Varvara is a village and the same municipal district of the Municipality of Aristotle. It is built in the northeast of the prefecture, in a forest. A forest with an area of more than 90,000 acres, seems to be closing in this green, endless embrace of this fortunate village. His name is Barbara and owes it to the patron saint of Saint Varvara, whose honor was built in 1875 by the central church, or – according to the local myth – to an old queen of the region. The village celebrates on the 4th of December at the feast of Saint Varvara, in the unparalleled mountainous winter landscape. A big feast takes place on St. George (the second day of Easter) and lasts for 3 days
Across the 550m height, between the hills of Drebenikos and Sougliani, the settlement has lively neighborhoods with narrow cobbled streets, abundant waters, taps. It offers great views over Strimoniko and Volvi. This place seems to have been inhabited since 14 AD. century. The first evidence was found in a document of the Sidirokausiwn hierarchy, while a Turkish firman of 1762 included in the federation of Mandemohoria and the village of Varvara. In 1821, following the common fate of the Chalkidiki villages, it was burned by the Turks. He participated actively in the Macedonian Struggle led by the Varvarius chieftain Athanasios Mininopoulos.
Nowadays Varvara has more than 800 inhabitants, who are engaged in livestock and logging. The local women’s cooperative produces delicious candy and trachana . Attempts have been made to further develop agrotourism in recent years with 1 municipal hostel and 2 private accommodations, while the Gavrdia area combines mountain and sea. The private island of Caucasus in Varvara is the only apartment of the Municipality of Arnea, which is washed by the sea of Strymonikos Gulf
The Garden of the Woods is characterized as a place of extraordinary natural beauty and beauty. With the 2 well-known waterfalls the incredible flora and fauna in the area and small streams is a place protected by the European networks natura 2000 and corine. A few years ago they were in danger of being destroyed due to the installation of a Goldmine plant mill pond, but it was canceled. Waterfalls are in a great location and are visited by hundreds of nature lovers and tourists every year. The waters of Varbara Mountains are abundant. Apart from the waterfalls, there are also Five Vrises-Krasoneri, Kryoneri, Mavrolakas.
Varbara Festival is an effort of the Cultural Club of Varvara. Well-known artists all these years support the events with their presence. The festival is an opportunity for the visitor to watch the concerts while enjoying the wonderful climate that Varvara offers (600m altitude), the natural beauty of the place and mountainous Chalkidiki, as well as tasting the famous local cuisine.
Old Settlement Kalyvia
It is a very old settlement located in the lowland real estate of the Municipality of Varvara close to Olympiada. Before the 1970s, the settlement was full of life, because the inhabitants of Varbara had huts built to stay there during the summer months of the year. The old name of the sanctuaries was Olympiada, like the seaside village near Kalyvia, but when the refugees from Saint Kyriaki of Asia Minor came to claim the name as a newly established community at that time. The inhabitants of Varvaras call the wider area of Kalyves under the name of Olympias in the local dialect.
Since the 1970s, deserts have started, and various reasons, such as modern lifestyles, forced rural families to move to Varvara, while at that time, a metallurgical factory was made beside Kalyvia. In the mid-1970s, a pond lake was created and the State obliged the residents to expropriate 1600 acres of land for its creation. Nowadays, two rural families live in Kalyvia, which preserve the settlement.
