Apollonía - Agios Simeoón - Artemónas

Evaluation: Another beautiful hike through the interior of Sífnos and a nice alternative for the hike from Artemónas to the Agios Simeoón - see the hike Apollonía - Artemónas - Agios Simeoón. The whole trajectory Apollonía - Agios Simeoón - Artemónas gets an evaluation of *** or ** (in case you decide to follow the gravel road to the Agios Simeoón).

Estimated time: From Apollonía to Agios Lázaros it will take you 65 minutes of hiking time; if you follow the trail it will take you another 40 minutes from there to the summit of the Agios Simeoón. You will hike for 25 minutes to return to the Vorini-mine and then for about 65 minutes to continue to Artemónas - all this is actual hiking time (AWT). This actual hiking time of about 3h15 means a total hiking time (TWT) of some 6 hours.

Route description: On the square of Apollonía you take the small street in between the pharmacy and the bar Lákis. This street runs more or less horizontally past an olive field and it gradually curves to the left. You keep going straight ahead and after about 3 minutes you get to a chapel with a beautiful tree. Beyond you can distinguish the monastery of the Profítis Ilías on a hill top far away.

A little past the chapel, when the tiles turn into concrete, you take a staircase to the left. Further down, the small street becomes a rustic path. In this way you descend to the bed of a small river. You reach this bed about 50 metres before the large bridge on the road from Apollonía to Kamáres. You then go right (there is a signpost pointing to hotel Petáli) and you go up on a steep concrete road. Some 3 minutes later you get in front of a house, with another signpost to hotel Petáli. On the left-hand side of the blue garage you find the beginning of your trail.

You continue on a very obvious and beautiful trail and quite soon you arrive at the beautiful and simple little church of Agios Dimítrios. You then have a marvellous view on the churches with the blue domes on the opposite side – such as Agios Theológos.

You do not mind the unclear turn off the left and after about 12 minutes you get to a turn off the right to the little church of Agios Modéstrou. Your trail continues more or less horizontally and you have a nice view on the bay of Kamáres and obviously also on the Agios Simeoón. Some 10 minutes later you reach a little concrete side road to the modest monastery of the Panagía Platánou. Immediately before this side road there is a trail coming from the right above you, with next to it a grey water pipe – this is a path leading to Artemónas. You keep on going straight, but you can first take some rest at the monastery.

A little further down - you can already see a small dam in the valley in front of you - the trail starts to go down steeply. After about 10 minutes you get to a rocky bed of a river, next to a couple of cairns. If you would go to the left you would reach the bed of the Potamós Kamároon-river. You DO NOT take a left though; instead you immediately go up again, on a steep trail towards the left. Some 5 minutes later you arrive above the first dam. A little further down you keep to the right at a junction and you continue to go up into the interior of the island. After 25 minutes some concrete steps bring you to a slope, and this slope leads to the gravel road from Kamáres to the Agios Simeoón - all together it has been 65 minutes since your departure from Apollonía.

In front of you, you can see two stone towers, remnants of a station of the old cable car which was used for the mine exploitation of the Voríni-mine. The gravel road on the left actually follows the line of the old railway which came here all the way from the harbour of Kamáres (in the years 1900-1920)! 

You follow the gravel road to the right for a couple of hundred metres, but then you have to watch out! In the first bend to the right, you will notice a very vague trail straight ahead, running between a tall and a smaller wall. After 2 minutes you reach a metal fence and from this point on you have to stay to the left of the wall, guided by blue and orange dots. The ravine on the left is impressive, but the trail does not become dangerous anywhere. 

Some 15 minutes later you go to the left, moving away from the wall, and the trail keeps going up quickly – between green bushes. After some 27-28 minutes all together you get to the nice path that comes from the Vorini-mine beneath, and that goes up to the Agios Simeoón – later on, this is the point where you will have to follow the staircase going down.

[If you would rather not follow the somewhat neglected trail to the top of the Agios Simeoón, because in certain instances it does run closely to the deep ravine, you can keep following the gravel road. On this dreary road you walk underneath the chapel of Agios Galátis and thereafter you can see the smoking Voríni-mine on the right.

During the next 30 minutes, on the way to the summit, you alternately follow the road and the ancient path. You first have to walk on the road for about 10 minutes – once in a while you can see traces of the trail and one time there is even a signpost on your left-hand side. Some 50 metres past a shed painted in white, at a curve to the right, you can go up towards the left and fortunately you can then still use a fairly long stretch of the beautiful old pilgrim staircase. After a while you get to the red-brownish gravel road again; you follow this road which goes up by describing a sharp curve. Some 50 metres further though, you can climb up the steep side of the road - not without difficulties - , and in this way you can continue to go up on a trail – you are more or less guided by little piles of rocks which show you which way to go. In this way you can cut off another large curve in the road. When you get to the main road again you are already very near to the antennae.
You cross the road, you follow the old trail for a short while again, and you then cross the road for the last time. DO NOT follow the gravel road now, because it is really worthwhile to approach the monastery via the old staircase.]

The monastery - the church as well as the dining hall - is open, and the well offers some refreshing water. At an altitude of 476 metres the panoramic view is absolutely fantastic, both on the bay of Kamáres, on the island of Sérifos (on a clear day you can even distinguish the town of Chóra) and on the monastery on the next summit, the Profítis Ilías Troulakioú. This is an ideal spot to have a peaceful picnic.

From the Agios Simeoón you descend to the Voríni-mine and for the first 8 minutes you follow the same road as when going up – the old trail, three times cut short by the gravel road:
- 1 minute going down on the staircase and then, at the road, continuing straight ahead
- after another 3 minutes you get to the road again, near the little shed – not without difficulties you continue on the trail, past the bend on the opposite side (note the dot and the cairn)
- after 4 minutes once more you climb down to the road, you follow the hairpin bend in the road and you take a right onto the old path again (orange dot).

Some 8 minutes later you get to the point where you reached this old trail earlier today; now, you go straight ahead and after a few minutes you reach the gravel road. You then have to follow this road to the right for 10 minutes, until you get to the Vorini-mine – the ancient trail has basically disappeared over here.

Once you have arrived close to the mine, which is a smoking rubbish dump now, you need to have a look a couple of metres on the left of the bend in the road for the return route to Artemónas. Over there you find the rests of a small concrete path. When you follow this path to the right, you walk just past the mine and you also find a metal signpost. You then walk on the left-hand side of a small white building. Behind this building there is a rocky trail, which you follow to the right. 
From there onwards the trail is fairly obvious; sometimes it is strengthened by means of concrete, sometimes it is strikingly reddish, because of the presence of ore – the road to Cherrónissos runs underneath on the left-hand side. Further on you have to go down via a long and marvellous staircase, which curves to the right. You finally arrive at a cistern in the bed of a little river. You follow this bed to the right for a couple of minutes, until you, near a signpost, go up again on the left. You have now been hiking for about 20 minutes since you left from the mine. After a short climb you get to another cistern, and you take the trail on the right-hand side of this cistern. During the next 7 minutes you walk on a beautiful staircase and thereafter you get to a very pleasant and flatter stretch – on the right-hand side you have a nice view on the hills with lots of terraces.

About 15 minutes later there is a short descent into a valley and then the trail goes up again. Five minutes further down you can have a look at the beautiful little church of Agios Dimítrios on the right – over there you will find a well with some refreshing water. This spot also offers you a nice view towards the Panagía ta Mángana.

You return to the main trail and a little further on you keep to the right (there is also a signpost). After another couple of minutes you get to a gravel road (again there is a signpost): on the left the trail leads to Panagía ta Mángana (see the hike Apollonía - Ta Mángana), but you take a right here.

At the first crossing you curve towards the left, following the water pipe. At the second crossing you take a left again, moving away from the water pipe. Thereafter you should continue straight ahead. After about 10 minutes you reach the first houses of Artemónas: you then take a right into the village. You get to a house with grey windows and a grey door, where you keep to the left. At the palm tree - a church with blue dome is situated behind this tree - you keep to the left (this is the street Odos Groupári) and in this way you get to the main street. You follow this street to the right, past the beautiful churches of Panagía Kóchi (in the curve to the left) and Panagía tis Ammou (with a great ikonostási and with the date of 28 July 1788 written on its doorstep). You walk past some mansions and past the picturesque school – finally you reach the little square. You can now continue straight ahead to Apollonía, but you will probably be tempted to first visit the attractive bar Margaríta or the restaurant Liotrivi on the left. A little further on the left you can find the bus stop.