Mandamados is one of the few places in Greece where a genuine traditional pottery tradition survives in active production. The workshops here have been making storage vessels, pithari (the large earthenware jars used across the Mediterranean for olive oil and grain), and everyday domestic ceramics for generations, using hand-throwing techniques and wood-fired kilns.
Several workshops operate in and around the village. Most welcome visitors who want to watch the work being done, and pieces are for sale directly from the workshops. The pithari in particular are distinctive — massive, functional vessels with a rough-textured surface that stands apart from the decorative tourism pottery found elsewhere in Greece. If you're not shipping anything large, smaller pieces make practical souvenirs.