Edessa

Edessa stands on the lip of a rocky plateau in Central Macedonia, capital of the Pella regional unit and famous above all for its water. Rivers gathered from the surrounding plain converge in the town and then pour off the cliff edge in a series of cascades, the greatest of which, the Karanos waterfall, drops some seventy metres and ranks among the tallest in Greece and the Balkans. The falls are said to have formed after an earthquake in the fourteenth century diverted the waters, and today they tumble through a lush riverside park of ferns, flowers and footbridges, with a path leading behind the curtain of the main cascade.

Above the falls the streams thread through the town itself, running in open channels past cafes and squares and giving Edessa the character of a garden city. The restored old quarter of Varosi clings to the cliff top, a maze of timber-framed houses, Byzantine churches and quiet lanes overlooking the plain below. Beside the waterfalls, an old hemp mill and other industrial buildings have been turned into an open-air water museum and an aquarium, recalling the mills that the rivers once powered.

Edessa is comfortably explored on foot, but it also makes an excellent base for the wider region. To the north lie the Pozar thermal springs at Loutraki, where hot mineral water fills open-air pools in a wooded gorge, a popular retreat in the cooler months. The vineyards of Naousa and the ski slopes of Mount Vermio are also within easy reach.

The waterfalls are at their most powerful in spring, when snowmelt swells the rivers, and the surrounding hills are green and flowering. Autumn brings colour to the riverside park, while winter can be crisp and occasionally snowy. Summer is warm but the constant sound and spray of water keep the town refreshingly cool.

Edessa lies about ninety kilometres west of Thessaloniki and is reached by road or by the train line that runs on towards Florina.