A village called Neraidochori, "fairy village", makes you expect a fairy tale. The truth is simpler and more interesting. By one account, the name comes from the Slavic word for wind.
Three names in one century
For centuries the village was called Veternikon. The word may come from the Slavic veter, wind, or from veternik, which figuratively means "taken by the fairies", a place of wind spirits. Others say it took the name from a neighbouring mountain called Neraida.
In 1930 it was renamed Neraidochori. In 1960 it became Chatzipetrion, to honour the local Chatzipetros family. In 1979 it took back the name Neraidochori, which stuck. The village was the birthplace of Christodoulos Chatzipetros, who fought in the Revolution of 1821 and later became aide-de-camp to the king.
Where it is
Neraidochori stands at 1,140 metres, on the slopes of Koziakas, one of the highest settlements in the mountains of Pyli. It belongs to the Aithikes unit of the Municipality of Pyli. Around it lie Elati, Pertouli, Pyrra, Aidona and Stournareika. In 2011 it had 125 inhabitants, and in 1978 about 130 houses.
The villagers traditionally worked in the wool trade. Today the nearby Pertouli ski centre has brought tourism.
Two churches
The village church, Agios Nikolaos, is a three-aisled basilica without a dome, with two wooden colonnades inside. Its present form dates from 1763 and it was repaired in 1830.
Outside the village stands the monastery of Agia Paraskevi, built in 1792 by Giorgos or Gousios Chatzipetros, next to an older chapel of the Transfiguration. It is a domed basilica. The monastery once had flocks and fields, worked by sharecroppers for half or a third of the harvest.
In autumn
As the cold sets in, Neraidochori takes on autumn colours: dark firs, yellow beeches, smoke from the chimneys. It is a good base for walking the meadows of Pertouli before the snow arrives. Bring warm clothes, because at 1,140 metres the cold comes early.
