Eleven seconds of footage depicting the mesmerising beauty of snow-covered Florina are definitely brief but capable of highlighting how snowfall offers a sense of wonder to the northern town’s locale in winter. A short video clip of this length presents a visual masterpiece that does not require any processing to enhance the reality, truly impressive as it stands.
Travel photographer Stefanos Antimanto, with descent from Serifos, Karpenisi and Milan, uploaded the short video, which he filmed, to his Instagram account (@stef_greece), generating millions of views around the world over just two days.
Contacted by travel.gr, Antimanto, who became involved in travel photography as an amateur a decade ago before turning professional five years later, offered details behind the making of his video, which became an instant viral around the world.
“I filmed the video immediately after last week’s adverse weather [heavy snow and torrential rain in many parts of Greece] brought in by the Diomedes weather system,” Antimanto noted. “It’s on the road from Florina towards the Vigla ski centre at Pisoderi, during the morning hours. There were no people. It was very beautiful. The road had been cleaned, as is usual in the area, because it snows a lot there. These types of weather conditions prevail in the region every year, and are repeated many times over the winter season. Quite simply, nobody had captured this particular snow-covered setting on film. The fact that I have a widely viewed channel helped spread the message easier,” he continued.
Antimanto noted that his Instagram account is followed by certain major foreign accounts, some of which noticed his video and uploaded it before it was gradually also taken on by all the major Instagram accounts.
“The video has spread to many countries and has generated millions of views. People from abroad have sent me messages saying they had no idea Greece has snow and mountains,” Antimanto told travel.gr. “My objective is to show, through my channel, that Greece is not just beaches and islands. There are many things to be seen in Greece. The country has lots of mountains and ski centres. I’m glad that a start has been made with this video and that people will begin to learn more about the other side of Greece”.
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