Evaluation: A very beautiful hike, which you can start from either Apollonía or Artemónas. You can make this hike as long as you want to by ending in Artemónas, Kástro or Apollonía. This is a nice alternative for the – almost obligatory – visit to Panagía Pouláti and Kástro via the hike Apollonía - Kástro, which takes almost the same route, but in the opposite direction. This hike definitely gets an evaluation of **.

Estimated time: This hike consists of some fairly short stretches: from Artemónas to the Panagía ta Mángana takes half an hour, then 45 minutes to the Panagía Pouláti, and 20 minutes to Kástro. If you then still have the courage to walk all the way back to Apollonía via Káto Petáli, this will take another 65 minutes; all together this makes for a hiking time of 2h40. Both the Panagía ta Mángana and the Panagía Pouláti are wonderfully peaceful spots, where you can have a great picnic – do not forget to respect the environment, though. Also the “beach” underneath the Panagía Pouláti provides a magnificent site to have a picnic or a swim.

Route description: If you have already covered the hike from Apollonía to Artemónas, you can actually continue by bus to the platia of Artemónas. Today, however, you start from the platia of Apollonía, and you follow the route as described in the hike Apollonía - Agios Simeoón.

In between To Flaraki and the bar you take the pedestrian road, which goes up like a staircase. You pass a couple of streets off the right and the left and you continue in the direction of a white dome. Do not forget, however, to visit the 18^th century Panagía Ouranofóra, after about one minute, on the right of the street. This is a beautiful church with a very picturesque courtyard. You then go back to the main street, which you follow till you reach the white church after some minutes. The street continues to go straight and up, past hotel Petáli, until the main church of Artemónas with a blue dome. Past the Mitrópoli you descend until you almost get to the road and then it goes up again. In this way, you enter the village of Artemónas, with its beautiful, majestic houses. At the Platia Chrysogelou (with a bust) you keep to the left and you continue to go up. You will then get to the Platia Artemónas, about ten minutes after your departure. The bus stop is close to this square.

You leave the platia on the left of café Margarita; you walk past the beautiful school and past two nice villas, in the direction of the highest windmill. After the two villas you have to take a left, past the really wonderful church of Panagia tis Ammou (have a look at the great interior!). You are now walking in the direction of the Panagia Kóchi with a blue dome. At this point you have to go right for another twenty metres, and then you take the Odos Groupári off the left. Following this street you take the second street on the right, just before two palm trees and a little church with another blue dome. This paved, and later on cemented street leads you in between the last houses until it curves to the right near a dark wall. A little further on you will see the first metal sign to Agios Simeoón; by following this sign you have to go straight. You have now been hiking for about 10 minutes after you have left the platia of Artemónas.

You first walk for a few hundreds of metres on a concrete path and then you take a left. The next ten minutes you walk on a beautiful path in between fairly high walls, in western or northwestern direction. This path is usually tiled and sometimes there are steps. It is easy to follow this trail because of the signposts. Some ten minutes later you get to a kind of platform and for a couple of hundred metres the path becomes a broad, sandy road, on the left hand side of a wall. In front of you, from the left to the right, you can admire the Profítis Ilías, the two monasteries above the bay of Kamáres (with the Agios Simeoón on the right), and two other monasteries on hilltops even further away.

After a couple of hundred metres there is a sign post indicating to the left, towards the Agios Simeoón; at this point you leave this hike and you continue straight on, on a sandy road.

[If you do decide to take a left here, there is a possibility to visit the peaceful site of Agios Dimítrios, by going to the right after some 5 minutes. Over there you will find a beautiful well, covered by a stone; there is also a chain with a very small bucket to draw water. From this site you have a great view on the Panagía ta Mángana. But in order to continue your hike after this visit, you have to return to the sandy road and take a left there.]

Agios Dimítrios, with the Panagía ta Mangána in the back.

You thus follow this sandy road and after about 5 minutes you get to the simple little church of Agios Ioánnis Pródromos. There is a beautiful family grave in front of this church and from this point onwards you have a marvellous view on you first goal, the Panagía ta Mángana. 

Panoramic view on the Panagía ta Mángana from Agios Ioánnis Pródromos.

Some hundred metres further on you take the narrow path going down, straight to Ta Mángana. A little later on you curve to the right, you walk above some fields and then you go towards the left again, in the direction of the church. In this way you get to the staircase and the blue gate to the Panagía ta Mángana, after another 5 minutes. This is again a quiet and magnificent spot: the colours are bright white and blue, there is a well with a bucket, and on the floor of the church there is a stone dating from 1783.

A detail from the Panagía ta Mangána.

You go back on a trail that starts at the bottom of the steps; over there there is a concrete path going to the left towards another gate. You take this path and after a couple of minutes you get to a gravel road, which you follow to the right.

The monopáti, when leaving the Panagía ta Mangána.

About one hundred metres further you get to a junction where you take a left. After another one hundred metres the road narrows to a path, which goes upwards surrounding the hill. On this hill you can see some antennae, high up and slightly to the right. For about 10-15 minutes you walk on a really beautiful trail, high above the sea, above the coast line and above the road to Cherrónnisos; in front of you you can distinguish the island of Páros. You walk all the way around the hill until you get to a gravel road, just before the highest houses and a little church with a blue dome. This gravel road descends from the antennae, which are now high up behind you. In this way you get to the church of Agia Anna, some 20 minutes after the Panagía ta Mángana. The church of Agia Anna is surrounded by a very picturesque graveyard and inside the church you will discover a beautiful tombstone of the Psacharopoúlou family.  

You thus go to the left here, but after some five minutes you keep to the right and you go further down the steps; you cross the gravel road and on the opposite side you continue going down on a vague path alongside a wall. From here onwards you already have a great view on Pouláti and on the rocks of Dialiskári. When you have crossed the gravel road for a second time the staircase and the path get clearer again and some 10 minutes later you will reach the magnificent site of Panagía Pouláti. You have been hiking for 35 minutes since Agia Anna.

The Panagía Pouláti with the rocks of Dialiskári.

After some rest, or a possible picnic, you continue past the monastery, and a little further on you can go down the 160 steps to get to the little rocky beach of Dialiskári – this is a very pleasant place and when the sea is not too rough you can have a great swim here.

Instead of going to this beach you can also continue straight to Kástro. The trail to Kástro runs fairly flat in between terraces, and high above the sea, for about 15 minutes. Just before the water purification station you will finally get to a gravel road; you follow this road and after some 5 minutes you get to the asphalt road, on the left hand side of two mills. A little further on you will find the steps to reach the ancient entrance of Kástro. 

In Kástro you definitely have to spend a fair amount of time to enjoy this ancient capital of the island. When you go up the staircase you automatically pass the wonderful terrace of the To Astro bar; a little later on you pass the old church of the Panagia Koimissis from 1593; and even further you get to the delicious bakery of To Konáki; in this way you reach the bus stop. Do not forget, though, to also go to the left, through the narrow streets, to the archaeological museum, and to follow the ring road which surrounds the whole of Kástro.

Panoramic view on Kástro.

Also at this point you can end the hike by taking the bus back to Apollonía. The brave ones, though, can continue, again on a magnificent and hardly used trail via Káto Petáli to Apollonía. The largest part of this route has also been described in the hike Kástro - Apollonía.

On the left of the bus stop you take the steps going down, in the direction of Seralia. A little later you cross the asphalt road and you continue straight by taking the staircase further down. When arriving in the dusty valley you keep to the left for a while, you cross the valley and you go up the ancient steps on the other side. After climbing up for two minutes, you will arrive underneath a little chapel and there you get to a junction: the path on the left leads to Fáros (see the hike Fáros-Kástro). You take a right and you thus follow the left side of the valley, going up all the time on the steep slope. On the right you can see a pigeon tower on the other side of the valley and a little further you will see a little white church. In this way you continue to go up for about 10 minutes, all the time with a great view on Kástro behind you. The slope then gets a little less steep and Kástro disappears behind the hill. About 13-14 minutes after the first junction you arrive at another junction. Over there you step over a couple of vertical stones and you continue on a fairly flat trail on the right hand side of a wall (there is also a red dot).

You continue on this really beautiful trail and again there is a great view on the town of Kástro behind you. In front of you, very far away, you can discern the summit of Agios Andréas. You just keep on going on this rather flat trail for about four minutes. When you get to two trees you have to keep left (notice the red dots); then you descend in the direction of a chapel. Some minutes later you see a valley on the right, with all the way up the large church of Artemónas and some mills. You continue, first going down slightly, then going up again, still walking on the left hand side of a very deep valley. The chapel with a white dome moves past, then a high, skinny palm tree, a pigeon tower and a church with a flat roof. You walk towards a couple of white houses and a chapel, on the other slope, and you then curve to the left. Again five minutes later you do not have to go down yet, because the slope is too steep here. Instead, you follow the path in between walls with some beautiful olive trees and a couple of houses on the right. You should also look at the monastery of Vrísis and at the hill with Agios Andréas high up in front of you.

A little further, near the chapel and the houses on the opposite side of the valley and some ruins and walls on this side, the trail finally descends. For about one minute it goes down fast, through a narrow gorge to the bottom of the valley. You cross the rocky bottom and you go up again to the left, on a trail partly hidden by a large bush. For the next 8-9 minutes you climb up steeply from the valley. At first the path is sometimes blocked by shrubs, but then it turns into a very clear path/staircase. You pass the gate of a house, and a little chapel on the left hand side. You follow the curve and you go higher and higher, until you arrive at a three-forked-junction, on the trail from Vrísis to Káto Petáli (see also the hike Apollonía - Agios Andreas - Vrísis). 

At this point you keep right and after some two minutes you get to the church of Agios Fanoúrios. This church has a flat roof, a double window and an arch with a bell painted in blue. Just before the church (from where you still have a magnificent view on Kástro) there is a crossroads: the path on the left goes to Exámbela (see the hike Kástro - Apollonía) and by going straight you will get to Káto Petáli. This is the direction you have to take - this part has also been described in the hike Apollonía-Agios Andréas-Vrísis.

On this beautiful trail you gradually curve to the left and in this way Kástro disappears behind a hill. You pass a narrow path off the right, which goes to Agi Anárgyri. You go up to the left on some rocky terrain and then immediately down again on the right. Some minutes later you take a right again and you go down in the direction of Káto Petáli. After 8 minutes you get to a bridge – this is the bridge you saw on the right on the hike Apollonía - Kástro.
Across the bridge you climb out of the valley and you then reach the path Káto Petáli - Anárgyri. You take a left, obviously, and after a couple of minutes you get to the first houses and the path turns into concrete. Near the beautiful church Panagia tou Koukiá you go up the staircase-street on the right; by going straight on you will then easily get to the parking of Káto Petáli

The little church of Panagia tou  Koukiá, just before Káto Petáli.

You go straight, up some steps, and if you feel like it you can take some rest on one of the two benches. You then take a left and you go underneath the school and the church in the direction of Apollonía.
You continue to walk under the village and you then go down slightly. When you come to the end of the shallow valley you have to keep to the left. Some 200 metres further on the concrete trail becomes tiled again and after another 150-200 metres you go left, across a little bridge. A little further on you curve to the right and you go up again. The beautiful trail brings you higher and higher until you are just underneath the asphalt road – just before this road you have to keep to the left. You walk under the road, you go up a little and you take a right after 10 metres. In this way you will get to the square of Apollonía...

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