Perched on a slope of legendary Mount Olympus is the picturesque Greek village of Palaios Panteleimonas, which has been used several times as a film location.
Perched 450 meters high in a dense pine forest on the eastern Mount Olympus slope in the Pieria Region, Palaios (Old) Panteleimonas is a traditional Greek village with a great advantage: It is a mountainous village, but lies only a few kilometers away from the sea.
The Pieria village has been made famous as the location for “Alexander the Great”, the 1980 film by the late filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos, a Palme d’Or winner renowned for his atmospheric cinematic method. Since then, other Greek movies films have been filmed in Palaios Panteleimonas.
Village history
Palaios Panteleimonas was deserted in the 1950s when residents decided to leave the mountain and the harsh winter and move to a more accessible location with milder weather. So they moved to the nearby beach and established Neos (New) Panteleimonas.
However, the Angelopoulos film showcased the Greek village’s beauty, with the stone houses and the cobbled streets and alleyways, surrounded by pine and Beech trees.
Several years after the film’s release, an increasing number of people were interested in exploring the old village. Going up the 4-km winding road from the seaside Neos Panteleimonas. The visitors were fascinated by the raw beauty of Palaios Panteleimonas.
Now a traditional settlement
By 1986, the Greek village was listed as a traditional settlement and people started moving in. They restored the old deserted stone houses in accordance with specific building guidelines that preserve the original architectural styles.
Visitor cars are prohibited to enter the village. A large parking space at the village entrance caters to the increasing numbers of visitors. Guest houses, tavernas and cafes emerged gradually emerged.
The houses are all made of stone from Olympus, collected by Macedonian artisans.
From above, you see tiled roofs everywhere, with countless nests built by swallows. Perched on steep slopes, the stone houses overlook the peaks of Olympus and the Aegean Sea.
Cobblestone streets run across the village with characteristic stone embellishments. The village square has a large courtyard in the middle of which stands the Agios Panteleimon church, the old school, which is now a guest house and a traditional cafe that serves traditional pies and sweets.
The courtyard is covered by a huge centuries-old plane tree, two elms, lindens and dense vines. You can peek at the sky only through holes allowed by the rich greenery.
The main cobbled street that leads to the square features shops selling traditional products, such as the local honey as well as the tsipouro. There is a confectionary shop with little tables and tavernas serving traditional dishes.
