As it’s name testifies, Metaxochori was in the past a local centre of sericulture, forming on of the links in the chain of the Greek Silk Road. It is a picturesque mountain settlement at the foot of Mount Kissavos, near Agia Larissa. It’s beautiful mansions are proof of the economic development the village experienced in the mid 18th century from the wealth created by cotton and silk production.

It is in fact one of the five traditional settlements classified as Cultural Heritage in the Prefecture of Larissa.

Large mulberry plantations contributed to the cultivation of massive quantities of silkworms. In it’s heyday most families made a living from sericulture. With their skill in breeding the silkworms, Metaxochori produced some of the highest quality eggs which were exported far and wide, reaching as far as Persia.

In 1872 the Swiss baron Eugenios Favre and his wife Stefania Favre settled in Metaxochori. Amongst other things they engaged in sericulture, renting the mulberry orchards from the church estates. With their knowledge of silkworm  breeding and the use of machinery they made a massive contribution to the development of sericulture in the region.

The now ruined mansion of the Favres at the entrance to the village is witness to the glorious past and prosperity that Metaxochori experience until around 1930, when sericulture was deemed unprofitable and was abandoned. It is also worth visiting the old monastery of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, built in the 18th century. The cells were used to produce cocoons by the Favres and the Tzimerou family.