Dimitsana’s sister village ten minutes south — a silversmithing tradition that runs back to the Ottoman period, working ateliers in the village, and a small folk museum that is one of the best in the Peloponnese.
Stemnitsa sits at 1,083 metres on the same Menalon balcony as Dimitsana — slightly higher, slightly cooler, slightly quieter. The architecture is identical Ottoman-period stone; the trade is silver.
Stemnitsa was, from the 17th century until the early 20th, the silversmithing capital of the Peloponnese. The Ottoman tax registers list more than fifty silversmiths in the village in the 1700s; the trade survived through the 20th century and is now taught at a state school of silversmithing in the village. Two or three working ateliers will sell you ecclesiastical pieces, jewellery, and engraved coffee cups; the small Folk Museum (housed in a three-storey 18th-century tower-house) has the best ethnographic collection in central Arcadia — recreated workshops for silversmith, candle-maker, baker, weaver, and a recreated kitchen and bedroom from a wealthy 19th-century house. The village square is shaded by plane trees and centred on a small church with frescoes worth a quick look. Stemnitsa is the western trailhead of the Menalon Trail: stage 1 drops past the Prodromou monastery and on to Dimitsana, 12.5 km and about five hours; arrange transport back. Stay one or two nights; combine with Dimitsana (10 min) and Karytaina (25 min).
A one-night Stemnitsa stay.
Park, walk in, coffee on the square.
An hour in the three-storey 18th-century tower-house — reconstructed workshops of the silversmith, candle-maker and tinsmith, icons, weapons of the revolution.
Twenty minutes in one of the working shops.
Stone lanes, the small church, views west.
Slow mountain food on a vine terrace.
Stage 1 of the Menalon Trail drops past the Prodromou monastery and continues to Dimitsana: 12.5 km, about five hours. Arrange transport back.
Within forty minutes.
Ten minutes north — the larger sister village. Detail on the Dimitsana page.
The canyon below — Prodromou and Philosophou monasteries. Detail on the Lousios page.
Twenty-five minutes south-west — Frankish castle. Detail on the Karytaina page.
Thirty-five minutes north-east — leafier mountain resort. Detail on the Vytina page.
Tell us a little about the trip you want — pace, who's coming, how you'd like to spend your mornings. We'll build the days.
