Tradition says that in Greece tsipouro began to be made by monks on Mount Athos. From Byzantium onwards, the monks of Mount Athos and Meteora knew how to make tsipouro and drink it. They took care to keep the alchemy of distillation and to give us generously the art of tsipouro.

Over the years it spread to various regions of Greece, mainly in Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly and Crete. Until the last decades of the 20th century, the production of tsipouro was done exclusively "at home", that is, there was no mass production. In recent years, however, due to the many problems arising from the non-control of the quality of the bulk tsipouro, but also from the European Union's specifications, the tsipouro is bottled. The champion in bottled tsipouro is Tyrnavos.

Bring Tyrnavos ouzo so I can sit and drink
and all of Larissa know that I love you.

In Larissa the river called Pinio,
if you don't want me here I will drown.

It was a great success of Spyros Zagoraios, with lyrics and music by Giorgos Mitsakis, in the 1960s that made Tyrnavos known throughout the country.

The Tyrnavos tsipouro secured as a PGI product since 1989 – Tyrnavos is the only town registered as a PGI while regions are usually granted -, due to the long tradition of tsipouro production in the region. According to Reg. 1576/89, the only commitment that exists is for the production and bottling unit to be in the Tyrnavos area, while a new file is being processed which, among other things, will include as a prerequisite that the raw material be from the Tyrnavos area and in fact the 50 % of this should be Moschato Tyrnavou.

Of the 24.000 acres of vines cultivated in the municipality of Tyrnavos, 12.000 are located in the area of ​​Damasio, one of the most uniformly densely cultivated and cared for vineyards in Greece. The main variety is Tyrnavou Black Muscat, followed by Roditis. Both varieties are vinified while also being used for the production of Tyrnavos tsipouro.

The tsipouro of Tyrnavos is one of the most famous (of Macedonia-Episodes-Thessaly-Tyrnavos-the tsikoudia of Crete), although at the beginning it was the only main that had aniseed, along the way to meet the demands of the market outside of Tyrnavos, it was also adapted it was also produced without aniseed.

There are in Tyrnavos family distilleries with a long history and dynamic presence such as those of Katsaros, Kardasis, Vasdavanos, Vryssas, Agrafiotis, Papras, Kavaratzis, Milias, but also the Agricultural Wine Cooperative of Tyrnavos, which was the first Cooperative to produce and bottle tsipouro. The collaboration of the Vasdavanou family with the distiller N. Kalogiannis was the one that produced the first single-varietal tsipouro (in all of Greece) called "Dekaraki", and made the best use of the characteristic aromas of Tyrnavos Muscat, - in essence, a new product - thus giving a new impetus and a new dynamic both to the product itself (Dekaraki) and to the demand of Tsipouro Tyrnavos.

The single variety Dekaraki from 2013 when it was released until today, it managed to enter the four strongest tsipouro brands in Greece (together with Tsililis-Apostolakis and Papatzimopoulos). And certainly these 4 together with the rest of the distillers are fighting against the bulk tsipouro, which while at its base is a habit and a ritual (kazanemata), but also an increase in the farmers' income is in danger of turning into a big risk to consumers, to the extent that examples of the marketing of unsuitable tsipouri (imports from third countries) are increasing. The problem is complex and cannot be solved with simplistic solutions. In fact, an important distiller of Tyrnavos confided in me: "Imagine if the illegal sale of tsipouro from private cauldrons was strictly prohibited today, who could immediately replace this production? And on the other hand, why should there be unequal competition between illegal alcohol (tax-free) and uncontrolled quality - which is often very dangerous for health - and the legal and certified tsipouro".

During my short stay in Tyrnavos I met him Konstantinos Kardassi a very serious distillery that invested from the first in Tyrnavos in the development of quality tsipouro resulting in its successes and its awards in Greek and international exhibitions.

The Agricultural Winery Cooperative with its enormous potential and with its social role in the gathering of the region's grapes - it has the capacity to receive 11.000 tons - is active both in the sale of (rodites-moscata) very good quality popular wines (rodites-moscata) and of Tsipouro. His bag was excellent!

With the help of Yannis Ganas, a farmer from Damasi, I toured the area and was impressed. Over 100.000 crowns of cultivated land, fertile and well irrigated - the area's underground water is abundant - make Tyrnavos one of the richest areas in Greece in terms of primary sector production. Vines, Tyrnavo pears (PGI), peaches, apricots, almonds, corn and grains create an economic wealth but above all a wealth of performances. Rejoice and enjoy the land and the rural landscape.

Pasture to the north-west with free-range goats, sheep and goats supplying milk to dynamic cheese factories producing feta, goat cheeses, manouria and kefalotyries!

We visited the cheese factory of the Tzafetta company, which through two generations of success in the field of cheese making, is one of the most notable companies in the sector nationwide.

At the beginning of the 2000s, at a time when the winemakers-distillers of Tyrnavos were focusing on the production of tsipouro, the then young Dimitris Migas, impressed by the "new wines" of Drama, he turned to wine. As a result, today it "travels" all over Greece and Europe, bringing the aroma of Tyrnavos to the most important wine markets, and its winery is the best winery-distillery to visit in the region.

The city of Tyrnavos, without having avoided the ugly urbanization with the bad apartment buildings (few are true) that characterize the Greek province, has a sweetness and a humane climate, especially in its neighborhoods where you will find residences from old times. Houses from the Ottoman Empire, neoclassical urban, neoclassical folk houses, but also the local architecture of the early 20th century (local stone up to a point and then solid red brick).

It is obvious that we encountered excellent tsipouradikas, which refer to tsipouradika of Volos both in style and in the beautiful atmosphere that prevails in them. Statiri's tsipouradiko was the most interesting. A rich variety of appetizers as well as types of the region!

Tyrnavos can boast that it has one of the best restaurants in "Kambos" with customers from all over Thessaly. The "Road of Dreams" where in a neoclassical building that exudes a high aesthetic one can taste very good local meats and a cuisine of claims.

Closing the excursion to Tyrnavos and given the upcoming presentation of the culinary attractions of the region in more detail - as is always the case from our website -, I put the reflection that was born to me.

How can such a beautiful and rich culinary place become gastronomic destination, without having as a Municipality – not only as a city – not a single hotel?

He needs; and if so in what way?

We will work on these questions in the next articles and of course together with the people of the area. So that there is no anxiety about the answer, my opinion is clearly affirmative. The culinary wealth of the region is rich, entrepreneurship is strong and dynamic, the Municipality shows a sensitivity in this direction, and all that is needed now is a plan and of course a high sense of cooperation. The term competition to take place in Tyrnavos as well. Let's work together to grow the pie and then compete to see who gets the biggest share!