Ierissos. Ierissos is a town with about 3,000 inhabitants northwest of Ouranoupolis, 70 kilometers (43 mi) east of Halkidiki’s capital, Polygyros, and 100 kilometers (62 mi) from Thessaloniki. It is located on a bay, in the same location where the ancient city Akanthos stood in the 7th century BC.
Ierissos is a small town of 3500 inhabitants which is located in the south-eastern coast of northern Halkidiki. Its distance from Thessaloniki is 100 km and the proposed route to get here is via the National Road of Thessaloniki - Kavala. Alternatively you can drive through Arnaia between the mountains of North Halkidiki, in a beautiful landscape. Ierissos is a beautiful, modern city, well structured, with green spaces, parks and a beautiful sea with a long sandy beach.
The area of Ierissos is a unique holiday destination with several beaches which were awarded with the blue flag, beach bars, cafes and traditional taverns.

Historically, Ierissos has been a fishing village, where boats were built and restored. Ierissos has a wonderful beach, many hotels and apartments, shops, restaurants and many nice taverns. There is also a harbor from which boats make day trips to the eastern coast of the Holy Mountain. A striking phenomenon at the beach are the strange rocks, which the Greeks call Kakoudia, jutting high out of the in the water.

Just outside Ierissos, between the village of Roda and Trypiti, the Persian King Xerxes, dug a channel 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) in length in the year 480 BC. This was so his fleet could sail from one side of the peninsula to the other. This channel was later closed, but is still visible today.

source : justgreece.com-halkidikitravel.com