DAMOUCHARI - The Safe Harbor The once unknown and forgotten village, gained worldwide fame in 2008, when the musical “Mamma Mia” was shown in cinemas, as the dance number “Dancing Queen” was filmed here. The “aura” of the film still accompanies it. Damouchari is the safest natural harbor on the eastern coasts of Pelion, which is why during the 19th century it "hosted" a customs office, warehouses, and shops. Here, the Zagorian ships found refuge when the weather did not allow them to "dock" in Horefto or Ai-Giannis. According to local tradition, the first to realize the value of the place was a captain with operations in Europe, Apostolos Vainopoulos. For the sake of his wife, Cleopatra, he built a famous mansion in Damouchari that remained known as "Cleopatra's Miramare." Cleopatra, unfortunately, passed away after complications in childbirth, while the baby boy who was born died at the age of 10. Vainopoulos, after this blow of fate, found "refuge" in the arms of the child's nanny, Victoria, with whom he had 5 children. Most of the inhabitants of the area are descended from these descendants. Image On the rocky peninsula that divides its two bays, are located the ruins of a castle (probably Venetian), of unknown other details. Damouchari is connected via a wonderful path to Ai-Giannis to the north, while at the end of the southern beach ("Old Damouchari"), after the Halorema ravine and the wooden bridge, begins an amazing uphill cobblestone path that leads to Tsagarada. The autumn and winter aspect of the settlement is far from the summer "festival" that is presented on celluloid. It is somewhat melancholic and certainly more atmospheric. There are many who prefer Damouchari exactly like that!
