing and singing. The women of Arachova treat their compatriots and mainly passers-by to lamb’s fry, local wine and red eggs. This happens as many times as the number of lambs in the pit, namely 10-30. Cooking lasts for about four hours and roasting time depends on the weight of the lamb. Nobody leaves the cooking ground, unless the older of Arachova – and the most expert on pit cooking – say that everything is over and the hymn “Christ is risen” is sung. They wish each other “Many Happy Returns of Easter”. The event always culminates with fire shots. The traditional Easter menu of Arachova comprises lamb, eggs, yogurt, the “feta” and “formaela” cheese varieties, red wine and, of course, lettuce salads with fresh garlic.

Monastery of Ossios Loukas - Dome

by grkboiler

The dome inside the main church of Ag. Loukas is a mural of Christ surrounded by saints and angels. It was painted in the 16th century to replace fallen mosaics. The rest of the interior is also full of amazing mosaics and frescoes. There are also icons by the 16th century iconographer Michael Damaskinos, a native of Crete.

Arachova - close to Delphi

by Kuznetsov_Sergey

Arachova is a mountain small town next to Delphi. Its quaint houses are built up on the north slopes of Mount Parnassos. The name Arachova derives from the South Slavic words ‘ara’ and ‘hova’, which mean ‘walnut trees’, in reference to the many ones found in the area.

You may watch my high resolution photos on my SLIDE-Show Greece Arachova and Thermopylae out of my WebShot page

You may watch 2 min 41 sec VIDEO-Clip Arachova VT-Tube out of my VT-Tube or Arachova YouTube out of my YouTube Channel with popular Greek music by Demis Roussos.

You may also have a look at my other VT-pages out of my Greek trip in November, 2007:
1) Vravrona,
2) Piraeus,
3) Poros Island,
4) Hydra Island,
5) Aegina Island,
6) Corinth,
7) Epidaurus,
8) Nafplio,
9) Mycenae,
10) Olympia,
11) Patras,
12) Navpaktos,
13) Delphi,
14) Arachova,
15) Thermopylae,
16) Meteora & Kalambaka,
17) Sounio,
18) Athens.

ARACHOVA

by hydronetta

"Major ski resort for Athenians"

Arachova,157 km northwest of Athens, with it's gray-stone houses with red-tiled roofs on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus has faced a boom to its tourist infrastructure the recent years, as in the winter is transformed into the busiest and upmarket ski resort for Athenians. In fact a lot call it "Mykonos of winter". Celebrities, nouveau riche gather here on the weekends to enjoy ski and snow. In fact the town gets a traffic jam and finding a parking space is just a hard trick.
Consequently hotel prices rise, streets fill up with jeeps (!!) carrying skis and village taverns get crowded after dark as people return from their skiing.
Arachova lies conveniently just next to the archaeological site of Delphi and also just 27kms from the (lesser known) monastery of Osios Loukas (both declared as UNESCO heritage sites)