Old square, churches and chapels

Set on two hillsides, the village is built around a stone-paved central square known locally as the "horostasi," the old dancing-ground where the community gathered, and now carrying a war memorial, the school and the village shop. Traditional houses and restored mansions scattered through the lanes are fine examples of local mountain architecture, and the Parish Church of the Archangel Michael anchors both the skyline and the village's name.↗↗↗

Within and around the settlement sit several chapels, among them Agia Paraskevi, and the church of the Archangel Michael also houses a small religious museum. Four natural springs—Sipotoura, the Upper Spring, the Lower Spring and Iho—frame the village and speak to its long-standing bond with the mountain's water.↗↗

The University Forest and Mount Holomontas

Just outside the village begins the University Forest of Taxiarchis, a state-owned forest managed by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki across the southern and southwestern slopes of Mount Holomontas. It is a vast, working woodland where oaks dominate the lower ground and beeches take over higher up, mixed with black pine, brutian pine and Aleppo pine, and thickets of heath that feed the area's bees. In remote parts live wild boar, fox and birds of prey, which makes it a draw for birdwatchers.↗↗

The forest is a haven for walking: a network of marked trails and greenways threads through it, past running streams and open clearings with wide views over the massif. The mountain road leading up to the village cuts through dense fir and pine forest, so the approach itself feels like the first hike of the day.↗↗↗

The Forest Museum and the mountain lake

At the forest's building complex, the Forest Museum of Natural History has opened since 2008 and is well worth an hour. Display cases reconstruct scenes of forest management, while stuffed birds and mammals show the wildlife of the mountain, cabinets hold the region's plant and seed species, and cross-sections of logs reveal how tree ages are read. A screening room and computer stations explain the local flora, fauna and environment to visitors and school groups.↗↗↗

About three kilometres from the forest facilities is the artificial lake of Agios Panteleimonas, a small reservoir set among the woodland that also serves as a water source for firefighting—a pleasant spot to round out a forest walk.↗

Food, foraging and local flavour

Taxiarchis has a genuine larder of mountain produce. The village is celebrated for its wild mushrooms, alongside a local "egg apple," beans and the famed Holomontas potatoes, while a women's community makes homemade jams, spoon sweets and liqueurs. The area's taverns are part of the reason people drive up from the coast to eat.↗↗

Autumn brings a mushroom festival: around mid-autumn, local women gather fresh mushrooms from Mount Holomontas to fry and to bake into delicious mushroom pies. It is the high point of the food calendar and a warm reason to visit outside the summer season.↗

Planning your visit

Taxiarchis is one of those places you can visit in any season. Traditional guesthouses in the village stay open all year and offer comfortable, characterful accommodation, while the forest's marked paths suit strolling, mountain biking and guided horseback riding with horses from farms in the area. Combine a morning in the University Forest and the museum with lunch at a village taverna and, if you come in December, a wander through the Christmas-tree market. For a longer outing, the mountain villages of the Holomontas region lie within easy driving distance.↗↗