Apollonía - Agios Lázaros - Artemónas 

 

Evaluation: This is a quiet and not very long hike through the interior of Sífnos, without real highlights. This hike thus gets an evaluation of *.

Estimated time: To hike from Apollonia to Agios Lázaros will take about 65 minutes. To return to Artemónas takes another 55 minutes. You can turn these two hours of actual hiking time into a longer trip by taking some pauses now and then and by having a picnic. 

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 Módestrou. 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 Plátanou. 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 about 25 minutes some concrete steps bring you to a slope, which leads to the gravel road from Kamáres to Agios Simeoón. Towards the right in front of you, you notice some buildings of a farm and high above you can see Agios Lázaros.

In this bend you find another stony trail, on the right-hand side of the gravel road, so actually immediately in front of you. This stony trail runs on the right-hand side of the main road and it goes almost straight in the direction of the smoking Voríni-mine. Slightly further, at an 'alóni' (a threshing floor) you keep to the left and when you continue a bit further you find a narrow path by keeping to the right (there is a blue dot). This path curves to the right pretty soon and via a beautiful rocky staircase it descends into the valley. You then follow a beautifully paved trail, which goes up slightly between walls a little further down. About fifteen minutes after your departure from Agios Lázaros you arrive at a fairly large and rocky bed of a river. You follow this bed to the left for a short while, but almost immediately you find a staircase going up on the right – you have now reached the nice trail leading from the summit of Agios Simeoón to Artemónas..

[If you were to follow the bed of the river for another 100 metres, you would get to a cistern and over there you would find the trail off the left leading to Agios Simeoón ..]

After a short climb you get to a 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 ikonóstasis 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.

[If you would like to return from the platía of Artemónas to Apollonía on foot you should continue straight ahead on the main street - in 10 to 15 minutes you will thus get to the platía of Apollonía.]