By Nicolas Bard

The Dragon houses They are megalithic worship buildings located in South Evia, and date back to the classics (5th century BC) and early Hellenistic times. They are located near Styra, Karystos and the top of Ochi.

Dragon houses are built of square, elongated and relatively thin stones, which are attached to each other, without other connective materials. They are only held with their weight, while the gaps are filled with other, smaller stones. The roof is equally elaborately made of oversized stones, which are increasingly approaching to the top (pyramid construction), eventually leaving in the middle an elongated hole in the middle, from which the light comes in. The dimensions of the dragon houses usually range from 5 to 13 meters, while the most well -preserved is at the top of Ochi, at an altitude of 1,398 meters.

Most dragon houses are still in good condition today, and everything is dominated by the gray stone of the area, and there is no other building material. Professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos found, in an underground construction next to a dragon house, animal bones, fragments of vessels and sacrifices residues, which are today kept at the Karystos Archaeological Museum. They were recently interpreted as religious buildings (houses), where ancient Greek deities were worshiped. Some of them, according to earlier theories, were farms, shelters, military buildings, and even observorations. Today we see in the area 25 buildings of this style.

The inhabitants of South Evia know Drakospita as “Draga” or “Draga”. Their name comes from the legend that surrounds them and is due to their large size and the integrity of their construction. So, according to popular doctrines, these buildings were built by dragons. They were inhabited by a great dragon, which was the fear and terror of the area, though another legend wanted to be housed by the king of the Cyclops. In any case, their construction had something supernatural.

For man, only giants could carry these huge boulders to the tops of the mountains, but also to work with them, placing them in such a way that only their weight is enough to keep the building. Among the other elements that stand out are the monolithic lintel, the stone shelves, which are preserved inside some of the buildings, as well as the windows, which are preserved in the dragon of Ochi. In this dragon house, only the plate above the entrance weighs 10 tonnes! Researchers and archaeologists are still looking for today, how they were transported there, and how they were placed, despite their weight.

Mount Ochi, in addition to the mysterious Dragon House, also has a beautiful and virgin nature, which is worth discovering. The area has been included in the Natura 2000 program, due to its unique beauty, as well as the great importance it plays as a wildlife refuge. This mountain has an extremely rare flora, which survived isolated for millennia, and as an ecosystem it is considered one of the oldest in the world. If you like hiking, you can start the magnificent route from the village of Mylos Karystos and head to the mountaineering shelter at 1,100 meters altitude. You will pass through a forest of perennial chestnuts, and after a stop in the chapel of Prophet Elias, which is carved into rocks, you will enjoy a panoramic view throughout the area. From there, a breath away, is the Cyclopean building of the Dragon House. Beauty and spooky charm of the place will reimbing you to the fullest