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Manna

COUNTY: Corinthia MUNICIPALITY: Xylokastro-Evrostini

Clear
10.87ºC

Population

500 - 1,000

Infrastracture

Medical Centre

Distance from nearest city

35-50km

TL;DR

A village with many fresh-water springs, Manna is a place with rich folklore, and it also has a forest.

Manna is located to the west of Corinth, at an altitude of 900m above sea level, on the fringes of mount Zireia directly across Trikala of Corinth. It is amphitheatrically built, and has about 600 residents. Its old name was “Markasi”, which means “Maria's eyebrow” in Turkish. This is probably because the ridge behind the village resembles an eyebrow in shape. It got its contemporary name in 1923 due to a fresh-water spring that provided water to the village. Manna was founded approximately in 1800. During the decade of 1820, the Varvitsiotis family built the church of Agios Dimitrios there.

Every year, the village holds an Apple Festival ('giorti tou milou'), as it is famous for the excellent quality of the apples that it produces. It also produces wine, raisins, olive-oil, and olives. It has a wealth of water sources, as well as springs with pristine fresh-water. The two most notable springs are those of Manna, to the east of the village, as well as Gkoura (located inside a cave), the waters of which lead to a 40m high waterfall. Gkoura is famous for an unexplained phenomenon at the inside of its cave, as its water-flow alternately lessens and increases over a period of time, essentially creating a kind of tide. There is also a forest of black pine and Greek fir near the village.

Another strange event has taken place in the area, which has become a local legend. During a massive earthquake, a large boulder rolled down the mountain towards the village and stopped right in front of the church of Agioi Konstantinos kai Eleni (a church made of stone, built in 1880), where it broke into three large pieces, causing no damage. In the verdant area around the village, inside the forest, visitors can find many chapels. These include the churches of Agia Paraskevi, Agios Vlassis, Agia Triada, Profitis Ilias, and Agios Athanasios, a small and historical chapel used by the monks of the Monastery of Agia Sotiro, whose traces and location are lost nowadays. The village is characterized by its old houses made of stone, many of which have been renovated and are inhabited, with beautiful gardens full of flowers.