Aladinoú - Sasá - Moní Panachrántou - Pétrias - Fállika - Aladinoú

Evaluation: This circular walk is an interesting alternative to visit the monastery of Panachrántou and begins near the beautiful bridge of the village of Aladinoú. One can possibly visit the nearby cave and trails are really beautiful. Deserves ***.
[2 May 2015]
[The translation of this walk is made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: The way out to the monastery, through Sasá, asks 1h15, the way back passes by Fállika and  lasts for a little longer. The actual walking time of 2h35 means a total time (TWT) that can rise to 5-6 hours - we walked from 11am to 5pm, with a long pause at the monastery...

Route description:  [You only can reach the quiet village of Aladinoú by car or motorbike: starting from the by-pass road of Messariá, you take the direction of Aladinoú and Fállika. Already after a few minutes, you see in front of you the village and its beautiful bridge.]

The old bridge crosses the "Megálos Potamós" ("The Great River"), which has its source on the other side of the island, near the village of Zaganiáris. Downstream, there is also the famous bridge of Stichioméni, where the walk [1] that leads from Messariá to the monastery of Panachrántou, passes. The river flows into the sea near Chóra, on the beach of Parapórti.
The spot is very picturesque - do not forget to go down, until under the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge, there is an old road sign and some new hiking signs; there is also a sign about the visit of the cave, with the phone number of mrs Kaladami, which can appear as a guide in the cave (693 969 68 35).

(0h00) You can mount the stairs [18a]. A sign tells you that the 85 steps were built in 1975 at the expense of a certain Theófilos Dertoúrou. You climb up to the asphalt road, next to a source - behind you, you enjoy a beautiful view of the bridge site.
In front, a staircase continues to rise (sign and [18a]). You follow a beautiful old staircase, which climbs with its nice pavement between nice walls. After 5-6 minutes, you get to a bifurcation (sign "Spíleo").

[If you want to visit the cave, you continue RIGHT on the nice trail (hiking sign and sign “Spíleo”), with a beautiful view over the valley. Pay attention: after a little more than a minute, you should go to the RIGHT through a breach in the wall - there is a blue arrow and the word CAVE on a rock. The descent leads quickly to the cave, which is enclosed by a fence. It is possible to ask for a guided tour by calling 693 969 68 35 -  however the person in question is not always available.
There is a table and a stone bench. You have a beautiful view of the houses of Messariá that form a long line, and also of Lámyra, above and to the left. After your visit, you go back to the main trail.

(0h09) For the continuation of your walk, you take a LEFT at the bifurcation, if you come from Aladinoú - you can already see Kouréli to the left and above. The climb is quite beautiful, and when you arrive next to some grey rocks, the climb becomes steeper; when, after some minutes, you arrive in front of some other grey rocks and a wall, a splendid staircase goes up to the right, in nice zigzags. – there are about 100 heavy steps, with to the left a view on the church of Kouréli.

(0h19) You get in this way to the asphalt road, just between the road signs of the two villages Kouréli and Sasá. After crossing the road you continue straight on the path, that is now rather steep and overgrown, then you come to a crossroads: on the left there is a sign "Odós 28 Oktovríou 1940"; the old (illegible) road sign points to the left to Kouréli and to the right to Sasá
.
(0h23) You now continue straight to Sasá: this path is also a bit overgrown, but soon it gets better. You cross a small road, the trail arrives next to the church and you continue on a concrete lane until you cross a concrete staircase – you get here to the route of the walk [7].

(0h27) You go up on the left: at the beginning, this staircase is also overgrown, but above, you veer left [7] and you now follow a beautiful trail that climbs slowly. You enjoy a nice view over the entire valley and Chóra. After 4 minutes, you start to surround the tub-shaped valley of Kouréli: The trail climbs under the trees and continues to veer to the left around the valley.

(0h34) Halfway, there is a path that comes from the left, from Kouréli; you keep to the right [7] and climb for 5 minutes on a steep and a rocky path. The beautiful trail then continues flatly underneath Mediterranean maples and oaks. Later on, it goes down a bit and still veers to the left - after another 4 minutes it crosses a little stream [7]. You go up - a steep climb for a while - and so you pass above Kouréli.

(0h48) You pass the promontory [7] and you still ascend slowly for 5 minutes between 2 walls. You thus reach a cross-staircase where you go up to the right [7]: the climb becomes steeper, first on the stairs, then on another trail. You veer right to continue your steep climb, about 5 meters from the ascending wall. In Spring, the trail is rather vague because of the grass and flowers.

(0h58) You come for a moment against the wall, but then you meander right and left while going up - so you arrive to the right almost against another wall, then left again against the left wall - and here, you discover a beautiful view of the monastery [7]. You zigzag up, more or less next to the wall, with a magnificent view of the monastery and the entire valley until Chóra! The passage between the wall and the right slope becomes very narrow for a few minutes and you finally descend below a huge inclining pock-marked rock. You climb again on a narrow path, you still pass a brook and you get to a real terrace with a cantina and parking.

(1h14) On the left, there is a concrete slope leading down to the arch that forms the entrance to the monastery. You thus arrive at the beautiful terrace with the large plane trees.

The Iera Moní Panachrántou – also called Agios Panteleïmonas - is located at an altitude of 500 m; one tells that the monastery dates from the 9^th-10^th century, but the oldest historical indications only go back to the 16^th century. You will find a wonderful icon in the church and also a beautiful wooden ikonostási from the 18^th century. On the inner courtyards water streams from some wells and also the large dining hall and the old kitchen are interesting. Unfortunately, the wealthy library is not accessible.
When strolling around you definitely also have to walk all the way to the top: the view of the terraces surrounding you is really beautiful.

(1h14) For the continuation of the walk, you first pass the entrance arch, you then have to curve to the left sharply (hiking sign [1] and [7]) – you now will follow the trajectory of walk [1]. You thus follow the asphalt road along the side and the back of the monastery. When arriving at the bend in the road, with a well on your right-hand side, the trail continues straight ahead underneath the trees (hiking pole [1] and old sign Fállika 45’ / Messariá 1h25). The path descends fast and the road is really self-evident, because the trail is well signposted with [1] – the gravel road on the left side is new and goes down to Fállika.
- at first, you descend 480 uneven, mostly small steps
- (1h40) you get to a first viewpoint, then you follow some 6 nice bends with 85 more steps
- this brings you to a beautiful viewpoint with a striking upright stone with a marker [1]  – do not forget to look at the multitude of terraces underneath Fállika and at the ruins of the ancient village of Petriás
- (1h48) after another 135 steps, you get to a side trail: you find yourself amidst the ruins of the deserted village of Pétrias. Walk [18] passes here, it goes from Chóra to Aladinoú and Vakóni – see the walk Chóra – Vrachnoú – Pétrias – Fállika – Aladinoú – Vakóni.

[Straight ahead, walk [1] continues to descend to Messariá and possibly to Lámyra and Chóra – see walk [1]. Walk [18] follows path [1] for a few moments and then takes a right to Vrachnoú and Chóra – see the reverse walk [18] that goes from Vakóni and Aladinoú through Fállika and Vrachnoú to Chóra…]

(1h48) You take a LEFT ([18] on a wall) and go up a few steps; you get to a grassy path (in Spring) that ascends slowly, but after 8-9 minutes, you begin to go down again and to veer to the right in direction of Fállika.
You cross a brook, you go up a little, then you veer again to the right and cross some water. Later on, you cross a nice little bridge that spans a narrow crevice with murmuring water. A concrete path and a staircase [18] bring you near the first houses of Fállika and you ascend some steps to the first height. You go down again until you arrive next to the church, then you go up on some 30 steps until you get to the highest point ([18] on a pole).

(2h07) You go down and from now on, the descent will be long [18], first on 75 concrete steps, then on almost 170 paved steps. You pass two fountains, and after another 40 concrete steps, you leave the village on a trail. You cross for the first time the asphalt road and continue your descent straight across [18], on a rocky trail or on steps. You cross the road again and continue your descent [18], first on steps or on a rocky path, later on a path that has was cleared recently - it will cost some effort to maintain this path, because in May 2015 it was already a bit overgrown again…

(2h21) You thus reach a junction, where the right path leads to the bridge of Stichioméni (hiking sign and trail marker [1c]).

[You will need not even a quarter of an hour to follow a beautiful trail and a magnificent staircase, to arrive near the bridge; it is also on the route of the hike [1], and so you could go to Messariá.]

For now, you take a LEFT [18]: the trail is initially steep, sometimes with uneven rocky steps, but after two sharp turns, the descent becomes slower, always with a beautiful view of the valley with cypresses. Finally, the rocky path still gets to the asphalt road.

(2h31) You go left for a very few moments, then you turn right on a concrete road, but immediately, you go down the stairs on the left side (2 X [18] on a small post): after 140 steps you arrive next to the river and you thus reach the bridge of Aladinoú. (2h34)