Afitos or Athitos is a large settlement and seat of the municipal district of the same name in the Municipality of Kassandra in the prefecture of Chalkidiki. The village is expressed in both ways. The first’s name ” afytos ” meaning is that the village had no intense vegetation and the second name over the years was adopted. The settlement is traditional, with stone houses and cobbled streets.
In the area where today’s Afitos is located, there was a camp from 3.000 BC. Afitos was an important city in antiquity and belonged to Pallini (mentioned by the ancient writers). The sanctuary of Dionysus and the temple of Ammonos Zeus have made a substantial contribution to spreading its reputation during the Archaic and Classical times. It also contributed during the Persian Wars to its own ships. He then joined the Athenian Alliance. The city has its own currency, which brought the head of Ammonos. As ancient writings and archaeological finds testify, Afitos survived to Roman times and in the imperial years he belonged to the territory of the Roman colony of Kassandria.
In the following centuries we know nothing about Afitos and the next sources are of the 14th century, in documents of Mount Athos. It is certain that the village refers to Greek sources already in the early 17th century. During the Ottoman domination, like all the other villages on the peninsula, it was taxed under the name of Gaasanfer Aga, while administratively belonged to the tribe of Kalamaria. During the Revolution of 1821, many fighters and chieftains from the village were protagonists in the Struggle, such as Triantaphyllos Garoufalou, Georgios Panagiotou, Anastasios Kyriazis and Garyphalos Antoniou and others. During the Macedonian Struggle, the Aphathians were distinguished in a bid, with the most important Macedonian men, the chieftains Theoharis Sarikas (captain Zarkas) and Andreas Karatasos.
In 1859 the central church of Agios Dimitrios was built, a three-aisled wooden-roofed basilica with a dome, the ornament of the village, in the center of the square. The visitor deserves to observe the peculiar architecture of the temple, its old icons and the stone reliefs outside the southern wall. It is also worthwhile to visit the great chapels that followed, such as Agios Georgios (1867), the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1885), Agios Athanasios and Agios Nikolaos (Liossi).
Interesting are also the characteristic old stone-built houses with their inscriptions and their stone carvings (1860 Katsani, 1864 Papavassiliou, 1876 Galani, 1889 Aletra, 1898 Athanasiadis, etc.). In 1980, a folklore museum was founded on the initiative of the Folklore Society and Nikos Paralis. The museum is housed in a building of the Alera family. Agricultural tools, household utensils and pottery items are exhibited.
The most important attraction, which is astonishing and awe to the visitor, is the traditional settlement of Afitos with a history that is lost in the depths of its 28 centuries of life. The inhabitants of the community, by denying the unplanned tourism development, which has in recent years altered the place and aiming at preserving their cultural heritage, tried to show the village through its culture. The old houses built from the local poros have been restored, the streets are paved and the place now places visitors, but also the locals, beauty, dignity and respect.
Afitos is now adequate in rented rooms, hotels, taverns and restaurants with good and clean food, cafes and bars. The visitor enjoys the cobblestone streets of Athitos, following Elytis on its Aegean-style walkway and can swim in the blue sea of Atthaitic Sea, Varkas, Pounta, Liossi, Dafni. Numerous cultural events during the summer, organized by the Athenian residents with passion and responsibility, make Athitos a key reference point for the visitor of Chalkidiki.
