Apollonía - Káto Petáli - valley of Erkiés - Kástro - Panagía Pouláti - Artemónas
Evaluation:
This trajectory is not the shortest, but it is definitely the most
pleasant way to hike from Apollonía to Kástro. In the old, fortified
capital of the island you can quietly walk through the very picturesque
streets or you can discover the ring road around Kástro. You can then
either take the bus back, or you can decide to continue to hike to the
marvellously located monastery of Panagía Pouláti, and then back up to
Artemónas. Also in Artemónas you can catch the bus, or you can close
the circle by returning to Apollonía along the pedestrian street. This
hike gets the maximum evaluation of ****.
This hike is in the first part marked with the sign [3], later on with
[1].
[Update by Raymond on the 3rd of April 2012.]
Estimated time:
The actual hiking time to Kástro is 75 minutes. In this little town you
have to devote some time to a peaceful visit and you should have some
rest on one of the terraces – either the new terrace of To Konáki or
the very quiet terrace of To Astéri. To hike from Kástro to the Panagía
Pouláti takes 25 minutes – if you are lucky, so if the sea is not too
rough, you can go for a swim underneath Panagía Pouláti. Climbing to Artemónas then takes another 30 minutes and you can easily spend the
rest of the afternoon in Artemónas and Apollonía – this hike
definitely offers enough for a full day.
Route
description:
[To hike from Apollonía to Kástro you can take different routes: via Artemónas and Panagía Pouláti (the opposite route of the second part
of this hike) and via Káto Petáli and Agii Anárgyri (see the
hike Apollonía - Káto Petáli - Kástro). You can also continue on the
hike from Apollonía via Chryssopigí to Fáros by walking from Fáros to Kástro (see the
hike Fáros - Kástro)...
- as you can see, there are plenty of possibilities.
Today, though,
we take the variant via Káto Petáli and the valley of Erkíes, which
is probably the most beautiful way to hike to Kástro.]
(0h00)
From the bus square of
Apollonía,
you take the main street to Katavatí (in
between the Plaza bar and a pay phone) for a short while,
but almost immediately - when the main street curves to the right - ,
you take the little street and the stairs down to the left when you get
to the Christós church. In this way you walk underneath the main road
(walking sign + [3] and red dots).
Shortly afterwards you will find a path going up on the left, but you
continue straight, in south eastern direction. By doing so you gradually
descend, following the nicely paved path in the direction of the big
church of Káto Petáli,
which can be recognized by two towers and a blue dome. The beautifully
paved path - sometimes it is a flight of stairs - zigzags between fields
with olive trees, bee hives and some pigeon towers – high up on the
left you see the big church of Artemónas.
After
some five minutes you arrive in a valley and you take a left, until you
have crossed a bridge some 30 metres further. Then you go right again,
in the direction of Káto Petáli. At a small church you pass a street off
the right and a little further there is another path off the left. Now,
you walk on a concrete trail, still in the direction of Káto Petáli.
Another nicely paved staircase brings you to the right of the village,
at a little square with benches - higher up you see a school and the large
church Zoödóchou Pigís. You have now been hiking for about ten minutes.
(0h12)
You
go down for a little while, you pass along the shortest side of a
parking lot, you go straight on a concrete path and you walk in between
walls and houses, straight towards the south. On the left hand side of
these houses there is a small street which goes to the beautiful church
of Agios Antónios: inside this church you can admire a nice rood loft
with a staircase, and on the ground there is a coat of arms in stone
with a double eagle and the date 1896.
The trail turns
into some paved steps, but after a couple of minutes you get again to a
concrete path. From this point you have a marvellous view on the
terraces and on the beautiful church of Panagía tou Koukiá.
[If you want to visit the little church of Panagía tou
Koukiá,
you can take a right here for a short while: this path crosses the
valley and goes up steeply till the church. Immediately before the
church there is a rocky trail and a staircase leading in the direction
of Exámbela – after about 5 minutes you already reach the beginning
of the village. By keeping to the right you could thus continue and
zigzagingly you would get to the large church of Exámbela.
At the church of
the Panagía tou Koúkia you have a really nice view on Artemónas and
on Káto Petáli; this is a remarkably peaceful and isolated spot…
After your visit you have to return to the trail underneath Káto Petáli.]
(0h15) You then continue
on the trail towards the left. Very soon the trail becomes dusty and you
pass a pigeon tower on the right. The path continues like a staircase,
which leads to a beautiful rock-trail. Some five minutes further down
there is a junction: the little road to the left leads up to the Anárgiri-church
and then also continues to Kástro (see the
hike Apollonía - Káto Petáli - Kástro). You have to take a right, though, towards the bridge [3].
(0h24) The
trail continues more or less horizontally and after a couple of minutes
the marvellously white village of Kástro appears on the left-hand side.
You gradually
curve to the right and at the next junction you keep to the right (there
is a blue dot). After about 8
minutes you pass a small church; a little later on you pass an overgrown
trail off the left and off the right there is a trail leading to Exámbela
(see the
hike Kástro - Exámbela - Apollonía). Another 2 minutes further down you get to a rocky
three-forked-junction: straight ahead you could go to the monastery of
Vrýsis (walks [3] and [1]. Instead, you have to go down and to the left - there is a
new
hiking sign
and from now
on the path is marked by [1].
The next descent
is fairly steep; after some 7 minutes you cross the bed of a river – on May 17th 2003
we had to walk over quite a lot of water, and also on September 25th
2003 there was a lot of water, but on April 3rd 2012 there was almost
now water...
(0h40) You climb up for a couple of minutes
[1] and you then continue on a very beautiful trail in the direction of
Kástro. This path
continues almost flatly for about 12-13 minutes: underneath to the
left you see a chapel with a circular roof, a chapel
with a flat roof and a pigeon tower. Closer to Kástro you descend for
about 5 minutes until you get to another trail off the right which comes
also down steeply: you have perhaps followed this trail on the hike
from Fáros to Kástro.
You continue going down for the next two minutes until you reach the
valley. Below, in front of
you and a little to the left you see the staircase to Kástro – unless
you want to follow the valley to the right in order to go for a swim on
the beach of Serália.
(1h07) The staircase crosses the asphalt road to Seralia after a couple of
minutes and after 80 steps. Straight
ahead you take the staircase painted in white and in this way you reach
the square next to the bus stop, after another 140 steps. You are now at
the gates of Kástro, near the new entrance to the fortified village. (1h15)
Nearby you find
the beautiful terrace of To Konáki; in the bakery of the same name, a
little further down, you can buy delicious amigdalótes, which is the
local speciality. It is also great to take some rest on the terrace of
the restaurant To astéri, a little further to the left – over there
you should go and try a 'pikilía' (little snacks) with the tirokeftédes
(cheese balls), the saganáki (fried cheese) and the melitzanosaláta (a
salad of eggplant)...
(1h15)
From
the northwestern part of Kástro you can then descend again through the
ancient entrance towards the two windmills. On the right of these mills
there goes a little asphalt road to the right (there is a sign to Panagía Pouláti
and a [1] on a pole. The old path started after some 150 meters, but it
collapsed a little further and is no longer passable. You thus continue
on the road, which leads towards the purification station, until it gets
into a concrete road and splits up a little further: you go up to the
left [1] and soon you see the old path in front of you, on the right
side of a wall [1]. The next 15 minutes
the trail continues above the beautiful rocky coastline like a balcony.
About 20 minutes later you get to a chapel – with a marvellous view on
both Kástro and Panagía Pouláti – and 5 minutes afterwards you reach
the monastery of Panagía Pouláti itself. Just before you get to the
monastery there goes a path down off the right. Taking this path brings
you after about 160 steps to the water. When the sea is calm you can
swim and snorkel here towards the rocks of Dialiskari. Also at the
monastery itself you have to take some time to enjoy the peace and
serenity.
(1h42) Leaving Panagía Pouláti, there is a beautiful staircase, which begins on the right of the parking lot above the monastery and which goes all the way up to Artemónas. The staircase, however, is criss-crossed a couple of times by an ugly gravel road, but each time it is fairly easy to find the steps again. After having crossed this gravel road for the first time, though, you have to go up on the right hand side of the wall in front of you, straight towards the windmills all the way up in Artemónas. But after you have crossed the road for a second time, the staircase gets really beautiful again. Halfway the third part of the climb you pass a path coming from the right and you continue towards the left and up. Your trail will then reach a couple of houses and the smallest, restored windmill. After another 80 steps you will get to a – sometimes paved - path in between walls, which continues upwards. This path eventually leads to a kind of plateau, at an altitude of 200 metres already!
(2h06) On the left there are some ruins of another mill and in front of you, towards the west and south west, Artemónas is located; in the north west you can distinguish another two mills. You continue the path towards the left, on the right of the mill in ruins, and you walk on a small concrete road in the direction of the church with a white dome. By means of a staircase going down to the right you cross a little valley, you continue then towards the left, and you get to the square Alexandros Vernakos, on the right of the church. You take a right immediately and in this way you get to the road from Apollonía to Artemónas, close to Radio Sífnos. On the right you see hotel Artemónas and, some 200 metres further on, there is the bus stop. Again a little further on is the beautiful square, the Platia Artemónas, with some really pleasant terraces. (2h17)
At this point you can either take the bus to Apollonía and
Kamáres, or you can walk (through the pedestrian street) to Apollonía.
The hike from Kástro to Artemónas has taken us about one hour (without
too many stops).