History of Damouchari
The first ever carte postale of Damouchari, printed in late 1960's and showing the hill of the castle and the old storehouse building of our great grandfather, Vainopoulos, the old merchant.
History of Damouchari
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Like all Pelion villages of present time, everything started by a monastery established here during the Byzantine era, before the 13th century. The monastery was located on the top of the hill, exactly where the main parking place is now situated. Around the monastery the first settlement was formed, which later moved higher on the mountain, in order to avoid pirate attacks, founding the village of Mouresi. At the exact place of the byzantine monastery, much later, in 1747, the little church of Agios Nikolaos, was built, which is still standing in good condition and operating a couple of days per year. If you are lucky enough to find the church unlocked, do not miss the opportunity to go inside and admire the excellent frescoes, made by Pagonis, a well-known folklore artist of those times who also painted the frescoes of the famous Agia Marina church in Kissos.
In the Byzantine times, together with the monastery, the castle of Damouchari was built, which later was used by the Venetians, during the period that Venice was ruling the mediterranean, in midieval times. Venetians acknowledged the strategic location and topography of Damouchari bay and used the castle as their East Pelion base for provisions, defense against pirate attacks and protection from weather elements and rough seas. The actual name of Damouchari is deriving from those times and it is a mixture of italian and greek. In concrete, it means:
"Dammi" ="give me" in italian &
"Chari" ="pardon" in greek.
"Dammi Chari", thus "Give me pardon for my sins", was a prayer of the venetian sailors, asking Virgin Mary to reach safely the protected bay of Damouchari and its castle.
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In the late Ottoman times, when East Pelion economy started to grow, Damouchari became the main commercial harbor of the area. The mountain peaks, separating East Pelion from Volos, made it impossible for the provisions to come by land... sea and ships had to be used instead. It was that time when the two oldest buildings on the harbor were built, serving as storehouses of local merchants. Our family is direct descendant of one of them. The building of the old customs house of the Ottoman empire still standing on the north side of the bay. Concurrently, long and wide cobbled mule paths to Tsagkarada and Mouresi (the two main mountain villages in proximity) were made, for the easiest distribution of the imported products. Here we need to underline the fact that in fear of pirate raids, no major villages on East Pelion were established on the seaside, but only higher on the mountain.
Back to our story and Damouchari harbor in the 19th century, the products arriving here by ships in daily basis were:
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Wheat, corn, rice and other cereal and farming products that grow on the flatlands and plains, that do not exist in east Pelion.
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Flour, yeast, semolina and generally materials for making bread and pastries.
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Wine, halva, salted and dried fish and other popular foods and drinks of the era.
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Sophisticated construction materials, such as porcelain, used in the rich mansions.
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Luxury furniture and equipment for furnishing the local aristocrat houses, coming mainly from Egypt, where the majority of the Pelion rich people used to live most time of the year as colonialists (see our text about Pelion history).
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That was the use of Damouchari and the main business activity more or less until second world war. Later, the war, the expansion of the car road network to east Pelion and the urbanization forced sea-commerce business disappear. The first decades after the war, the harbor of Damouchari became exclusively a refuge for fishermen. From the late 1960's, the first tourists started arriving. They were mostly cultured Germans, attracted by the primitiveness of the place, getting here by boat from Agios Ioannis. At the same time and during the 1970's, the first tourist businesses (tavernas and "let rooms") got established by the sons and daughters of the old merchants. In 1980's guests of various european nationalities and Greeks started coming repetitively every summer, promoting the place by word of mouth. The increased tourist traffic, attracted big wooden fishing boats from other parts of Greece and Damouchari harbor thrived again. A dirt road opened in late 1970's; electricity came in Damouchari, only, in 1985; telephone line in beginning of 90's; and the same decade (1990's) the car road got finally paved. After the completion of the road, a few newer hotels and summer houses got built (by the grandkids, this time, of the old merchants), always in accordance with the traditional architecture, and Damouchari took more or less the shape that has today. It is characteristic, that since the end of 1990's until nowadays, there has been no new building built in Damouchari's core settlement, down by the harbor and the beach. Speaking of the core Damouchari settlement, we suggest you to be attentive about the exact location, when you choose your stay, cause the term "Damouchari" is being used by properties located closer to Mouresi or Papa Nero.
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The next big moment of Damouchari was in 2007 when the "Mamma Mia" movie (with Meryl Strip) was filmed here. But let's leave some stories to be told once you arrive, while relaxing together on the Victoria's terrace.
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The Love Drama that haunts Damouchari.​
The great grandfather of our family, Apostolos Vainopoulos, originally from Mouresi and Damouchari, used to be captain of english merchant ships. Sometime in the second decade of the 20th century, he decides to change profession, return to his homeland and ... ...