As the Dragon Houses (Gr. Δρακόσπιτα/Drakospita) is known a bunch of megalithic structures found scattered throughout the southern part of Evia Island in Greece. The buildings have puzzled archeologists ever since their rediscovery in the 18th century, as no mention exists of them anywhere in ancient sources, and no one has come up with a credible theory about when, by whom, and what for they were constructed. The largest and most impressive of those Dragon Houses is situated on the summit of Mount Ochi, the highest point of southern Evia.
The other day, I was contacted by Sean, a Serbian-American musician, who found a previous post of mine about a trip to the Dragon House of Mount Ochi. He was working on a cool project of recording music videos on mysterious, ancient sites around the world and was looking for someone to guide him to the Dragon House. He found the right person.
We first did another tour to Mycenae and other prehistoric sites of Argolis. Then came the day to head to the Dragon House. The mission was to make it to the mountaintop, record some music videos, and make it back to Athens on the same day. It was a bit marginal but certainly doable. We would have to catch the first ferry from Rafina to Marmari, drive to the refuge of Mount Ochi, trek to the summit, and make it down again on time for the last ferry.
The two of us, together with Sophie and her mum who was visiting from England, met in downtown Athens at dawn, grabbed a coffee for the way, and headed straight for Rafina port. It took us about an hour to drive there and arrived a good 15 minutes prior to the first boat’s departure.
An hour and a half later, we disembarked at Marmari Port of south Evia and hit the road. Having a short break in Karystos city for breakfast, we took the long, steep, sketchy road up the slopes of Mount Ochi. Owing to the ongoing construction of wind turbines, that was in much better condition than I remembered it years ago.
A short description of the route, in case you’re planning to drive there on your own: Follow road 0404 west from Karystos, past Myli village, and towards Platanistos village. About halfway between the villages, you’ll see a concrete road leaving off to the left (junction coordinates: 37.9845, 24.49 76). You follow that for about a km until you take the first dirt road you see forking off to the right (junction coordinates: 37.9845, 24.49 76). Then you drive steadily straight (general direction north) for some 10 km (take the left one uphill at the one fork you’ll meet). You go past the chestnut forest of Mount Ochi and soon you see the refuge up on the slope. Park your car in the broad opening.
It must have been nearly midday by the time we made it there. Given it was September and the wind was active, the temperature was quite ideal. We also happened there concurrently with some folks from Athens, who were starting on their trip up to the peak and down the other side through Dimosaris Gorge.
The trek itself is fairly short and undemanding. You climb straight up the slope past the refuge. And then you follow the ridge to the right until the summit. Sparse trail signs are present, but you shouldn’t count much on them if you aren’t an experienced hiker. You first reach a church encircled by a complex of relatively-modern, stone walls and structures. You continue a little further and you find the Dragon House, located right below the massive boulder that’s throned on the top of the mountain. It took us a bit over an hour to get there. A strong group could make it in under 40 minutes.
Taking first some time to explore around and take some pictures, it was then time for music. Sean made two of his own, and I also took advantage of the occasion to make one myself. I did a cover of a ballad of legendary Greek rocker Pavlos Sidiropoulos. You may listen to all of them down below.
That was it. It had also started to get chilly with that mad wind and the thick fog that, all of a sudden, veiled the mountain. It was time to head back down again. Right on schedule, we were embarking the ferry back to Rafina some ten minutes before its departure. We were in Athens shortly before sunset.
Photo Gallery
View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Mount Ochi.
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