Estimated time: To hike from Artemónas to Agios Sóstis will take a little over 70 minutes. The way back to the Panagía ta Mángana will cost you about one hour and from there onwards it will take some 30 minutes to reach your point of departure in Artemónas. This actual walking time of 2h40 refers to a hiking day from 11am to 5pm, so not too long – we had a long picnic break on the fantastic spot at Agios Sóstis.

Route description: For this hike, you should depart from the bus stop in Artemónas.

[If you would rather leave from the platía of Apollonía, we refer to the first part of the hike Apollonía - Agios Simeoón. This then means an additional small hike of some 10 minutes.]

Leaving from the bus stop, you first continue on the asphalt road until you reach the platía Artemónas, with a few attractive cafés and restaurants. At café Margarita you take the mean street off the right, 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 Panagía tis Ammou (have a look at the great interior!). You are now walking in the direction of the Panagía Kóchi with a blue dome. 

The marvellous ikonostási or témplo in the Panagía tis Ammou.

Next to this church, you have to go right for another twenty metres, and then you take the Odós Grypári 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 at 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. 

The splendid path between Artemónas and Tris Pigés.

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 plateau 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 (Agios Nikítas to the left and Agios Silvéstros to the right).

After a few hundreds of metres you go left again, following the sign. For the first time you now go straight towards the Agios Simeoón. Later on you descend, in front of the beautiful church of Agios Dimítrios. Five minutes later you can take a right for a quick visit of this church. This is a very peaceful spot, with a well covered by a stone; there is even a little bucket with a chain to draw water. You also have a nice panoramic view on the Panagía ta Mángana, a little church you will get to visit on the way back.]

Agios Dimítrios, with Panagía ta Mángana in the background.

After Agios Dimítrios you descend into a valley and you go up again by taking a rather dusty path – note the beautiful terraces on the left! 

The nice terraces in the interior of Sífnos, to the left of the path to Tris Pigés.

About five minutes past Agios Dimítrios you have to watch out: you DO NOT take a right to go up, but you keep following the trail, going down slightly.

After about 5 minutes you descend into the next valley by means of a beautiful staircase – on the opposite side you can see the staircase going up again (you could follow this staircase on the hike to Agios Simeoón). Just before the bottom of the valley you find a beautiful well with a water tank on the right – this is Tris Pigés.

At this point you DO NOT go further down, but you take the trail on the right; the following climb is quite steep. After 4 minutes, the walls slightly move away from each other and a little further on they come together again. Again further on, you have to keep to the left. The trail becomes flatter now and you arrive at the asphalt road to Cherrónissos, on the right-hand side of a large gravel and concrete company. You follow this road to the right for about 100 metres and then you find a gravel road on the left, with a small sign pointing to AGIOS MHNAS + AGIOS SOSTHS. 

About one minute further you keep to the left (signpost) and after two more minutes you pass the little church of Agios Minás. Thereafter, the small gravel road straight ahead turns into a decent trail again; sometimes it is even paved with concrete. Some  3-4 minutes later you take a right (signpost), the trail – which is sometimes very stony – runs more or less horizontally and it describes a large bend around a valley – with a nice view on the chapel of Agios Geórgios ta Livadákia and beyond the sea the islands of Antíparos and Páros. Some 9-10 minutes later you get to a wooden gate, with on your left, up the stony slope, another wooden gate and a blue dot on the wall. Over here you go up on the left, through the left-hand gate.

[Immediately to the left you notice the path to Agios Silvéstros and the area around Trouláki and Cherrónissos – see the hike Artemónas - Trouláki - Agios Simeoón.]

On the other side of the gate you continue straight ahead, for about 3 minutes and on the left-hand side of a wall. Then, you still go straight ahead, but away from the wall (blue dot). The marvellous, red-brownish trail descends, but it remains high above the lonely rocky coast.  

The path towards Agios Sóstis.

After 4 more minutes the walk continues on the rocks, with the blue and turquoise see deep beneath – there is a profound silence over here. Then, all of a sudden, Agios Sóstis appears in front of you, situated on a kind of peninsula, where you can also see the remains of mining industry.  

A general view on Agios Sóstis.

You then start to go down, by means of many steps and in a grand, amphitheatre-shaped mountainous landscape. You keep to the right when you get to another trail going to the left and in this way, after 22 minutes all together since you passed the wooden gate, you arrive at the quiet spot near Agios Sóstis.

Agios Sóstis.

This lonely church is not visited very often – on the 6th of June 2006 we were the first visitors since the 23rd of May, according to the visitor’s book. There is a stone bench, where you can sit to have a picnic. The panoramic view goes all the way to Sýros (on the left) and Antíparos and Páros. At this church, the panigýri takes place on the 8th of June.

On the way back you first have to climb up for about 12-13 minutes, on a beautiful staircase and in an impressive landscape. You then take the curve to the left and you will see Agios Sóstis again behind you. On this place, we also met a man on a donkey: every day he makes the trip from Artemónas to Agios Sóstis, in order to maintain the church – and this all year round!

The beautiful way back from Agios Sóstis.

After a climb of 17 minutes you curve more to the right, but first you sit down for a while in order to admire the exceptional panoramic view on the sea – from Páros and Antíparos on the right, over Sýros to the tiny island of Serfópoula (a small island situated next to Sérifos). Thereafter, Agios Sóstis disappears for good, and you reach the red-brownish trail. After 25 minutes all together you get alongside the wall again. A few more minutes to the wooden fence, where you take a right, on the stony path. This path describes a large bend around Agios Geórgios. After 10 more minutes you keep to the left – the right-hand trail gets to the asphalt road in less than a minute. 

[Over there you could take the bus, which leaves from Cherrónissos back to Artemónas at 4pm.]

You thus take a left and after 4 minutes you pass Agios Minás. Over here, the gravel road begins, with sometimes remnants of the ancient paving, and in this way you reach the asphalt road in about 3 minutes. You follow this road to the left for a couple of minutes and then, just past the large cistern, you go up the concrete road on the right. This fairly steep and broad concrete road turns into gravel after a few minutes; some 100 metres further on there is a road off the left, leading to Agia Anna. You go straight ahead, though, but you then take the first path on the right – this path begins between two corners of walls on a stony slope. This trail becomes a narrow concrete path and after 1 minute it turns to the left sharply. After 4 minutes all together it reaches the beautiful church of Panagía ta Mángana. 

The path towards Panagía ta Mángana.

The church is usually open, there is a draw-well and a small bucket. The large pine tree provides some shade and you can even climb to the roof of the church for a great view. 

Panagía ta Mangana.

Leaving from the church you keep to the right, to the other entrance and then you follow a narrow trail through the valley and on the left of Agios Ioánnis. You thus reach the gravel road, which you follow to the right; after some 7 minutes you get to the beginning of the trail to Agios Dimítrios and Tris Pigés – this is the path you took this morning, so you have described a full circle.

You go straight ahead, obviously, and very soon you reach the trail between walls. At the first junction you keep to the left and three minutes further down you go left again. Slightly further, you go straight ahead on the beautifully paved trail and then still straight ahead on the main trail. At a green gate, after some 9 minutes, you take a right and zigzaggingly you proceed straight ahead in the main street. After another 4 minutes you get to a curve to the left (there are some palm trees on the right), and this is the beginning of the Odós Grypári. At the end of this street you go right in the main street; at the Panagía Kóchi you curve to the left and you get to the Panagía tis Ammou again. You curve to the right again, and you thus arrive at the platía, with next to it, the nice outdoor terrace of the tavern Margaríta.  

The pleasant terrace of the café Margaríta.

Over here you can take a left to the bus stop, but you can also continue straight ahead on the main street, all the way to Apollonía.