NTAMOUXARI HOTELS
Damouchari is the only natural port of the South side Of Pelion. It is a small picturesque and peaceful village, consisted of two small gulfs which are connected by a peninsula, on which there are the ruins of a castle.
The north gulf is in our times a small port with taverns and houses. The south one has a beautiful beach covered with white pebbles and with crystal clear waters, which along with the adjacent gorge, offer to Damouchari a wild beauty.
Tradition is preserved in the village, and as a result a nostalgic mood is developed for the past years.
In the past, it was the only port of the East Pelion with significant commercial activity, which is reminded today by the dilapidated stone customs house.
You can walk on the picturesque cobbled paths of the village as well as on the one that leads to Tsagarada, with a view of the deep blue Aegean Sea(approximately 1.5 hour).
From the North side of Damouchari, you will find the path that leads to the beautiful beach “Papa Nero“.
In old times, the cobbled paths were of great importance, since they constituted the network of the everyday transportation of products from the one village to the other with donkeys.
Damouchari is not an ordinary village, its story begins at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Most if not all residents and hoteliers of the village are decendants of one man Mr. Apostolos Vainopoulos (their grandfather or great grantfather), who was the only resident of Damouchari back in the begginings of the century. Mr. Vainopoulos was settled in the place because of the natural harbor shaped in the gulf of Damouchari, from there he was able to conduct his business that was no other than importing and exporting goods from and to Pelion with his ship.
Vainopoulos traveled allot back in the days trading products around Eastern Pelion and in most European countries.
One day in Bucharest he fell in love. Her name was Cleopatra, was rich and beautiful and Vainopoulos wanted to marry her and bring her back to Damouchari, to live there happily.
So it happened, Cleopatra, who Vainopoulos cried affectionately Miramare, settled in Damouchari for her sake the captain builds a luxury mansion to house their love. Somewhere here ends the delightful piece of the story. The years go by and Miramare is depressed away from her family and her beloved captian who is always travelling abroad. She gets pregnant but after childbirth complications, she dies, and leaves Vainopoulos only child alone. The child is a boy and lives happily until his 10 years when challenged by a disease dies as well.
Vainopoulos is inconsolable, Miramare and his son no longer exist. The only one left to stands for him is poor Victoria, the nanny of the lost son, thus the two come even closer. Eventually Victoria becomes the Mrs and gives birth to five children, Electra, Cleopatra, the Nicias, Jason and Clearchus.
Those five children and their descendants are the owners of most houses, hotels and restaurants to be found currently in Damouchari.
German travellers rediscovered the small village in the 60s and were enchanted by it. Specifically, Ekart Lau, a German folk art dealer bought The traditional hostel “Germaniko” and did Damouhari famous in the high society cultural circles of Germany. In the years that followed Romy Schneider (Princess Sissi) also visited the village with her son and loads of working staff following her and her wishes, the conservative community still has memories of her are walking around the village dressed in muslin and enjoying her sunbath at Damouchari beach topless.
once again put a pin in the history of pelion by becoming the setting for the movie “Mama Mia”.
Recent Years
After the ’40s, Damouhari is losing completely its significant commercial role, due to the development of the road network. It is the fishermen, now, that seek refuge in the natural harbor and Damouhari is converted into a pictoresque fishing village with deeply carved the signs of a rich past.
Unfortunately, in the last decades, not so friendly European policies against small fishermen have dramatically led to the reduction of a big number of professional fishing boats who find shelter in Damouhari, but thanks to some of them and to amateur anglers, the atmosphere of a Mediterranean fishing village is still resisting.
