The Special Service for the Promotion and Licensing of Tourism Investments of the Ministry of Tourism has issued a verification act for the Lagomana mountain refuge in the Pieria Mountains, within the Municipality of Velventos.
The refuge is located at an altitude of 1,377 meters and was constructed in 1979. It is built on a public forest area of 3,000 sq.m. The site is within the Special Conservation Zone of the NATURA 2000 network (GR1250002), titled “Pieria Mountains.”
Additionally, it lies within the Wildlife Refuge “Avouziani, Moni Ag. Varvaras, Blasia.” The land was fully granted to the Hellenic Mountaineering Association of Kozani by the Forest Directorate of the former Kozani Prefecture.
The mountain refuge, which operates under the self-management of its members, has a capacity of 27 beds. Within the site, there are structures with a total built area of 249.72 sq.m., divided as follows: Building 1 with 240.78 sq.m. and Building 2 with 8.94 sq.m. The buildings are constructed with load-bearing brick masonry with plaster, reinforced concrete slabs, while part of Building 1 (154.47 sq.m.) has a tiled roof with a wooden frame.
There is no electricity network in the area, and power is supplied via a diesel generator and an autonomous photovoltaic system. Building 1 is heated by two fireplaces and two wood stoves. Water supply comes from a nearby spring located at an altitude of 1,550 meters.
Road access to the refuge is via the route: Velventos – Paleogratsano – “Refuge Meadows” (asphalt and dirt road). An alternative route is: Velventos – Agia Kyriaki (asphalt) – Katafygi (forest road) – “Refuge Meadows” (asphalt and dirt road). The refuge is also accessible via hiking trails: Metochi Velventou – Lagomana (E4), Metochi Velventou – Lagomana (short trail), and Katafygi – Lagomana.
The refuge was constructed without a legal building permit on public forest land. Its legalization is intended to serve activities such as hiking, mountaineering, cycling, nature exploration, climbing, and generally mountain tourism. The legalization applies to the existing buildings. This decision does not legalize any works or installations carried out after July 28, 2011.
