Siatista

Siatista lies in a unique setting with a strange sense of solitude and wildness which is like nowhere else. This feeling of isolation, of exclusion from the rest of the world is incomparable and cannot be found in other mountain villages in Greece. The circumscribed, steep mountain slopes on which it perches, the narrow, difficult-to-negotiate lanes fashion the impression in the mind of the visitor that he has been caught in a world tranquil and forgotten, hemmed in by barren, savage mountain peaks.

In its historical past this unique setting was its salvation. It remained the only unsubjugated part in all Macedonia and while the rest of Greece was living in the darkness of the Turkish occupation, trade with Europe was flourishing there, thus opening a door and welcoming in all the artistic and cultural currents from the free world.

Energetic leaders, the Siatistan merchants left temporarily, forced out by the morass the Greek market had become and returned with material and intellectual wealth, having spent their time abroad well, and introduced a creative spirit into their homeland. The famous mansions with their very strong walls, the imposing doors, the lavishly decorated and elegant on-dades, the gorgeous stained glass, the lively colors of the folk paintings on the walls, embody, for that difficult period, a high living standard and express a spirited social life.