Is this one of the best kept secrets of the Peloponnese……
Paloma our motorhome, is perched on the mountain side looking over the Lucious Gorge.
We are parked outside one of the most beautiful Greek villages in the Arcadia region with its unique architecture, stunning Gorge and Mainalo mountain within walking distance!
Dimitsana is a delight !
Paloma is taking advantage of a hospitable Tavern owner who has turned over his car park for the use of motorhomes.
Leaving behind the coast and it’s 36 dregree heat,the fresh, crisp mountain air welcomed us along with just enough bright sunshine to warm us up. A truly refreshing change.
Just down the road, nestled in this charming and historic landscape are remnants of the pre-industrial age.
The Open-Air Water Power Museum, surrounded by an abundance of running water, the water-powered mechanisms have been carefully restored while each of the old workshops now hosts an exhibition exclusively devoted to its former use.
The first building houses a filling tub and a flour mill with a horizontal paddle-wheel.
Outside you will see the still, which would be set up outdoors to make tsipouro ( local fire water) from the skins of pressed grapes.
Opposite a two-storey building served as both the tanner’s home and the tannery itself.
A stone-paved path leads to an area, where a natural reservoir has formed, before ending at the gunpowder mill. Gunpowder, an emblematic part of the region’s cultural identity, remains very much alive in the locals’ collective memory. During the Greek War of Independence, their forefathers supplied the insurgents with this vital black powder .
You can see the still-working mechanism of a gunpowder mill with pestles , which had disappeared in the rest of Europe in the 18th century, while at Dimitsana it was used right up to the early 20th century.
A stunning museum, that we shared with 2 other people for the whole time we visited!
If you plan hiking through the gorge this needs some planning, as all the marked routes are one way- although the short red marked path I started to follow is only 4.5km in length, so totally doable out and back in a few hours and it would be a shame to miss the stunning views.
Paul.