Kazaviti on Thassos island in Greece.

The mountain village of Kazaviti on Thassos Island in the northern Aegean Sea occupies the upper end of a wide, cultivated valley between partly forested mountain ridges. From the distance it appears like an amphitheatre in a lush green frame of gardens and woodlands between two gorges.

Terraced fields and vineyards extend far up the slopes. Most of them are now abandoned and covered with broad-leave trees and a rich variety of shrubs and herbal plants. Further up pine forest dominates the landscape. Since the bush fire of 1989 the vegetation has largely recovered.

From the village, the view extends beyond the coastal plain across the sea to Pangeon Mountain on the mainland. When the sun sets in the wide gap of the valley, the sea shines up like gold and the sky is illuminated in ever changing, spectacular colours, until the orange-red sun disk disappears behind the dark velvet ridge of Pangeon mountains.

The climate of Kazaviti is pleasant even in the peak summer heat, because of the elevation and the frequent light breeze. The first records of the healthy Thassian climate were written by the famous physician Hippocrates in antique times.

Until the middle of last century, the inhabitants followed very much their traditional ways of life. Only during summer months the village was populated.
In autumn, the people moved down to the coastal plain, to the settlement of Kalyves, now called Prinos, for harvesting the olives. The most ancient olive trees there were possibly planted by the Phoenicians already, more than 3.000 years ago. In March the families returned to Kazaviti – it has the better climate and the best soils on the extended terrace fields around the village. Also there was rushing water in the gorges for operating several olive and grain mills.

After 1950, the inhabitants of Kazaviti followed the general trend of abandoning inland villages and settling permanently near the coast. Kazaviti became almost deserted and life shifted to Prinos instead. Nowadays, only a very few families stay up there all the year round.

In the late 1980ies Kazaviti was discovered as a tourist destination, by people searching for traditional village atmosphere, rural tranquility und an original natural landscape. Fortunately, these qualities were maintained and still Kazaviti remains a magic place of ancient history combined with an immense wealth of natural beauty and diversity.

Meanwhile, Kazaviti has became a very popular destination for inland tours.
The village square under its old plane trees is regarded as the most beautiful on Thassos. Two tavernas on the square and a third one at the entrance to the village offer local food. To the contrary, the coastal regions of Thassos have experienced a very dynamic touristic development. The highest percentage of visitors are Greek.
Of the foreigners, British holiday makers are in the first and Germans in the second position. For the coastal tourism enterprises, the old village inland is a highly regarded asset, because the hotel guests do not want to stay all day long on the beach. They are happy to escape from the noise and heat down there and find real recreation in the refreshing clear air, in the ancient village itself and in the wider mountainous landscape, in the gorges under shady chestnut, oak and plane trees.

For residential tourism, Kazaviti offers the first two purely traditional holiday house Villa's Karavousi and Kavanosi.

 
   
holiday house Villa Karavousi holiday house Villa Kavanosi