It was the most important commercial center of the 24 villages of Pelion. After 1900 the Hotel "Theoxenia" was considered to be the biggest and most luxurious of the Balkans. Today Portaria is the first to welcome visitors to Pelion, The neoclassical mansions are very interesting, many of them having been converted info hotels.
If you are lucky to be in Portaria at about the end of August you can witness the old custom of the "Pelioritic" wedding being revived.