Travel Guide Florina

A small, grey, rather sad little town that offers little relaxation for the mind. Nevertheless, it remains a very good springboard for nature lovers who would like to go to the beautiful Prespa Lakes region, a little further west. Situated 17 km from the border with the former Yugoslavia, Florina can also give you the opportunity to make an incursion into the neighbouring country, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, or even push into nearby Albania. It offers some beautiful walks, especially along the banks of the Sakouvelas River, with its many small local craftsmen, or a visit to the town's archaeological museum, which displays objects discovered in the area, dating from Prehistory to the Byzantine period. Finally, the city was the stronghold of Archbishop Kantiotis, famous for his particularly retrograde ideas and for threatening to excommunicate the filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos. Florina's climate is therefore quite heavy and, if you get there in the evening, the first thing you will see, perched at the top of a hill, is a huge illuminated cross, supposed to protect the parish of the Antichrist... Angelopoulos shot most of his films in the region and some villages will give you the impression of coming out of a sequence from the films The Hunters or The Hanging Stork's Step. Here, the after-effects of the civil war linger in people's memories. Let's go. Accessible by bus from Thessaloniki (www.ktelmacedonia.gr) and by train (trainose.gr).